Know your druthers before a career change

It is only after having been in a career for some time that you realise whether it has been your cup of tea or not. There are many people who, given an opportunity would certainly go in for a career change. But they have no idea of how to go about doing it. This predicament of not knowing what or how to do is not uncommon among working men and women. But it is an outcome of a lack of flexibility, helplessness to alter one’s outlook and incapability to think unconventionally. What follows is missing out on opportunities.

Some issues that you must reflect upon to come out of your shell and to facilitate taking trailblazing and innovative career initiatives are:

• Understand that appointments & designations are irrelevant: Do references to appointments and designations limit your thinking process? If you had to catalogue all possible jobs that come to your mind, you are bound to miss out on several of them. If that be so, it simply proves that appointments and designations are not at all relevant. You should focus your efforts on the prime ideas that are important to you as an individual and for your job.
• Make a list of things that you shouldn’t do: This will not be a big effort at all, particularly if you happen to be in a job that is not to your liking. You will be able to identify irksome and dissatisfying tasks and in the process, be able to concentrate your efforts on those that you derive pleasure from. And thus when a job offer comes your way, you will be able to evaluate it better and accept or reject it without having to unnecessarily wasting time.
• Make a list of things that you like to do: How do you envision your new career? Are there any yardsticks related to remunerations, position or status that you have set for yourself to attain? You must look within to find out if you are adhering to any tenets and following somebody else’s ideas. This will help you discern what you aspire for or what others would like you to be?
• Where do you aspire to reach in your career? If all your wishes were to fructify, where would you be heading to? You must keep it in mind that you are all set to move forward and hence, you should not have any limitations on your imagination. You need to be clear about what your career ought to be, including the direction it should take. In the light of the foregoing, you must harbour great, but attainable ambitions and work hard to accomplish them.
• What is that you would like to accomplish? It is we who do not allow ourselves to impede attainment of our objectives. The aspirations that you harbour should always new worked upon without bothering for what people may opine about you. It is essential that you discern what you need yourself to be permitted to get hold of.
• How would you restart your life all over again? You need to discover your life’s destination and not be reined in by any factor. If you were to be transformed into an absolutely new personality, how would you like to be? The work that this ‘new you’ would like to do should be found out. Obviously, all these things would inspire you and you should find out where such motivation will lead you.
• Dream big and work to make it a reality: The new career that you envision for yourself need not be anything extraordinarily splendid. Little alterations can serve to change your life and career momentously. Therefore, it is essential that you think that achieving success in a career change is all about discovering what is apt for you.

The people who succeed in this world are the ones who are ever dynamic and create situations that are favourable to them if they do not come about the natural way. Remember that your life is your life and the earlier you realise this fact, the better it will be for you. A career change can be a disturbing experience but should not be allowed to knock your mental peace down. You need to make a decision on it after due consideration of all factors involved. 

Embark upon your career path confidently

You could well be in a job or still pursuing your studies. But the issue of what your career should be like worries everybody. In order to find out a good answer to this vexed question, it is essential that you identify your career objectives and prospective career, including the way forward.

You will realise that your prospective career is all about discovering yourself. Selecting the right career may appear to be difficult because you may not understand which one will go best with your personality and qualifications. Today, you have qualified people who can show you the way out and way forward; you can always seek their help.

The first step in finding out the course your career ought to take is finding out the real you. You may actually be something, but somehow portray something else. It is quite possible that you cope with workplace negativities well, but that may not be your true self. The real you could be waiting to fly and give wings to passions. If you are plagued with such circumstances, you surely need teenage yourself to:

• Discover who you are:  How do you do this? You can reflect upon your capacities and capabilities; and find out more about your skills and inclinations. Having done that, you can open up with them. Alternatively, you can take special tests to discern your likes.   
• Understand what you seek to attain:  This is an important exercise. You need to know precisely what you want to accomplish in life. You may have to do some research because your actions will impact your life and wellbeing alike. That is how you will also be able to decide on a career that gels with you as an individual. career counsellors can prove to be of help too in this regard.   
• Identify means to gain employment: Most job seekers land up in difficult situations by going in for high paying jobs. You should not regard money as a very important factor at all. Aline of action should be drafted by you to facilitate accomplishment of whatever you set out for. It is advisable to write down the career that you seek along with actions required

The issue of identifying your career objectives is very important. It is quite likely that you are clear about them, but are unable to attain them in the timeframe that you desire. If that be so, you need to draft action plans that will facilitate their accomplishment. In order to remind you continuously about them, it is recommended that you reduce them to writing in a diary. You should remember that your career is an embodiment and representation of your personality; and hence. the career path that you select should befit you in all respects. There are many people who fail to seek approval from their inner self about their career; on the contrary, they resort to seeking approval from third persons. In the light of the foregoing, when true endorsement comes from within you, you will invariably enjoy a better sense of direction. 

You should also, rather invariably remember that your career should always be a manifestation of your aspirations, aims and goals – something that you would love doing. After all, the time that you would be spending at work would make up a very large chunk of your life. Therefore, it is judgmental correctness to pursue what you love. It may not be very easy to discern what you actually love doing, however, the following time-tested tips will be beneficial:

• There is no point procrastinating embarking upon a career path. The earlier you do that, the better it will be.
• You should focus on whatever you delight in or whatever gives you contentment.
• While pay and allowances are important factors while selecting a career, attaching more than necessary importance to pecuniary factors should not be done.
• You can spend as much time as you want to find a job that you love.
• There should be no reticence on your part to seek whatever you aspire for or desire..
• You should not waste your time and resources on anything that is not your cup of tea or irrelevant to you.

Going back to what was asserted ab initio, the crux of the matter is that your job search efforts ought to be preceded by a question directed at yourself to find out what precisely you seek to do in your life and career alike. The search will end when you have a permission to from yourself to go in for one or leave your current one to join another. That is how you will be able to bring about cheer in you.

Set right your career path

In the working world, there are many men and women who are at the same position for donkey’s years. They have not made any progress and are stuck up perhaps in a career that is not to their liking. There will be chefs who wanted to be pilots, doctors who wanted to be lawyers, scientists who wanted to be artists and so on and so forth. They have seemingly taken up career paths that they were not truly passionate to embark upon.

