To help proactively manage and plan your career consider what you are skilled at, what your priorities are and what motivates you. This can help you decide which direction to follow.
A good starting point is to ask yourself some key questions:
Where am I now:
First step - assess where you are now
To help you do this it's useful to identify;
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what you value in your work
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what your skills, strengths and attributes are
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what you are particularly knowledgeable/experienced in
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what are your achievements to date and what motivates you
Where do I want to be:
Next step - identify where you want to get to
When identifying your career goal it is important that the goal is SMART:
S pecific
M easurable
A chievable
R ealistic
T ime-Limited
Some examples of a SMART career goal:
1. You have realised that you are happy in your current role but that you are motivated by helping others so a SMART career goal might be:
"In the next month I will set up a meeting with my line manager to discuss mentoring opportunities within my current role."
2. You have identified that you want a new challenge in your career and a priority for you is to spend more time with your family so a SMART career goal might be:
"In the next 3 months I will identify suitable job opportunities that offer a working pattern that fits with my family schedule."
How am I going to get there
Next step - start looking for appropriate opportunities
To achieve your career goal it may be necessary for you to develop new skills, gain some experience or knowledge in a specific area or undertake a qualification. There are a number of ways you could do this:
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Career Pathways have been created for some of the roles that exist across the School, showing the requirements for those and some (suggested steps or pathways) that might be available to you, should you wish to develop your career within the School.
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The Career Development Review process is a good way to identifying your skills and attributes and for deciding which direction to take your personal and professional development.
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Look for appropriate courses or development opportunities see our A-Z listing of courses
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Undertake additional responsibilities in your current role
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Do a job swap or job shadow a colleague. See our section on job shadowing for more information
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A mentor can keep you motivated, act as someone to bounce ideas off and give you some tips and hints from their own experience of finding work