Introduction: Job or Personal Career, Which One You Choose?
Posted on Sunday, May 27, 2007 At
2:23 AM
Have you ever wondered if there’s more to working life than the daily grind of your job? Do you sometimes worry about where you’re going and what you should be doing in five or ten years’ time? Do you want to earn more money from your work? Do you ever wish you had a career and not just a job?
If you can answer yes to any one of these questions, then this is for you. It’s time to sit up and take action to get what you want.
Only a few decades ago, people could join one organization and stay with it until they retired. They could wait for their parent-like company to send them on training courses, tell them what to do, hand them promotions on a plate and eventually usher them off to a happy retirement. An employee simply didn’t have to make plans or take decisions to manage his or her career.
However, times have changed. Today’s economic climate is much more competitive. What with cost cutting drives, delayering, downsizing and even ‘rightsizing’, no one can be guaranteed a satisfying job for life. While most people will probably be able to find employment of some sort, it’s not a given that it will be at all interesting or rewarding. So, it’s up to you to do something about it.
But the good news is that you can determine the sort of career that you end up with. Organizations are desperate to recruit and retain the brightest and best employees. And if you’re the sort of person who is willing to invest in acquiring the right skills and attitude, then companies will reward you with constantly challenging work – as well as hard cash – for your efforts.
If you’re looking to take control of your career, then these ten career commandments are for you. Each chapter is filled with advice and exercises to make you think and change your working life for the better. Some of the exercises in each chapter may overlap with each other a bit so you don’t necessarily have to do every single one. But if you can invest the time and effort to do them all properly, you’ll find that you will get to know yourself so much better – which will mean that you’ll be more likely to achieve your career goals.
If you can answer yes to any one of these questions, then this is for you. It’s time to sit up and take action to get what you want.
Only a few decades ago, people could join one organization and stay with it until they retired. They could wait for their parent-like company to send them on training courses, tell them what to do, hand them promotions on a plate and eventually usher them off to a happy retirement. An employee simply didn’t have to make plans or take decisions to manage his or her career.
However, times have changed. Today’s economic climate is much more competitive. What with cost cutting drives, delayering, downsizing and even ‘rightsizing’, no one can be guaranteed a satisfying job for life. While most people will probably be able to find employment of some sort, it’s not a given that it will be at all interesting or rewarding. So, it’s up to you to do something about it.
But the good news is that you can determine the sort of career that you end up with. Organizations are desperate to recruit and retain the brightest and best employees. And if you’re the sort of person who is willing to invest in acquiring the right skills and attitude, then companies will reward you with constantly challenging work – as well as hard cash – for your efforts.
If you’re looking to take control of your career, then these ten career commandments are for you. Each chapter is filled with advice and exercises to make you think and change your working life for the better. Some of the exercises in each chapter may overlap with each other a bit so you don’t necessarily have to do every single one. But if you can invest the time and effort to do them all properly, you’ll find that you will get to know yourself so much better – which will mean that you’ll be more likely to achieve your career goals.