A New Year Can Expose New Ambitions

If you’re not up for a decent promotion in 2022, it’s time to think about the professional skills and responsibilities you wish to gain, and more importantly, how to get closer to the lifestyle you want.

Putting in effort to explore new job opportunities can disrupt your day to day (not to mention the stress, unknowns, and emotions of interviewing and changing jobs), however the past 20 months have shown us why it’s important to stay qualified, relevant, and able to pivot.

So even if you’re not on the market for a new job, consider these reasons to at least learn about your options.

• Taking an interview can give you a better understanding of what you can achieve professionally.
• Selectively meeting with other companies will reinforce either it’s time for you to move on or that you have something really good where you are now.
• Expand your understanding of your industry by seeing how other people do it.
• Evaluate where you sit competitively in your line of work; not just where you’re employed now is lucrative, but also how meaningful the work you're doing is to you.
• See things first hand instead of relying on 3rd party data and trends. There’s only so many biased reviews you can read about to get an understanding. At some point you have to see it for yourself.
• Network with others in your space to become part of a specialized community. A peer group can be a great resource for opportunities because they too will move to new companies.
• Every interview is an opportunity to practice telling your story.
• At the very least, you’re prepared. You’ll have your résumé up to date and interview skills polished in case you’re unexpectedly on the market.

So unless your current job is filling 100% of your professional and personal goals, you can take control of your destiny by being a little open minded about your options.