Strategic Thinking For Career Development (Part 2)

By?Sam Chia 谢惠森

You can read the first part here.

Performing Internal Audit/ Review of our Career Attributes

In a survey by Gallup, it was found that people who have the opportunity to use their strengths are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and strongly agree that they have the chance to do what they do best every day.

One of the main reasons people are unhappy and are stuck in their jobs is experiencing clashes between their own values and the values of the organisation or job they are engaged in.

For someone who values fairness, it could be frustrating should the company not practice inclusion and treat the people fairly and equally.?

Values are part of our career attributes. Discovering our career attributes (i.e. Values, Interests, Personality, and Skills) can help us better understand ourselves for a clearer career direction. If we are working in an area we are passionate about and have the strength to do well, we will likely be better engaged and do well.???

Performing External Audit/ Industry and Job Trends

Many industries are transforming, and it is crucial we keep up with the changes.

We can reflect on the external trends relating to the industry in which we are currently working. Are our skills, knowledge, and experience sufficient to support us to be successful? If there is a gap, can this be closed through a learning and development process?

We can also look at some new industries that surface during the industrial revolution 4.0 as we may have some transferable skills to venture into these new industries.

Generate, Evaluate, and Select Strategies/ Evaluate Career Choice

Following a reflection of our purpose, VIPS and job/industry trends, we may begin to explore opportunities or career choices that we as the next steps to becoming unstuck.?

Selecting the choice that best fits our capabilities is an important decision. We can use strategic tools to help us make objective or informed decisions. An example we can use is a simple scorecard below. We can expand to include all the factors in the left column.

We can also use questions to help us to reflect on the options. This behaviour involves asking powerful questions to reflect on a different perspective.

Below are some questions we can ask ourselves:

• What unique value am I bringing into these opportunities?
• What are my continuing learning and growth opportunities?
• What is the culture and value of the new organization, and am I aligned or connected to them?
• Whom am I reporting to? What is the leadership style?
• What is the risk of taking up a new opportunity?

We can also seek feedback from trusted individuals relating to the opportunity.?

CDAS?is an association based in Singapore that aims to Promote and Professionalize Career Development and Management in Singapore.