13 Ways to Revive Your Career

"Spring's the ideal time to weigh up where your job is heading," says consultant Tony Charles. This is the time of year when we see new growth. New green shoots are appearing, trees are blossoming and plants are flowering.

But how is your career? Is it growing? Or is it declining? Have you failed to keep those promises to do something about your career in 2006?

Well, here are some questions you should ask:

• Do you enjoy your job?
• Do you feel challenged and are you are using your skills?
• Does your job suit your personality?
• Do you enjoy working with your colleagues?
• Do your personal values match the values of the organization you work for, or are they out of synch?
• Has your career reached a plateau and do you need a new role, either within your existing organization or elsewhere?
• Have you got your work balanced with the rest of your life, including home, family and leisure?
• How do you feel on Monday mornings?

If you are unhappy in your career, feel you are in the wrong job or have reached a career plateau, now is the ideal time to do something about it. Spring clean your career and take a career health check!

Twenty years of undertaking career counseling have shown me that there are two vital ingredients to progressing one's career: time and effort.

Most of us are so busy with our jobs and the other parts of our lives that we do not self-indulge in making time available to review our careers on a regular basis.

And yes, it does take effort to constructively review our careers in a planned and organized way.

Both these two vital ingredients -- time and effort -- can be assisted by having a coach, mentor or someone who knows you well, with whom you can review your career and talk openly and honestly.

The time when our employers took control of our careers and development is long past in many organizations. We have to take more personal control of our careers today.

People who actively manage their careers are usually happier and more successful.

Here are some tips for reviewing your career this spring:

1. Give your career the time and effort it deserves and invest in making time available to check where you are now.

2. Are you at the stage in your career where you feel you should be?

3. If not, what do you need to do to realize your future dreams?

4. Accept that like business, personal circumstances and needs change and it may be time to move on.

5. Today, people do not necessarily stay with one employer for their whole career.

6. Is your career still progressing or is it declining?

7. Is the organization growing and offering opportunity, or is it declining, and despite your talents and hard work, do you need to get out of it and enter a new sector to be successful in the future?

8. Consider your strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. What is it you are passionate about and enjoy doing?

9. Review your achievements and think about your personality. Perhaps think about completing a career advice questionnaire to find out more about yourself and to help uncover your career preferences and possible new opportunities.

10. Is your resume up to date and suitable for possible new roles you could be seeking?

11. How are your interview skills?

12. Are you familiar with modern career-assessment techniques, which are now used extensively by leading employers?

13. Develop a long-term career plan -- the future is always changing!

Tony Charles runs a Cardiff-based human resources and careers consulting practice to individuals and organizations going through change. He has launched a Career Health Check service comprising an Internet-based careers advice questionnaire coupled with personal feedback.

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