If you are like most people you probably never sit down and think about what you want from your career. Let’s facing it in a busy job and life it can be hard to prioritise this over everything else.
At the same time you spend more time in working than most other activities. If this is going to be a huge part of your life don’t you want to make sure that you are giving this question sufficient time.
Yet most people don’t. Imagine you were going on a round the world trip. Would you just back your bags, get on a plane and go? Of course you wouldn’t. You would sit down and plan, research and know all the stop off points and things you wanted to see along the way.
The harsh reality is that if you fail to make the time to think and plan you may well find that you miss the boat or get left behind. The window to make progress in your career is often very small. Some say that where you are at the age of 35 or 40 is where you will end up long term.
Of course nothing is certain in life or careers. However, having clarity about how far you want to go provides the target. It also helps with decisions about job moves.
So here are a few questions to focus on:
How far do I want to go in my career?
What’s important to you from a job?
What 5 things are important to you about the type of organisation you work for?
What types of people do you love working with?
What types of people would be real struggle to work with?
Taking a bit of time to get clarity is a great way to increase your chances of building a successful career in accountancy.