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What's Your Next Career?
Every January, many of us return to work with a little more ho-hum than the more traditional hi-ho.
So if it's off to work you go, and another year at your current job seems more than you can bear, you need to consider your options.
Recent Lotto winners aside, most of us will be working in one form or another this year.
Along with all the other new year resolutions we've made, it's likely more than a few of us will decide that this will be the year that we chuck in the current job, angle for a promotion, or even go for a total change in our career.
Tempting though it may be to pack up your lunchbox and run briskly for the exit, take time to evaluate exactly what you have and what you want.
It could be that a few simple changes in your current environment is all it takes.
The first step is understanding what drives you.
Unless you know what inspires and excites you, or, conversely, what drives you to the brink of desperate boredom, you're unlikely to make a wise career choice.
Kathryn Jackson, a career development coach, suggests you grab a piece of paper and draw a big circle with a dot in the middle.
Next, draw lines from the centre of the circle out toward the edge of the circle, like cutting a pie into slices. There's no limit to the number of slices you can have and each one represents something at work that is really important to you.
It could be the strong relationship you have with your manager or colleagues, the financial reward or extra benefits.
Rate each slice on a scale of zero to 10, with the zero at the heart or top end of the slice, and the 10 at the outer edge.
Draw a line across the slice at whatever point your rating is.
It should now be evident if things are out of balance, which parts of the job are attractive, and which ones are not.
