Saturday, January 05, 2008

January Isn't Just For Resolutions

Every January, people sit down and resolve to lose weight, save money, stop smoking and a host of other things.

For years, I have suggested that people use the start of the new year to take a career and job inventory, something that will be far more likely to be useful than the well intentioned resolutions that will be forgone by the second week.

What are your career goals?

Are you still pointed in the right direction?

How is your job helping you on the path to achieving them?

Are you reading about your company in the newspaper for growth or struggle?

How does your salary match up with the job market for what you do? Is the difference worth sacrificing (sometimes it is)?

What do you need to learn in order to advance yourself? Should you go back for another degree or will a different type of training be sufficient (and cost thousands less).

Write down your accomplishments for the past year. These will be particularly helpful at review time. As a matter of fact, if you can do this at least every six months or, better yet, every three months, you will have the best information imaginable when you are reviewed by your boss.

Making a regular habit of professional critiquing will help you waste less time on doing things that are not useful for you professionally and keep you pointed in the right one.


Jeff Altman

The Big Game Hunter
 Concepts in Staffing
thebiggamehunter@cisny.com

© 2008 all rights reserved.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter, is Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, He has successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in many disciplines since 1971. He is a retired certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist.

To receive a daily digest of positions emailed to you, search for openings that The Big Game Hunter is working on, to use Jeff’s free job lead search engine, Job Search Universe, to subscribe to Jeff’s free job hunting ezine, “Head Hunt Your Next Job, or his staffing ezine, “Natural Selection”, or to learn about his VIP program, go to www.jeffaltman.com.

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