There are several reasons why people embark upon wrong career paths. They may have been compulsions, financial ones perhaps heading the list because it is financial stability alone that gives you satisfaction. There are primarily four reasons why people embark upon wrong career paths: 

• Placing more trust on intuition: The general tendency among people is to not trust gut feelings. Intuition, it should be understood is your sixth sense that cautions or prompts you about impending things, the need to adopt a specific course of action or maintain status quo. Put differently, gut feelings gear you up to move forward. However, it is important that any action you take should be well deliberated upon; in are you fail to consider the pros and cons of it, the results can turn out to be unfavourable. Yes, it is agreed that gut feelings are also some sort of forewarning apparatuses, but true shrewdness and astuteness on career related issues entails a detailed evaluation of all factors. It is only then that your future will roll out contentment and happiness to you.
• Not heeding to advice of others: It is necessary that you catalogue all activities that you derive pleasure from. The process of such cataloguing will also afford you pleasure and therefore will not be a difficult affair. However, you should guard against getting carried away by extraneous issues or being unduly influenced by others. Simultaneously, any tendency to not listen to the advice of others, specially those who have years and years of experience or have been your confidants should be curbed.  It is quite likely that some advice may not be sound and you should keep in mind the same. Going about all on your own may put you in a tight situation, thereby making your career advancement an extremely difficult affair. You need to be practical in your approach and keep your wits about. 
• Not admitting mistakes: It has been seen that people who are not pursuing a correct career path are themselves responsible for all associated predicaments. If at all you have made mistakes, you must evaluate how they took place and initiate necessary steps to preclude their repetition. Turning a blind eye to blunders that you have committed can be catastrophic. At an opportune time, you may decide to look for assistance so that you do not go off-track. It is also essential that you do not suffer from eternal feelings of guilt and regret as they can incapacitate you. You should see your mistakes as learning experiences and hence be motivated to do well. If at all you made a mistake in arriving at a wrong career decision, you should not feel shy in admitting the fact rather than be arrogant and refrain from instituting any remedial measure.
• Inability to put your qualifications to gainful use: There are many men and women who display great fervour during the initial years of their careers, but with the passage of time, lose out on their steam and adopt a rather callous approach to their job. It is understandable that a career change may be very difficult because of apprehensions that qualifications and skills acquired over a period of years would go down the drain. Harbouring an outlook like that is not recommended; you cannot live your life backwards. Therefore, it is necessary that you remain confident and self-assured; and not allow any fears to have the better of you.

Your career path may well be wrong, but you can always steer yourself in the correct direction. To be able to do tis, you should be able to discern any and every development of the future. Not only that, you should have in place measures to handle adverse occurrences. After all, life is all about maintaining your calm and balance; and hence the need to adopt a practical approach and remain self-assured at all times needs no emphasis. 

Be innovative & avoid stagnation in your job

You just cannot permit slackness and stagnancy to creep in your job. Most people who tend to become despondent with regard to their jobs do so more on account of their inability to perform smartly and not because of incompetence or absence of efforts. It is of importance to remember that while working smartly, you need not sacrifice our principles and values.

Smart work entails being innovative, insightful and creative but without displaying any rigidity of views or stance. You have to be forceful and zestful in all your dealings; and think unconventionally. If you harbour such an outlook, your enthusiasm towards your work will automatically register an upswing. The outcome will be that you will come out with novel ideas and also facilitate good performance by others, thereby leading to increased organisational productivity.

              When you ideate new ideas, you make the environment positive and also bring about positive changes in the outlook of others. Take for example how compost is manufactured from leaves and waste. It is nothing but innovation that prompted adoption of this useful project and ushered in immense changes in the lives of many. Likewise, the idea of has gone down well with everybody; the result is a tremendous boost to conservation of water. It may be recollected how ‘gobar-gas’ projects came about to be used in villages and led to savings of people staying in rural areas, besides energy conservation. 

            Revolutionary ideas apart, concepts that are uniquely innovative may require external assistance too for fructification. There is nothing wrong in organising and attending brainstorming sessions because they to help people to come out with innovative ideas. The good thing about them is that they can be held anywhere, depending upon the number of participants and their appointments. While at the workplace, the participants could be peer groups and subordinates, at home the list could include members of the family, relatives and friends too. Though it may sound unbelievable, such exercises raise the inspiration levels and which per se leads to more ad more innovative ideas. Needless to state, if such ideas are adopted, the organisation stands to gain more than anybody else.  An important issue pertinent to this matter is that it needs to be understood that creativity and resourcefulness are not synonymous and that creativity all by itself cannot give rise to positive developments.

Creativity is a two-way endeavour that calls for participation by each and every individual at any workplace. If there is active participation by one and all, increased workplace productivity is automatic. You should keep in mind that the result of all efforts are not always favourable and to find out whether or not they are, you will have to look for some indicators. That means constant monitoring will be inescapable. Should you find that you are running into obstacles, there should be alternative plans for the purpose. Remember that if you seek to be successful in your job, you will have to come to terms with different environmental changes that are impacting workplaces throughout the world. To be able to cope with such changes, there is no way that you can shirk from efforts to stay updated with innovations and technological advancements. If you fail to do so, the system will reject you in due course and you will have to stagnate in your job.

Any person can be innovative.  However, you need to put that innovation to good use. This should be done by a display of camaraderie in that issues need to vowed similarly by all members of the team; it is important to ensure that all initiatives taken should be guided by a common desire to accomplish a goal. All stakeholders in a project should remain positive at all times; the foregoing implies being forward-looking and not treating any change with hostility. Any inclination to regard change as negative development should be curbed.  It is essential that one understands that while ideas and proposals may be easy to understand, the impact that they will eventually have is always difficult to fathom in advance. 

All said and done, the truth of the matter is that innovative ideas of innovative people have dual benefits. They wield a monumental influence on your very existence as also on your capability to attain success. If companies and organisations gain from their employees, the employees per se continue to persist with their career advancement. It will never be the end of the road for them.

