Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Is it time to do a career audit?

Is it time you did a career audit and really thought about your future job options; especially now that kids are on the scene? 

Some of the common pitfalls parents fall into when it comes to making employment choices (or decisions about when is the ‘right’ time to go back to work after maternity leave) is not reviewing their career options and being clear on what it is they are aiming to negotiate.  It’s not uncommon to find parents busily formatting their outdated resume and giving it a spring clean, without consideration for what skills and experience they want to promote nor which jobs they will applying for.  If this sounds like ‘you’ it’s time to do a career audit!


·         Make a list of what you’ve done in the past and enjoyed and would like to continue doing in your next job.  This list can contain tasks and skills you are good at and enjoyed doing.  Likewise, what you least enjoyed or just don’t want to focus on in the future.


·         Imagine your next job – is it with a small employer or large? What industry would you prefer? How do you imagine spending your day at work – what would you be doing? Who would you be working with and in what type of working arrangement?


·         Start creating your short list – write your own job description. Give it a title, salary and preferred location and essential skills and experience you’d like to use.


·         Re-examine your values – what will be most important to you in your new job; will it be the flexibility offered, the stability, the teamwork, the ability to progress? Equally what wouldn’t you accept or compromise on?


·         Finally, once you’ve got your short-list – start creating a winning resume that sells all the experience and skills you want to use in your next job.


·         Update your career objective and profile pages on your resume and online job networking sites etc.


·         Need help to get started on your career audit? Contact mums@work at info@mumsatwork.com.au.

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