Career Clarity – What is it and how do you get it?

Career Clarity looks different for different people.

For a young graduate, it may be making the transition from university into the world of work. Trying to navigate the maelstrom of emotions from feelings of accomplishment for having obtained a qualification to the demotivation of the realization that the journey to competency has only just begun.

It could be a mid-career professional who has just started a new and exciting job in a different sector and is needing to navigate those first 90 days. Managing a team, understanding, and working with colleagues locally and remotely, and navigating next-level diversity all while also delivering the best for clients. ?

It could be a mother doing her best to provide for her family and still feeling inadequate, judged, and undervalued, just looking for a way forward. Considering alternatives, hoping that the grass is greener on the other side but really not knowing for sure.

?So, what is this thing called Career Clarity and how do we get it?

No matter what stage of your career journey you are in or what level of experience you may have, career uncertainty can hinder your progress. After all, deciding on the ‘right career path’ is both exciting and intimidating.

Career Clarity is about being clear about where you are currently and where you want to be by the time you eventually retire. Now before you get the wrong idea, I’m not saying you need to know what you will be doing for the entirety of your career. I’m not saying you need to know which company you will be working for or what position you will hold.

What I am saying is …you need to know what lifestyle you want to have. Do you want to be affluent, financially independent, geographically independent, a thought leader, an influencer, a specialist in your field, or a captain of your industry?

Do you know what is important to you? Is traveling important, is research or teaching important to you? Do you want to contribute to humanity? Is having a partner and children important for you? Is your faith important to you, is your community important to you?

Do you know what you need to do to achieve this? Do you know what you need to do every day that will take you one step closer to achieving the things that are important to you and the lifestyle you want?

Why is this important? Well, if you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there? How will you know if you need to course-correct? How will you know what kind of help or support you will need along the way?

One thing is absolutely certain… What brought you here won’t take you there…

How to Gain Career Clarity

Reports suggest that employees globally are considering moving to roles with greater focus on personal growth and development after experiencing the harsh realities brought on by the pandemic.

These reports have also suggested that the shifted focus both for individuals and organizations are now on

·??????diversity, equity, and inclusion,

·??????health, well-being,

·??????ongoing growth and development

·??????job satisfaction

The question becomes: Do you have the career clarity you need to target the right roles in the right organizations within the right industries that are a GOOD MATCH for what you need going forward?

Gaining career clarity will reset your career compass so you can successfully navigate your career crossroads.

How Do You Gain Career Clarity?

Start by answering these important questions:

What can I do?

What do I want to do?

What are the values that drive me?

What motivates and demotivates me in my work?

What brings me joy?

What drains my energy and drags me down?

In my previous roles, what were my personal preferences about that role?

Take the time to really reflect on these questions and understand what makes you tick.

Our career is only one part of our life but it is a very important part. Our career helps to provide meaning and purpose for us daily. It also helps support other aspects of our life, like our relationships with others and the lifestyle we choose to have.

Take an inventory of your career.

Identify what you are tolerating in your career right now.

Identify your top personal and career values.

Identify your work satisfiers and what dissatisfies you (and why)

Identify the skills you love to use, your competence level, and the skills you’d like to develop.

Create a personal mission statement. Think about the legacy you’d like to leave and how you can accomplish this.

Then start to focus on your career.

What is Career Focus?

This is about having a clear vision of where you want to take your career. The choices you make will help you to get closer to what will be truly satisfying for you in your career.

We all approach our work with a certain set of priorities and values. These career anchors pull us in a certain direction and often stay true throughout our career and serve to inform the choices we make about the career we want and the environment we thrive in.

Career anchors are a combination of:

Your perceived areas of competence

Your motives

Your values related to professional work choices.

Many people don’t choose their careers, nor do they necessarily purposefully design the look and feel of their careers.

For most people, their career trajectory starts off with finding a job out of necessity. This may or may not be in the field they have acquired a qualification. This is often followed by a sense of obligation to meet financial and other commitments. So, while you may enjoy the work and even the company you work for, all too often the result is staying in a job to pay the bills and make ends meet.

Career development is often not a priority at this stage of ones working life. The years simply pass by, and feelings of restlessness, discontentment, frustration, and lost productivity begin to creep in until we realise that we are “stuck”, and we feel unable to move. The need for fulfilment and job satisfaction slowly becomes a priority, until it is all we can think about.

It is at this point that we realize that we are not where we believe we should be. We have not achieved what we had intended or expected to achieve. It is at this point that we know with certainty that we need to make a change and finally take control of our career trajectory and ultimately our life.

According to a?study by Oracle, more than 75% of people feel “stuck” personally and professionally. There are a variety of reasons you might feel stuck in your career. Maybe you’ve no longer have the passion for a job you once loved, or the work no longer energizes you and you feel like something is missing or holding you back from having greater satisfaction.

As time goes on, those “golden handcuffs” slowly tighten. You may even.

Yet, change is always difficult, even if it’s for the better. That’s because humans don’t like uncertainty. We’re hardwired for survival and prefer to know what’s coming next. Over time, too much uncertainty causes anxiety and eventually turns into full-blown fear. But uncertainty can be redefined to work in your favour. As Eckhart Tolle wrote “If uncertainty is unacceptable to you, it turns into fear. If it is perfectly acceptable, it turns into increased aliveness, alertness, and creativity.”

You need to make a critical decision. Do you want to settle for the life you have now or take action to create the life you deserve? If you’re ready to break free and take control of your career and get unstuck, it might to time for some Career Mentoring.