Take the first step to change your career

You know you don’t like your job. In fact, you know you want to a complete change. But the problem is you just don’t know what other job you want to do or for that matter what other job you are able to do. Where do you start?

Deirdre Cronnelly is a successful career coach. She believes that before you make any decision about changing your career you must first do a bit of research on yourself. She explains more.

Have you ever felt that you just don’t know where to go to next in terms of your career? It can happen to us at any stage in life. If you are at that stage in your life maybe the following exercise might just help you decide on what’s the next best move for you!

Try it – you have nothing to loose.

We want you to describe the values in your life by doing the following exercise. Using the checklist should give you a better idea of what’s important to you. It’s divided into three categories related to intrinsic, extrinsic and lifestyle values. This is an example – look for other values which aren’t included on the list but are important to your satisfaction and list them.

Intrinsic Values

These are the intangible rewards, those related to motivation and satisfaction at work on a daily basis. They provide the inner satisfaction and motivation that make people say, “I love getting up and going to work!”

How important (on a scale of one to five; five being most important) are these intrinsic values to you?

1. Variety and change at work

2. Be an expert

3. Work on the frontiers of knowledge

4. Help others

5. Help society

6. Experience adventure/excitement

7. Take risks/have physical challenges

8. Feel respected for your work

9. Compete with others

10. Have lots of public contact

11. Influence others

12. Engage in precision work

13. Gain a sense of achievement

14. Opportunities to express your creativity

15. Work for a good cause

Extrinsic Values

These are the tangible rewards or conditions you find at work, including the physical setting, job titles, benefits and earnings/earning potential. Extrinsic values often trap people into staying at jobs they don’t like, saying: “I just can’t give up my paycheck!” They are commonly called “golden handcuffs.”

How important (on a scale of one to five; five being most important) are these “golden handcuffs” to you?

1. Have control/power/authority

2. Travel often

3. Be rewarded monetarily

4. Be an entrepreneur

5. Work as a team

6. Work in a fast-paced environment

7. Have regular work hours

8. Set your own hours/have flexibility

9. Be wealthy

10. Have prestige or social status

11. Have intellectual status

12. Have recognition through awards/honors/bonuses

13. Wear a uniform

14. Work in an aesthetically pleasing environment

15. Work on the edge, in a high-risk environment

Lifestyle Values

These are the personal values associated with how and where you want to live, how you choose to spend your leisure time and how you feel about money.

How important (on a scale of one to five; five being most important) are these lifestyle values to you?

1. Save money

2. Holiday at expensive resorts

3. Have access to educational/cultural opportunities

4. Live close to sports/recreational facilities

5. Be active in your community

6. Entertain at home

7. Be involved in politics

8. Live simply

9. Spend time with family

10. Live in a big city

11. Live abroad

12. Have time for spirituality/personal growth

13. Be a homeowner

14. Live in a rural setting

15. Have fun in your life and at work

Once you have completed all three checklists, write down all the values you rated as 5s. If you have less than five, add the values you rated as 4s to the list.

If your list of 4s and 5s has more than 20 values, you need to stop and prioritise your list. To prioritise, select no more than four or five values from each category.

Next, analyze which of the three categories is most important to you. Consider how each is reflected in the work you currently do or in the position you would like to find.

Look for overlap or values that seem to go together, such as “be wealthy” from Extrinsic Values and “save money” from Lifestyle Values.

If there is no overlap or compatibility between categories, or if everything is important to you, then reprioritize your list by selecting your top 10 values.

Then narrow that list down to the five values you absolutely need both on and off the job.

Now prioritise these 10 values from 1 to 10 in below table and answer questions relating to the values.

Once you have completed this exercise then you will have a better idea about what motivates you and the direction you want to take.

All you need to do now is take the first step to change your career!

Deirdre Cronnelly