Making Careers Happen

Making Careers Happen

Posted on 09. Jul, 2009 by in Blog

By Sia Collins

The lucky have their career paths chalked out impeccably while there are many whose ‘careers just happen’. The ideal way is to create a road map of our goals – but not many of us follow it. At best we create a daily “to-do” list and place tick marks against everything we can. But generally speaking we feel there is plenty of time to complete tasks; we feel there is no real need to pay attention to details and maintain a record of important facts and data like people’s names and phone numbers. We feel because we have the time, things will fall in place. The problem is more accentuated when we are younger and should be focusing on choosing our calling.

The truth is we lack clarity, vision, the ability to strategize and create a game plan for our future. These things don’t come naturally to most people. We are unable to create a blue print for our future. Many of us just stumble across an opportunity, hang on to it and — before we know it — it becomes a career. . It is like hitting upon an interesting programme while changing channels on TV. But /component/option,com_jcalpro/Itemid,99999999/extmode,flyer/date,2027-09-01/”>cialis dosage 20mg there are good chances that while watching that one programme, we miss a much better one on some other channel as we did not look up a programme schedule. Similarly, when careers are not planned but happen by fluke, there is a high chance that you could end up disliking what you do. There are a few simple steps involved in knowing your mind better and to chalking out a future that is likely to be more interesting, better suited to you and which will help you flourish and thrive:

1.Take your interest/s seriously. Every new interest should go into your list of ‘interest/s’. This list will prove useful in deciding the major directions you should head into. In this list, highlight those interests that you truly feel you are good at. E.g.: Your interest list may have both accounting as well as economics but you are better at economics. Realize that the combination of liking a stream and also being good at it is not without a reason.

2.Know the difference between your interests and passions. E.g.: You might be interested in painting but are you passionate about it? Generally interest in a particular field is unobtrusive and can exist in tandem with other activities. However passions are much more compelling and less accommodating. Yet passion-driven efforts are more successful. So, there is a good chance of you succeeding in your business venture if you are passionate about being an entrepreneur than being a service man.

3.Once you have identified and narrowed down your area/s of interest, do some research on it. Enjoying a certain stream and having a talent to be good at it can only help if your interest and focus in that particular field can be sustained. Research will help you reach a better decision.

4.Words of advice: First, though reviewing the monetary aspect of your skill/s is important, it is by-far not everything. Job satisfaction in a profession is priceless. Second, never choose your career based on ‘what’s-in’. Trends and demands for professionals of a particular field will keep changing. How many times will you change your career path on that basis? Maintain your focus and build your career along the path you have drawn.

If you are amongst those who are unable to decide on a career or a company, don’t worry too much. There is a new path available. You could consider consulting to see what works for you before settling on a full-time career. That’s exactly why a service like ConsultGenie (www.consultgenie.com) is so popular. For many who would like to try out their real skills and develop new ones, consulting is the way to go. It gives you flexibility in what you do; there is the opportunity to work for different people and on interesting projects. Who knows, once you become a consultant, you may never want to go back to a full-time /component/option,com_jcalpro/Itemid,99999999/extmode,flyer/date,2027-09-01/”>cialis dosage 20mg job.

Here’s one such example. Aparna, a Bangalore based HR professional with 8 years experience, took a 2 year break after having a baby. She not only wanted to continue earning during the break but also wanted to become a writer and advertising professional. She took up part time HR consulting work and also took courses in graphics design. Today, after 2 years, she takes assignments in both HR and creative content development. She is free to choose her work and rates.

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