Hold the reins of your career to be successful

Many people, at some stage or the other of their careers, start suffering from a feeling that they got into a wrong career. They are plagued with such feelings to such an extent that they keep reflecting on alternatives available to them. It is thus essential to know the suitability and appropriateness of the job that you are in. Additionally, you should also be aware of other options available to you, solely because your career advancement stands halted if you do not know where precisely you stand today. If you know where you stand, you will be able to focus on required issues so that you can move ahead in your career. The foregoing thus, highlights the significance of proper career management to be successful.

If you happen to be at a stage of your career where a crucial decision is necessary because it will have far-reaching consequences, you need to query yourself on some issues. The responses that you make will facilitate sound career decisions. To be able to see things in the correct perspective and not let important things escape your attention, interaction with others will help. Five questions that certainly need to be asked are:

• What are your USPs that you are projecting? This question is important if you are engaged in a job search. You should know your strengths so that you can make useful contributions in the organisation that you gain employment with. Your fortes could well be your knacks and aptitude too besides tour comprehension of the role that you will be required to play. However, it is your name that is very important because everything that you do and achieve will be tagged to it.  Your contact base is equally important to because that manifests your likes, preferences and influence. It will be difficult to draw inferences alone and hence, you should talk things out to arrive at proper conclusions about yourself.
• What is your operating methodology? Knowing yourself is essential to conclude on the best working environment and the most suitable role for you. You could well be taking up any job, but you should know what your personality is like and the outlook you harbour towards your work. If you have a tendency to maintain a very strong focus on your work, an advisory or consultancy role may not suit you. You should not forget that the way you function is in full public view and therefore, you should not shy away from seeking advice from others. 
• What are your career aspirations? If you seek to be successful in your career, you must have in place a plan. You should identify spheres in which you want to do well. Different aspects that should be your focus for the intended objective should be dovetailed in your strategy. Any attitude of over-confidence and arrogance will be detrimental to your career interests; and should be shunned. Your disposition should be dictated by a practical approach and which will help you move forward in your career. Issues like salary and curating an impact at your workplace should be a priority too and accordingly included in some form or the other in your plan.
• How do you plan to go about in putting your plan into motion? The likelihood of your plan failing cannot be discounted and that highlights the need to have alternative plans too. You could decide to stay put in the same job and work hard or seek a lateral transfer to prove your worth. You may even decide to go in for a career change or become an entrepreneur. It is important that you keep all such possibilities in mind. This will help you to take a call on the matter when the time comes, if at all it comes. However, whenever you decide to seek a change, you must do appropriate research to discern where precisely you stand before going in for it.
• What should be your initiatives to attain your goals? These could be discerned best if you jot down various actions that you think will stand you in good stead. Some actions could well be writing your resume afresh, widen your networking and improving upon your skill-sets by attending training courses in consultation with your immediate boss. You may come out with several plans and actions, however, you must reduce all of them to writing and then set a deadline for their accomplishment.

The need to have clear-cut career objectives is important to have a smooth career journey.  As you move ahead, you will keep gaining practical experience in your profession and also have varied exposure to learning and development activities. However, the point of significance is that you should work hard all along and hold the reins of your career.

Prove that you are better than others

The working environment today is saturated with intense competition and with every person wanting to do well, there is a rat race. You may work hard and do well to the best of your ability, yet, there is no guarantee that you will reach the topmost position. You have to come to terms with whatever you achieve in life. Whatever you accomplish in your life is a result of the efforts put in and it does not happen in just a day.

You can always work hard to accelerate the pace of your career advancement and prove that you are better than others. When you do that, you are better geared to accomplish your career objectives. There could be scores of methods to do better than others and excel in your work, but the best ones are:

• Maintaining high levels of enthusiasm: Your zeal and passions are meaningless if you fail to make use of the knowledge that you possess. The foregoing implies putting to use your knowledge so that you are able to find logical solutions to problems on ground.  You may work and work hard, this is just one side of the story. But you have to ensure that others work too, for which you will need to condition the minds of others. Your enthusiasm will be high if you accept changes and emerging situations in the right spirit. In other words, you need to display a flexible attitude. It is then that your boss will see you in a positive perspective and see your contributions as great add-ons to workplace productivity. It is essential you understand the need to have all your thought processes of a high order at all times. If you are able to maintain high levels of personal enthusiasm, you will be in a better position to handle workplace tedium.  These advantages will accrue to you if you update yourself on new skills and working methodologies; and also dispense with all redundant ideology that you may be harbouring. All this necessitates continued mental stimulation at work; such stimulation evidently leads to happiness and contentment being derived. 
• Ensuring that your resolve doesn’t plummet: Nobody can be certain about how his or her future will unfold itself. There will always persist doubts, some big and some small in your mind regarding your present job. In case you want to remain confident and self-assured at all times, there is no alternative to hard work. You have to pitch yourself at  professional zenith at all times. It should be remembered that practically all organisations are on the lookout for employees who are genuinely industrious and sincere. If that be so, you should strengthen your resolve to make career headway the honest headway. Commitment towards your goals should be kept foremost  in your mind. Your seniors will be able to make out whether your outlook is upbeat or not; if they see you in a positive manner, they will come out to support you. If you comprehend all these points, you will be implored to treat your career with due seriousness, even if there are problem areas. When you start conducting yourself around like that, your popularity will go up too.  
• Making full use of your expertise: If you do fail to apply yourself systematically at work and not utilise your skill-sets, your output will never be great. Resultantly, no acknowledgement will come your way. It is quite likely that you may not possess all requisite skills necessary for an absolutely smooth functioning. And then if you try to portray an impression of knowing everything, people will understand and form an incorrect impression about you. The truth of the matter is that most people do not make optimum use of their skills; this leads to shrivelling away your knowledge base. Your pace of advancement thus gets retarded. The requirement therefore, is to work hard to overcome your deficiencies and remain updated on all professional matters to preclude stagnation at your current position.  

You will never be able to prove that you are better than others unless you become dynamic and adopt a proactive attitude at your workplace. All your initiatives should be such that you do not call prey to complacency and self-approbation. On the contrary, you should display a willingness to learn and also dream beyond your current job.

