How To Take Stock Of Your Career Before The End Of The Year

Hellen (not her real name) has had a tough year, as she puts it. She suddenly lost her job after working for an international NGO for close to three years. Her plan had been to work at the company for five years, before venturing into her own business.

“This way, I would leave having saved enough for my business,” she says.

Without a job, she had to reevaluate all the goals she had set for herself and work on finding a job as soon as possible.

"I have not been able to secure a job. I have not even achieved the goals I set at the beginning of the year,” she adds.

You too may have been looking for a job or a career change this year, without much success. How far are you in terms of your career plans? Have you achieved your goals?

As a professional, it is important to keep track of your progress. This way, you are able to set and achieve your goals better. If you have no plan for your career yet, this is the time to consider creating one.

As we prepare to wrap up 2019, here are questions you should ask yourself, to assess how far you have come in your career progression.

1. What Was my Biggest Set Back in 2019?

Is it a presentation that you performed dismally at, what went wrong? What did you overlook that made it fail? Is it misjudgment at your place of work that made you lose an opportunity? What would you have done differently to ensure that you didn’t lose out on the opportunity? In the interviews you failed, what could have gone wrong? In all your job applications that went unanswered, was it your CV that was letting you down? Make a list of all those setbacks you faced this year, and devise solutions from the lessons learned.

With this question, you are able to identify your regrets, failures and setbacks - carefully and objectively analyzing their origin and solutions.

2. What New Thing Did I Learn?

As you look at your career progression, are there things you have learned this year? It is important to note that every day you do not learn something new, someone else in the same profession as you, does. As 2019 comes to an end, you should have made several discoveries and built on your knowledge.

It could be anything as simple as learning a new life or work management skill or even gaining knowledge that ultimately raises your status as a professional.

Look back at the short course you took, what skills did you gain? It could also be something as simple as that new way of solving problems that your colleague showed you, or the new app you discovered online that helps you tackle your tasks.

Take note of these new lessons and discoveries and plan for more discoveries in 2020.

3. What were my achievements?

Achievements are accomplishments you get that are beyond what is expected of you. For example, if you exceeded expectation in the delivery of your targets, did something extraordinary in your role or even won the company awards and recognition, these are achievements.

Did you receive a salary increase? Did you become more confident while speaking in public?

In your personal goals, did you learn a new skill? Did you enrol for a short course or enlarge your professional network?

In doing this, beware of self-doubt that may try to nullify your achievements as well as the goals you didn’t achieve. This will help you form lessons that you can put into practice in the new year as you focus on another level of career growth.

4. Which Habit Should I Let Go and Which One Should I Take with Me to the New Year?

Habits are repeated acts that eventually become a lifestyle. There are good habits and bad habits. No one knows you better than yourself. As such, you fully understand and know the habits you need to let go of and those that you need to adopt.

As you take stock of your career, be honest and objective with yourself. If there are habits such as procrastination that are hurting your career, or distractions that make you waste time, this is the time to drop them.

Aim to retain the habits that build you up and benefit your career as well.

In Conclusion,

Depending on your industry, career and seniority level, you may need to not only answer the above questions, but critically look within, and ask yourself more questions. Your career is your life. As such, it needs to be on the right track every year.