25 Mar Take A Career Pause: A Career Review in Easy Steps
Why Now is A Perfect Time to Take a Pause and Do a Career Review
Like it or not, in this time of the Coronavirus most of us currently have no choice. We have to sit back and step back from the world. Even if we are able to work from home, our commute has gone. This has given us extra time and space to with which to play. This enforced isolation can be a perfect time to take stock of your career path and do a proper career review. Together, we will assess what’s going for you and your career, especially if you’ve been having doubts.
Take Positive Steps
Rather than stay glued to our phone screens, anxiously waiting for the next update, let’s take this time to consider our lives and what we really want from them. When we are working, so much time is spent with our noses to the grindstone, bringing in the cash, dashing for the train, queuing for coffee and just getting on with it.
If there is something good that can come from all this, then it is taking stock. Our extra time and space and time out from daily life is perfect for a career review.
It’s a process that I have done myself, and had started to do before Covid-19 even landed. I have had three bereavements in the last six months, including an old school friend. It’s prompted me to question my own purpose. I’ve been asking myself where do I want to put my own intentions and efforts. If I only have so much time left, what do I really want to do with it?
Gut Feelings
For many, life away from the office is going to feel like a respite, a gift. They – maybe you included- will be questioning why they are working there if they are so relived to get away? Others may have been forced to go into work, even if they are not key workers. Finally, when the government intervenes and directs employers to keep them at home, they may be asking themselves why should they be loyal to a company that obviously does not have their best interests at heart.
However, some will find that they miss their place of work. They may see the true humanity of their employer at this time. My son has recently started work for Curzon cinemas. He was touched and relieved to find that management had decided to take pay cuts during this time . This meant lesser paid staff, who might very well have been laid off, would be paid. This was before the UK government’s announcement of a package, and ensures that everyone has some income coming in before all the government support actually gets going.
Career Review Process
Of course, this is a tough time, full of anxiety and uncertainty. It may not come easy to review things calmly, which is why I am going to take you through a career review process. We will be looking at your current career and job from many angles. We’ll be taking an inventory of your needs (and that’s not just financial). Finally, we will be asking if it fulfills them, or has the capacity to do so in the future? It may be that you are on the right track but things need shaking up a bit. Or you could be dreadfully unhappy and seize upon this time as an opportunity to prepare for change. It might be that you’ve been contemplating a move for years but done nothing about it.
However, the very fact that you are reading this means that there is already some question there and I hope that, together, we find an answer.
You Don’t Need A Crisis
If you’re reading this when the Coronavirus is just a shiver in our memory then you don’t need a world crippling crisis to follow this process. With a bit of time and personal space you can work through this programme and assess your own life and work.
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