Never deviate from learning

An individual can be a graduate or a post-graduate, but overall he may still be uneducated.  An uneducated person is one who is unwilling to learn, unlearn and e-learn. And when it comes to one’s career, a person should possess his important trait. Learning, unlearning and re-learning should be practised on a continual basis, day in and day out. Various facilitating initiatives in this context are:

• Set smart objectives & be happy when you attain them: You must set smart objectives - ones that are pragmatic and once attained, can be rejoiced in. Doing this will give a new meaning to your career. Your objectives should be modified to be in harmony with your new qualifications. Needless to state, you will have to continuously evaluate your objectives regularly and refine your working methodology to ensure a bump-free ride in your career journey. Remember that very new skill or expertise acquired is wisdom added. 
• Share your knowledge & experience: You should believe in sharing knowledge and putting your experience to good use. You may think that you know quite a lot, but the doubts that cross your mind while learning could well baffle you. It is not necessary that you open a learning centre where you take classes; you could well share your experience and knowledge during routine interactions or meetings of professional associations of whom you are a member. You may have awareness and understanding; and you could well be sharing them with others. But your knowledge is of no use if you do not apply it on ground. If you are not apprehensive of executing new ideas with your freshly-acquired skills, you will find that your life and career will stand transformed. 
• Have a mentor to guide you: Attempting to go alone may pose problems in your career journey. But if you have someone who you can bank upon for advice and encouragement, your task of learning becomes easy. You must identify a guru for yourself who can give a patient hearing to your problems and concerns; and guide you on the best course of action that you ought to to take. A mentor could be highly knowledgeable, but will not be of any utility if he does not have time to spare for you. He should be somebody who you hold in high esteem and whose principles you revere. 
• Cultivate reading habits & observation skills: Reading is crucial for career advancement; your reading preferences have to be balanced; and should include professional matters, general knowledge, current affairs and light reading material.  As a habit, reading will make you more adept at your work and hence you will be able to obtain additional meaning for your life and career. It will also help you to become reasonably conversant with aspects that do not fall within the gamut of your career. Since most skills are transferable, you will find them possible for absorption in your job sometime or the other. The knowledge that you gin from reading should also be shared and applied on ground. 
• Let your passion to learn grow: Being spoken to by experts is an enriching experience as it widens your horizon and broadens your perspectives. You must therefore, enrol for courses of instructions, work hard on them and participate in healthy discussions therein. You can also take up membership of professional clubs and attend conferences or seminars. You will find that participation in such activities will serve to recharge you and your fascinations; and make you better geared to face competition and brave challenges. The point to remember is that you should not be a dormant learner, but a proactive one, all brimming with positivity. You should not abandon learning activities midway. 

Wise men opine that this world is a place where we should conduct investigations, trials and inquiries with an inquisitive mind. And that calls for unlearning old things and learning new things. There is no denying the fact that all learning efforts should help in career advancement. As human beings, our mental faculties are active for more or less our entire lifespan and hence there should be np excuse to stay away from learning and development activities. If you can comprehend this important fact, you will realise that learning is a treasure trove that will follow you wherever you go.

Practise transparency & openness at work

Today, buzz words at any workplace are transparency and openness. They are the new mantra. In recent times, employees and clients have increasingly been insisting on transparent dealings by companies whose goods and services are sold. What do these two words signify and how do they effect the working and business environment? Transparency and openness imply adhering to honest dealings, candid communications and straightforward behaviour. They also imply making useful contributions at work.

If you are transparent and open at work, your career advancement will receive a fillip.  So how do you practice them at work? Five ways by which you can transmit  signals of being frank, honest and strait forward are: 

• Inform your seniors about your motivation: For various reasons, your company may not be in a position to offer you big raises. However, if you know what other issues boost your motivation, you will surely be offered some that gives you job satisfaction. For example, you may want like some time off for domestic obligations, you could be allowed to do so or assigned flexible work timings. There are many companies that permit a work-from-home schedule too. All this is possible only if you trust your seniors and interact with them frankly on a continuous basis. 
• Be aware of your skills & capabilities: When you have any discussion with your boss, candidness in expressing views is always recommended. You should know your skills and capabilities; and hence should not agree for tasks that are beyond you. At the same time, you should not hide any skills so that you stay away from additional responsibilities. Even if you do not or are not required to make use of a special skill that you possess in your present role, letting the management know about it will always stand you in good stead for obvious reasons. Another 
• Let your boss know assignments that interest you: You could be good at executing some tasks or even delight in the pressures of few. It is essential that this information is put across in a diligent manner to your seniors because then there is every likelihood of you being assigned tasks that you like doing. Your company’s management will understand that such a process will boost organisational productivity. 
• Don't be out to gain credit:  Your individual contributions as distinct from your team’s performance  and they should be known to your seniors. This will ensure that the credit and reward that is justifiably yours will come to you automatically. You should make it a point to not take credit for a job well done that otherwise is deserved by somebody else. The foregoing will also make certain that if a job is not completed or is not done with perfection, no fingers will be pointed to you and that you will not be held totally accountable for the lapse. You seniors will certainly acknowledge your efforts, provide they are sincere and your outlook towards your responsibilities positive. 
• Let your actions speak about your outlook:  You can come out with excellent ideas on boosting organisational. But if such ideas and suggestions are not put forward eloquently and confidently, they are of no use.  When you do put across them, your seniors and the general environment will understand your good intentions and sincerity in discharging your assigned responsibilities.  You could be engaged in a specific task that calls for an understanding of how a different vertical functions but under normal circumstances, you do not play an active role in the functioning of that vertical. If you make your intent known, you will be appreciated for your keenness to learn and work sincerely. If you go about your work with truthfulness and integrity, you are likely to do well in your career. 

If you are open and transparent at your workplace and in your dealings, there is no denying the fact that you stand more chances of success. You should thus always be ready to walk an extra mile as far as building trust with others. It is inescapable to always maintain a positive frame of mind and take on additional responsibilities voluntarily. Considering the foregoing, it is essential that you do not lose your balance and not deviate from the path that you have embarked upon. 

