Before you even look at a job board or update your resume, there are a few steps you can take to make sure your job search is setting off in the right direction.
Whether you are looking for a promotion, a change in industry/ organisation or a complete career change, you need to understand what you want more of and what you want less of in your next move.
Current job analysis is a great place to start.
Ask yourself the following questions:
What do I love about my current position?
You may love the company or industry you are working in, work with an amazing team or clients, or it could just be that you love it when you leave for the day!
What do I not love about my current position?
The length of this list will determine how far you need to move away from your current situation to find what you love! Break it down into job responsibilities, industry, organisation, people, working arrangements.
What are your highest values?
Do you want to spend more time with family, or make a difference to society or the planet? Do you value freedom to innovate, or creativity? When you have identified what your values are, see how they align with your current role. If they don't align, what would need to change for them to do so?
What is my ideal working arrangement?
If you have children in childcare you need to accommodate, is distance from work and set working hours an issue? Do you prefer to work from home without a commute for personal or environmental reasons? Does the thought of working in isolation scare the hell out of you as you love being around other people?
Where doI see yourself in the future?
If it isn't doing what you are doing now, then what do you need to learn to get there or what role may be a 'stepping stone' role to position you for your future move?
Most importantly, what makes me FEEL good?
When do you feel good? What is it that you are doing? Wo are you interacting with? Do you feel good when you are analysing data and looking for patterns? Or do you feel good when you are on stage speaking or teaching groups of people? This is the most important factor in finding a job that you love!
Now you have this information, you have a list of what you want, what makes you feel good and what aligns with you future. These are the ingredients you need to identify what kind of job you will love.
Next steps! Is your resume up to date or stuck in the last century? My Professional Resume Template Suite includes my highest converting resume template, my career insights questionnaire to tease out all the good things you have done, and a video how-to guide with me walking you through the process! You can read more and get it here.
Hi, I'm Katie, a disco-loving, woman-empowering, career brand strategist and language-loving wordsmith, and I've been helping women build achievement-focused, impactful careers since 2011.
After helping hundreds of women to grow their dream careers, by running a successful career branding and resume writing business, I am now passionate about empowering women to be the leaders in their own careers and teaching them what it takes to create their own values-aligned, purposeful career brand that is EASY, EXCITING and FUN!