Taking Stock of Your Career

As we are at the end of National Careers week, we thought we would offer a simple process for taking stock of your career. This is one of a number of self coaching hand-outs we have written.

Taking Stock of Your Career So Far

For many of us in Covid-19 time has taken on a new meaning. ?We may still be busy, but thoughts about our career inevitably creep in. ?Am I doing something meaningful with my life? ?How can I re-discover the passion that brought me into this career? ?Where do I want to be in two years’ time?

In this document we offer you an exercise to help explore and take stock. ?Taking the pressure off ourselves to make any concrete decisions.

Looking Back Exercise ?

Spend some time and give yourself a period of reflection on your career. A time to get some perspective on the inevitable highs and lows. To remind yourself when you are at your best and how you can achieve it.?

This exercise requires an hour or so in a quiet corner with a mug of tea or coffee. ?We’re inviting you to answer some big questions around highs and lows in your working life.

Step 1: Reflection - make notes on your answers to the following questions

·??????What are your greatest accomplishments in your career so far? ?What are you proud of?

·??????Why are they important to you?

·??????When was the last time you felt energised and excited? ?What were you doing and what made it special??

·??????When have you been the most creative and productive??

·??????What are your career lows and what have you learned from them? ?What contributed to the situation?

·??????What attracted to each of the roles you have done? ?How did they turn out?

·??????What inspires you in your current role? ?What are the possibilities?

·??????What’s missing in your current role? ?What holds you back?

Step 2: Review - what patterns and themes are emerging?

Are there any insights on your strengths, values and work motivators? ?What can they tell you about ways to enhance your current role? ?We can be so immersed in our work that we lose sight of the things that give us energy and purpose, sometimes a small change can make a big difference.

Our thanks to Trudy Delamare for writing this for us.