Get passionate with your career all over again

Do you love your work? Or is it that once upon a time you did? If that be so, you are pursuing a career without any purpose. If you are not passionate about your career, there is no point being in it. The feelings of admiration and devotion for your career has to come from inside you. Extraneous factors can influence your mind alright, but in the long run, it is you and your actions that will bring about a sense of affiliation and fondness in you. You ought to understand the type of  feelings that you have and that all your actions will always be their outcome.

The question at hand is whether you like your career or hate. You need to be honest with your answer because in the absence of a passionate approach, you are bound to get stuck and remain wherever you are. It is quite possible that you are unemployed or not in a job that you wanted to be in. But does it imply that you need not love it, particularly when you once did and now you do not? You can always regain that old passion once again. In this context, you need to: 

• Resolve to be fond of your career again: Your judgment and resolve are like a beacons; you get to be indicated the direction in which you should be moving. It will be your persistence that will automatically infuse fresh ardour and bring about a positive change in your outlook towards your work. You should not forget that being in love with your career is million times better that harbouring a dislike for it.
• Concentrate your efforts on what you delight in: There is no career that does not have positive features and which you need to find out in the context of your career. It is likely that you love the very idea of making useful contributions in such a setup. You will attain anything that you aspire for with sincere efforts. This would necessitate a modification of your focus. This means that you ought to channelize all your thinking and efforts on the delightful facets of your career. You will realise that by concentrating on what you delight in, you will feel revitalised and acquire a new comprehension of your career. This will make you fall in love with your career again.
• Hold your present position in high esteem: You could be engaged in any pursuit, but it can be really fantastic if you are able to remind yourself that it indeed is so. Even if your work is not your cup of tea, there is nothing stopping you from putting in your best. It goes without saying that if you appreciate your current position, you will attempt to work better and surpass others. So, why a delay in doing so? A point to be noted is that you will never adore your career unless you proceed to behave that you are liking it. 

Your job can be very routine and monotonous. Yet, you may be comfortable with the arrangement. But if you ponder over how you could be pared down by such a practice and reflect on the negative effects of it, you will be able to envision your future better. You simply cannot be ignorant of facts and realities. You need to see yourself from the perspective of others and then deliberate upon how your upbeat qualities will be appreciated by others. 

You should not forget that life actually is boundless and you can live it without any restrictions. There are many people who feel that it getting a job vis-a- vis giving it up is indeed difficult. Accepting changes is not an easy matter because bringing about a change in your outlook and viewpoint that have been acquired over several years will be difficult. The changes that you decide to adopt should be directed for forging a good allegiance with your job so that your comfort level registers a boost; and you are amenable to accepting new ideas. If you do that, your efficiency will also multiply and your efforts will be recognised by your company. Your motivation will thus increase manifold and this cycle will carry on. rise register a boost and you will be acknowledged.  The net outcome will be that your life will experience a standard never experienced before.

Intensify your professional headway

Everybody talks about professional progress and its interpretation varies from person to person. However, the need to make professional headway is acknowledged by one and all. A successful career doesn’t happen unthinkingly. It needs planning, tending and frequent review. 

Career management is not simply feel-good activity. It is inescapable if you seek to achieve job satisfaction and career success. Making professional headway is all about availing opportunities to learn new skills with a view to broaden one’s horizon and excel in water sphere of activity one is in. distinct benefit of career advancement is that you tend to give a positive upshot to your personal life too. But it is not a simple endeavour - you cannot claim to have made an effort and then forget about it. It is an ongoing process, the decision and initiative of which has to originate from you. Some suggested inescapable actions that are essential to intensify your individual and professional headway are:

• Know your current position & status: If you want to attain anything that you seek, you should know how well qualified you are, including practical experience to your credit. These also should be reduced to writing along with occasions when you utilised them. This awareness will facilitate a deeper comprehension of the knowledge possessed by you and which will facilitate your career advancement. 
• Know what you aspire for: You must assess your objectives in the context of your designation, job and career. It is also essential that you analyse all the qualitative requirements that you must fulfil to remain firmly established in your current post, job or career. This can be best done by reducing to writing all your objectives and requirements; and thereafter, referring to them periodically to know what learning activities you must engage in.
• Know your shortcomings that need to be overcome: If you are clear about your objectives and  how well qualified you are to attain them, you will be able to find out ways and means to reinforce your position. It is essential that you are also aware of what impedes your career advancement; for that you need to know your vulnerabilities and deficiencies. And you need to work hard to acquire additional qualifications. Here again, reducing to writing all your mental deliberations will help in evolving a time-plan, which, when formulated should be adhered. 
• Know about resources that you would use: You should also know various resources that you could utilise to further build up your skills for attaining your aims. They could well be people, organisations and events. You will have to decide on the most suitable ones and the modalities to be undertaken. For example, you could identify and bond with people with whom you could have mentoring associations. You could also find out about professional clubs and training centres where courses, workshops and seminars are conducted; joining such institutions will help you improve your skills; and eventually your career prospects. 
• Know what your next line of action ought to be: This implies finishing all pending tasks. You could have taken steps to identify your objectives, current position, qualifications to be acquired and resources to be utilised. But somewhere down the line, the spot light could shift elsewhere resulting in your advancement plan going haywire. Therefore, finishing all that you initiated will help you get over the standstill or decline being suffered.

The toughest part of attaining any objective is not the writing up the action plan or setting dates for completing each step of the goal or even getting started on your first action point. It is in fact, the ongoing discipline and determination required to see through different steps of the goal to completion. There will be moments when you will feel that you have reached the end of the road. but you can always get over that stagnation. You should simply query yourself about a dozen initiatives that you must take to get your career advancement on a fast-moving track. Your responses will be solutions to problems. You must adopt those methods to get back on the correct bearing. And when that happens, you must delight in your efforts. You will thus be better geared to move forward and render yourself all-important in the organisation that you are serving in. You will thus make your career success happen.

Discover the guiding rationale for your next job

If you seek a successful career for yourself, it is essential that you evaluate how various jobs that you undertake have a cumulative effect on your future. Having known the factual position, you will be able to discharge your responsibilities in a knowledgeable and insightful manner. 

