Key Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Make A Job or Career Change
Before making a job or career change, I encourage people to ask themselves a few key questions that will inevitably minimize the risk of working for the wrong company, industry or profession.
Asking yourself questions around areas such as the role, the physical work environment, the organization, industry, people, and about your own personal needs will assist in forming a clearer picture of what job opportunities to focus on.
Role
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What do I want to wear to work?
- What salary do I want?
- What benefits am I seeking?
- What hours do I want to work? i.e. days, evenings, part time, days off etc
- Do I want to manage staff? If yes, what type of people?
- Do I want to work autonomously or in a team or both? If both what will the percentage be?
- Do I want my role to involve travel? If yes, where, international, national where?
- Do I want one role or to have a few roles?
- Do I want to work for myself or someone else?
- How much flexibility would I have in my role?
- What skills would I be using?
- What challenges would I be encountering?
- What types of people would I be working with?
- How do I feel about these people?
- How do I want to feel about the work I do?
- What work life balance looks like for me?
- Would I be learning?
- If I was learning, what types of things would I be learning?
- What are the pro’s and con’s of the roles I have had in the past?
Physical Work Environment
- What does the office I work in look like? I.e. the style of building, levels, décor, lighting
- What is the location of the office?
- Do I want to drive to work and will there be parking?
- What space will I be working in, a cubicle, office, open floor etc?
- Do I want natural light?
- Will there be music and a lot of noise and activity?
- Do I want tranquility and peace?
- Do I want to work in a high rise office tower?
- What are the immediate surrounds of the organization? i.e. parks, shops, gym, other buildings
- What are the pro’s and con’s of the work environments I have had in the past?
Organization
- What is the people size of the organization?
- What is organizations culture?
- What is the leadership of the organization like?
- How will they manage their staff?
- What are the organizations vision / goals / motto?
- How is the organization viewed by the community?
- What are the values of the organization?
- Are they a prestigious organization, well known to everyone or an unknown entity?
- If I want to create my own organization, what will it look like?
- What are the pro’s and con’s of the organizations I have worked for in the past?
Industry
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What is the industry I am working in?
- Is it a new industry for me?
- Is it a growth industry?
- Am I working across multiple industries?
- What appeals to me about the industry/s?
- How is the industry perceived by the general community?
People
- What will my co-workers be like?
- What will the management of the organization be like?
- What will my boss be like?
- What type of boss will I be?
- What will my customers and clients be like?
- What types of people do I work best with and why?
- What are the pros and cons of the colleagues and managers I have had in the past?
Personal
- What are my key interests – work and personally?
- What do I enjoy doing most?
- What am I great at?
- What do others say I am great at?
- When have I felt the greatest about what I was doing?
- If I could change the world, what three things would I like to see?
- What would I have to do to bring these into my work
- What are my own personal values that I live by?
- What values do I expect a business that I work for to uphold?
- What will I and won’t I tolerate at work and in life in general?
Actions
- Write in a book or on paper your answers to all of these questions
- Go through your resume in chronological order and look at all the roles you have had and look to see if there are any patterns
- Using job listing sites and Newspapers print and cut out jobs that appeal to you – circle the areas that appeal
- Talk to people who work in roles and industries you are interested in working in
- Research courses that relate to roles and industries you are interested in finding out more about
- After you have spent some time thinking about these questions and do your research, sit down and try to piece it all together.
- Talk to friends of family about your discoveries
- Should you still feel unsure about where to go from here, contact a career coach or counselor to assist you with gaining some direction and the next steps – in Australia we have the Career Development Association of Australian which is a good starting point – visit http://www.aacc.org.au/
