3 Essential Questions for Professional Women

How are you on waiting? Do you adhere to the old adage ” all good things come to those who wait”.

Overnight success is a myth. Or perhaps I should say sustained overnight success is a myth! It’s possible to get your 15 minutes of fame by winning a contest but look a bit deeper and you’ll probably find that they have been battling away for ages. And if they haven’t they rarely last the course. It’s important to have substance, to earn respect.

Don’t Wait Too Long

But some women wait too long! Yes, you need experience, knowledge, skills and talent but you don’t need to be perfect (see Qualifications Don’t Work).

So take a few minutes now to reflect on your career to date. How long have you stayed in a job before considering your next move? Do you know what your next move is? Or could be?

Plot your career path since leaving education. Write down each job you’ve had on a time line you’ve had and make a note when you started thinking about your next.

What prompted each move?

Were you reactive or did you plan it?

Do you have an end target on that time line?

Maybe Director by 30? Own company by 50? (If you read that and thought, 50? That’s too old, think again! I successfully changed career in my late 40s plus the population is ageing and our attitudes have to change too. Don’t fall prey to your own version of femageism. We’ll all be working longer so make sure you love what you do!)

If you want to get ahead, I recommend you think about a career plan: planning doesn’t mean you can’t be spontaneous or that you get stuck in a groove. It does mean that if you know where you are ultimately headed you’ll make better decisions along the route to ensure you get there!

Your Career Plan

Please do share your own stories of career planning or otherwise. If you have one is it helping? If not, why not?

Photo Credit: Everardo Ramirez

Your Career Questions

Your Career Questions

When coaching or running seminars, women frequently tell me they are unhappy with their jobs. One of the first steps in getting to your perfect career is to really understand what you don’t like about your current job.

Here is an extract from a chapter in my book ‘When Work isn’t Working’ designed to help you do just that. You’ll need pen and paper.

What don’t you like about your current job?

Be very specific as this is important. If, when you have answered these questions, it seems that certain people loom large and unpleasant in your working life then you need to consider if a change of career is what you really want. It might just be a change of employer or department!

Your answers to the question, ‘What don’t you like about your job?’ will help you decide your responses to the later questions and exercises in the book, so be as honest as possible.

List as many things as you can in relation to what you don’t like; the following questions may help your thinking:.

Is it the task, the actual work you have to do?

Is it the ethics of the organisation? Do the values of the organisation match your values?

Is it the pay or salary or bonus scheme?

Is it lack of prospects?

Is it too much emphasis on advancement?

Is it lack of  encouragement and opportunities for your development in the role?

Is it the attitude of other workers?

Is it your current manager?

Is it the location?

Is it too easy or undemanding for you?

Is it too much of a stretch for you at this point in your life?

On a blank page answer each of these questions in turn, being specific about the role you have now. Give a full answer; you may actually discover some things you really like about your current job! Now you have a much better idea of what it is you want to change. Your next step is to make those changes.