With regard to your next job, you may draw up a list of several actions that you ought to be undertake. The maiden effort is your job search and you will have to make certain that any job offer that you accept should be commensurate and matching with your principles, penchants and reasoning. Towards the foregoing, you need to to find out the guiding rationale of your career, activities that you enjoy doing, your strengths and various beliefs that give a meaning to your conduct. Having identified these, the process of knowing which job is your cup of tea will be facilitated. You need to understand that accepting a job on the consideration of money alone is bound to spell failure.

It is necessary that you unearth the point around which your career revolves. You will thus be able to evaluate various career steps for their appropriateness. Overall, there are four issues that you must evaluate for their impact on you and career as under:

• Additional responsibilities in the same company: It is not in your interest to believe that your prospects are better if you move on to another company. It will not stand you in good stead if you keep changing companies. It will be better if you get to handle additional responsibilities in your current organisation because then your leadership and management skills will be put to test. After all, your growth in a company has a different meaning and a distinct advantage. There is no new working environment involved and people already know you. The option to change jobs could well be exercised later.
• Different responsibility within the same organisation: If you have been performing well in your current role and have all the qualities to excel in other roles as well, then moving on to a different vertical is a viable option. Your company may offer you a different role and undertaking it will make you feel distinguished and appreciated. However, you will have to learn new skill-sets and management techniques. With due awareness, you can identify various responsibilities which you can discharge well.
• Similar charter in another company: It is necessary for you to understand that you are not bound to serve in an organisation forever. It is quite likely that if you switch over to another company and have no change in your functions, you may experience a new vigour. People may see you differently there and old impressions may well become redundant. You may get to handle newer responsibilities too, which perhaps may not have been assigned to you had you continued with your previous company. Before taking any step, an evaluation of the ground situation is warranted, including how your new bosses see you . It will be  a challenging situation alright and your decision difficult. But there are chances that your future will be bright if you are able to leverage your knowledge successfully.
• Different responsibility in another company: When you get to shoulder different responsibilities in a new company, it can turn out to be the catapulting of your career to newer heights. But it also has an inherent danger of fizzling and collapsing. Leaving a company or industry throws up fresh contests. You leave behind your associations and name; and will have to establish yourself all over again. And if you had been acquitting superbly, the contest could well be a tough trial. But if you carry your knowledge, experience and wisdom with you in one hand; and your rationale, fortes and principles in the other, the chances are that you will create a stronger impact. Obviously, this move is also a viable option to generate new career prospects for yourself.  

If you are getting a feeling that you are unable to advance in your career now, it is high time that you take time off and reflect upon different options as elucidated above; and see in your mind the what your next job should be like. A new beginning or a step back can turn out to your advantage. Let reason guide you on how your passion should take shape.

Choosing a career path while still at college

If you are unaware of the direction of your career movement, you will never be able to discern your position at any given time. And when your career journey finishes, you will be as lost ever. When you select a career, it implies getting down to know what you are and what is suited for you in the long run. In other words, you play a game where reality is pitched against your penchants. The good part of the game is that you can play it while still at college.

It is necessary that you understand that every career is arched and you happen to be located at the beginning of the curve. There is every possibility that your career path will change not once, but many a times in your career journey. Therefore, selecting one, particularly when you are still at college is a little difficult. But it is not totally beyond you. There are certain deliberations and actions that you must indulge in; they are explicated below:

• Do not succumb to influences out to shatter your dreams. Your dreams may be difficult and therefore, you must have in place a strong support structure for their fructification. It is also necessary to have alternative plans at hand. The aspirations and ambitions that you harbour could well be different from your dream job. It is essential that you understand the professional nuances of your dream job well so that at a later stage, you do not become disenchanted, particularly if you convert any of your hobbies into one. If you have passion for a particular job, by all means go for it. However, you must make certain that your choice should not lay on the line anybody – and that anybody also includes you. 
• You may have taken jobs in your vacations or may still be working part-time. They are all experiences in learning and hence you must ponder over how you can make optimum use of them to make your resume attractive and augment your work skills. Getting to decide on your career path calls for taking time out of your free time and taking up either apprenticeship training or honorary jobs that offer you an insight of a particular profession. It is only practical exposure that will provide you a better comprehension of a job; theoretical knowledge gained through other means, though helpful is not effectual.
• You need to find out if you want to work independently or if you are disposed to work in return for a regular remuneration. This calls for sincere introspection to discern your personality traits as also the pros and cons pertinent to both the possibilities. In particular, you should know the risks involved if you invest money in a venture where you are the whole sole boss or in the eventuality of being removed from a job.
• You simply cannot stay aloof from family influences because your near and dear ones will be concerned about you and will offer advice on how to go about doing things. Rather than talking about career issues perfunctorily with others, you should do so with deliberation and in a formal manner. Time should be allocated for the purpose so that everybody deliberates with due seriousness and offers useful suggestions. In every likelihood, your folks will talk based on individual experiences.
• There is no place for or role of good fortune and providence in any career. Therefore you should not waste time in pondering over such influences because professional success calls for placing yourself on a pedestal to generate your own prospects.  As you advance in your career, you will encounter great opportunities and good prospects. At that stage, you will need people who are trustworthy for their advice and mentorship so that you can act without hesitation and be able to assess the opportunities ahead of you for their true potential. 
• Another important thing is the information about you in public domain. You cannot remain blind to it and this implies sprucing up your listings on the social media. You may not realise it, but it is significant to understand that any bit of information available publicly has the potential of adversely impacting your impending work. 

It is necessary that you do not relegate to a lower position the need to plan well for your future. If you plan and prepare well, your performance will be better. It also needs to be understood that the best of objectives will remain mere imaginative aspirations in the absence of a fervour and passion to accomplish them.

Draft an in-depth action plan for your career

Unlike yesteryears, today, a career is an activity where people are caught up in fiercely competitive struggle. In the rat race that follows, most people fail to understand the nuances of career planning. The process of career planning involves formulating a carefully planned initiatives so that you attain your objectives. With the competition that exists at all workplaces, it is essential that you do appropriate career planning because that is the only way you can do well in your career. 

