Thinking about a job or career change? Maybe one has been thrust upon you through a recent round of redundancies, or you can see the  writing on the wall, with lots of uncertainty at work.  Whether of your making or not, a change in job or career requires one fundamental mindset – the willingness to back yourself.

The ability to overcome the type of self-doubt that gets in the way of you really being the best you can be, selling yourself well, and achieving what you or others know you can, can be difficult to sustain; especially if you have been looking for a job for a while. Even if you are currently in a reasonable job or one that you really like, but want to progress or change to something new; it is my experience that negative self-talk and unwillingness to really acknowledge the skills you have, together with poor job search strategy and lack of vision for the future, can really derail job search efforts before they barely get started.

Of course your ability to back yourself is made a lot easier by taking care of some career management basics:

1. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT OUT OF WORK – what matters most? what do you value? what do you want to contribute and achieve?

2. TAKE THE TIME TO THOROUGHLY AUDIT YOUR SKILL SET – what can you do well? how is that transferable into other jobs? are there gaps in your skills and do you need to fill them?

3. IDENTIFY SOURCES OF THE JOB VACANCIES? – who is in your circle of contacts? what do you know about your local labour market? are you signed up on  job vacancy sites?

Armed with this knowledge you will be in much better shape to take Oscar Wilde’s advice:

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. 

In a competitive labour market, your best self is required for success. Back yourself and all you have to offer. No one else can do this for you, but lots of people will notice you (for the right reasons!).

For more detailed career management tips go to the Career Tips page or send me a question. I’d be glad to answer it.

Carole