The principal is issue is to know the necessity of formulating career objectives. They are essential for your sustenance because based on them, you will decide on what you should be doing in your life. Career objectives set your career bearings straight and motivate you to work hard for their accomplishment. Therefore, there is no escaping from hard work. Considering the foregoing, it will be your career objectives that will make you revolve around your job. However, much will depend upon your aspirations and the methodology you adopt towards them. As a job aspirant, you should be crystal clear about everything - both positive and negative aspects - about your prospective job. Issues like qualitative requirements, influence of technology, financial aspects and legal requirements should be reflected upon.          

The process of formulating your career objectives facilitates exploring your inclinations, talents, expertise and capabilities – both latent and otherwise. While electing to decide on a particular career, you will have in front of you a plethora of prospects. Your career objectives serve to direct you on to the correct pathway and prevent you from taking circuitous routes or switching jobs. Having decided on a career, it is essential that you also decide a pragmatic approach to advance your career and realise your objectives. The entire career planning process is cyclic and has to be affected on a continual basis so long as you remain in work.

There are two other issues involved. The first is to understand what your aspirations are all about and what if you fail to fulfil them. When you set objectives, you look forward to positive results. The results that you anticipate serve as inspiring factors all through your career advancement. While attainment of objectives or part thereof, will you give you feelings of pleasure and achievement, any failure is bound to disillusion you too, something that has to be anticipated too. The second issue is the start point of career planning and the methodology for it. Career planning essentially is set in motion when you start gathering information and make efforts to remain posted about the environment that prevails as pertinent to employment. The information that you gather and the data base that you generate helps you in setting pragmatic objectives and a workable action plan to take things to a logical conclusion. Remember that the more detailed your knowledge, the better you will be geared up to accomplish your objectives.    

The fact that there exists a very stiff competition in the employment market needs no emphasis. To emerge victorious in a competitive environment, it is necessary that your skills remain updated at all times and that you add on to your qualifications in keeping with your job requirements. Attending training courses, participating in professional workshops and improving upon your networking will help you do well and move forward. You also need to be aware of various methods to cope with difficult situations and pressures generated by them. Such initiatives are essential constituents of any sustained career advancement plan.

The significant aspect is to understand how career planning will impact you. You should remember that career planning is not once-in-a-lifetime activity. It is a continuous process and goes on till the last week of your employment so that you can make use of it to your advantage when you take up a post-retirement employment, if at all you do so. It is only then that you will be able to achieve and enjoy true career progress. And if you feel at any stage that midterm corrections are warranted, you should do so in accordance with the planning that you have done.

Your efforts will not pay dividends if you harbour a presumptuous approach in your career journey that cannot be expected to be a sure shot smooth ride. You must anticipate impediments and plan for their management. Career planning serves to inspire you. But it is important that you remain at the wheels and display self-assuredness at all times. The planning that you do will facilitate your career advancement.

Check if your career is on correct course

Every person desires to do well in his or her career. To do well, the career journey has to be regulated well and all advancements envisaged materialising in the expected timeframe. There is none who would ever wish that his or her career goes offtrack and in the process derive satisfaction. 

Are you all set to give that necessary zest and strength to your career?

It has been seen that try to bring into line their careers lose out on their enthusiasm and initiative not very long after they begin their career journey. They then realise that they are unable to deliver a push to their careers on their own. Considering the foregoing, it is essential that you deliberate over your career related issues, formulate an action plan and take initiative to act as per it. You can achieve this by carrying out a sincere career audit in relation to your current position. The following actions on your part are inescapable:

• Understand that good planning will bring you success: You will have to devote adequate time to evaluate all things related to your career on a regular basis. Concurrently, you will also be required to reflect on actions that you need to take. Just in case you find that you find that you are wanting in some field, appropriate corrective measures will have to be instituted. What you will surely lack will be awareness and adequate information. You should remember that any alterations and modifications that you carry out will be time consuming; and therefore, the need to understand all factors that take things to a logical conclusion should be clearly comprehended.
• Engender an all-inclusive career portrait: If your mind is clear on what you intend to seek, half your battle is deemed to have been won; the rest comes with relative ease. You need to know precisely what success signifies to you; with that as the basis, analyse all its aspects, including those enunciated by others. Thereafter, you should arrive at a logical conclusion as to what is relevant to you.
• Lay down objectives that are in harmony with your discernment of success: If you succeed in converting your dreams into actualities, you can deem yourself to be successful. And to make that happen, you must lay down objectives that match your perception of success. But more importantly, you should stay focussed maintain your balance at all times.
• Know what hinders your success: You need to envision impediments in your advancement. If you have any apprehensions, you should overcome them with a positive approach; you need to have confidence in yourself and your capabilities. You should never ever discuss negative issues with anybody.
• Be dynamic to attain results: If you are result-oriented, you need to be pushing; a person who takes initiative and acts with fervour always gets to see the results he yearns for. If you decide to act, remember that this decision stems from your decision to alter the circumstances that you are surrounded with.
• Acknowledge that answerability rests on you alone: The degree of control that you exercise over your career is directly proportional to the accountability that you display towards it. You need to get involved in your work; this will bless you with increased self-determination and freedom of action. You should never justify your shortfalls; on the contrary, you should assume responsibility for whatever you bring about in your career.
• Make an impact through your appearance: First impression always counts. You should endeavour to create an impact on others by remaining smart and presentable at all times. The clothes that you wear, the way you walk and the manner in which you talk with others are all contributory factors for creating that crucial first impression. However, you should guard against any tendency to portray an extravagant image; your appearance should automatically speak of  good grooming and self-assuredness.
• Network with successful people: Those with whom you spend time at your workplace exert the maximum influence on you. If you are really keen to attain success, you need to be in the company of people marching towards successful. Company of successful people will matter a lot. You should identify such people who could be followed and whose attributes you could imbibe. In addition, there will be many aspiring people like you; their company will also help you immensely.

You should not forget that whatever you have achieved so far is an outcome of decisions that you made some years back. With that in view, you need to ponder where precisely you aspire to be in another five years or so from now. If you are sincere about your career advancement, you will surely make it happen. What essentially is required is a well thought of line of action.

Talk over your career plan with your boss

You are responsible for the direction your career takes. Hence, it ought to be your responsibility and your boss or any of your colleagues may not be genuinely concerned for you. They may periodically give you advice and also indicate opportunities that you could grasp, depending upon your enterprise. Though you may have clarity of thought with regard to your career plan and what you desire to accomplish, you cannot have a presumptuous approach about others also being equally clear.

If you think that your boss can facilitate accomplishment of your objectives, there is no thing wrong in talking over your career plan with him. 

• Know yourself & have a plan: Your career objectives have to be set before you  need to set discuss your career plan with your boss. It is essential that you are well-aware about yourself and the endpoint of your career journey. That calls for serious reflection on the the shape of things that you want the future to roll out for you. Before meeting your boss, you should be able to clear about what you seek to do in the immediate future, the skills that you need to possess for that and likely obstacles in your dreams that will prevent your advancement. You must clarify to your boss how certain responsibilities, if assigned will help you make progress in your career. A well-formulated career plan will send positive signals about you and also indicate your determination to do well in your career. 
• Advance appreciation of viewpoints: You should keep it in mind that you were hired for a particular job and responsibility. Therefore, discussing a career plan is a sensitive issue and hence should be undertaken intelligently. You must gauge what your boss thinks prior to entering into any discussion with him. In the light of the foregoing, you should be clear about the degree of encouragement that your boss is likely to give to you and others as well; and pressures, if any being exerted on him. You should also know the whether your company is favourably disposed towards the career growth of its employees or not as distinct from your boss’ capability to influence the management in your favour. It is only after such appreciation that you can decide on how you should proceed with the discussion.
• Organise your discussion suitably:  You cannot question your boss about his plans, particularly the time for which he is going to be there so that you can step into his shoes. You may aspire for it alright, but you should not make such an intention known. If you are able to convey your thoughts intelligently, you will be able to get support and encouragement. What should then be your line of action? First and foremost, you should express your gratitude to your boss for looking after your career interests; talking about specific instances will be of great advantage. You must also talk about your present work profile and the level of expertise that you have been able to develop; expressing gratitude to your boss for it will be beneficial. At the same time you can express your view on your career journey in your present company and that you are enthusiastic about making useful contributions. Having done that, you should talk about how you envision your future, higher responsibilities that you want to shoulder, people with whom you like to be associated with and qualifications that you want to acquire to realise your dream. And finally, you can request him for his support for and guidance in your efforts.    

It is essential that you identify an appropriate time-slot for a discussion with your boss. It may well turn out that your preparation for the discussion is perfect and your boss is envisaged to be good, But you apprehend that things may not turn out in your favour because of other reasons. Under such circumstances, you must defer your decision to talk with him. Actually, the best time to for discussing your career plan with your boss is during appraisals because your boss will be able to appreciate your performance better as it would be on record. 

The best of career plans will serve no purpose in the absence of a favourable disposition of your boss. To achieve that, the need is to be clear about your goals, understand what your company stands for and how your boss is disposed. You need to have confidence in yourself and your fortes to do well in your career.

Guarantee yourself job success

It is quite possible that have the best of best jobs in the world or you are in a career that you always thought was your cup of tea. But if you are not performing well, sooner or later, disappointment and dissatisfaction will have the better of you. You will find yourself face to face with failure. 

How can you guarantee yourself job success? It is essential that you harbour a correct outlook, positive mind and an upbeat perspective towards everything. Ten initiatives on your part that will help you succeed at your work are:

• Think & apply yourself logically: It has been noticed that employees crash at work because they fail to think and apply themselves rationally. People take wrong decisions and arrive at wrong inferences. You can believe, think and act in a logical manner by observing others who do likewise and in case you have any doubts, questioning them in an insightful manner. If you can have an open mind to improve after any mistake, things will emerge better. Remember that any presumption that you know everything about your work and duties will not stand you in good stead, on the contrary, it can spell failure.
• Don't drift away from your work: All jobs are a contract; you work and get paid for it.  Therefore, there is no way that you should not work or perform. It is thus essential that you while at work, you do nothing but your work. If you stray away from your assigned duties, deliberately or otherwise, it is a breach of trust and a violation of the contract that you have entered into with your employer. You can maintain the desired motivation to do that if you occasionally place yourself in your employer’s shoes and then ponder over your expectations from those under you. It goes without saying that you will have to persist with a high level of devotion to accomplish all objectives set for you.
• Understand that learning is an eternal process: Nobody, especially your employer will appreciate you if you portray that you know everything. This is more so during your initial days at work. Learning is an ongoing process and every day at work offers a new experience. If you fail to understand this, you will end up frittering away your time and efforts. Also, if you do not boost your performance level, you will lose out on your worth. 
• Don't allow your doubts to persist: You should not hesitate to seek clarifications, even if others are reluctant to do it. You are empowered to know your charter of duties and if you are dis- charging them properly. This also necessitates knowing if you are on the correct path and who should you look upon for assistance, if required. If you are clear on these aspects, your move forward to achieve workplace success is more or less assured. 
• Stick to your values: As human beings, we have a natural propensity to assist others. You must look inwards to dis-cern how best you can utilise your skills to perform better. By building and adhering to such principles and standards, you will derive happiness and will come to be acknowledged by your employer. The worth that you offer of yourself in this way will enhance your chances of success.
• Accept & be a part of change: Today, workplaces and working methodologies are changing; and you simply cannot afford to be hostile to the changes being ushered in. It will be in your interests to accept them in a straightforward manner and view them as learning opportunities. Remember that as you acquire fresh knowledge, you automatically give a boost to your and your organisational worth.
• Know what you stand for & what others feel about you: Many people lose their jobs on account of personality clashes and issues related to moral turpitude. Personality clashes take place if you remain in a shell  and unnecessary alarmed. On the other hand moral turpitude is related to dishonesty; it needs to be understood that that dishonest is not acceptable at any workplace. You need to display moral uprightness and a high degree of self-esteem. It is necessary that you make efforts to know what others feel about you and display due consideration towards your seniors, colleagues and juniors alike; this can be made possible if you harbour a positive attitude at all times.

Positive feelings steer you to success. Today, all organisations emphasise the need to have a congenial workplace atmosphere so that employees do not get victimised by stress. You need to be positive from all angles, because only then will you be able to thwart adverse situations. If you work sincerely, success will be yours to kiss.