In order to make a career move, whether you’re looking for promotion, a change of function, company or a complete career change, two things have to happen in a particular order.
Firstly, you need to ask yourself if you are credible for the role you want, because it doesn’t matter how good your marketing materials are, if you don’t have the relevant knowledge, skills, experience or qualifications to do the role, your chances are slim.
Secondly, review your marketing collateral (CV / LinkedIn). If you’re presenting to the market place what you are and not what you want to be, you will struggle. To gain traction in the market, you first need to demonstrate your skills and capabilities as a ‘product’ to support your Career Search Objective.
Now, to make the right career move, there is a third and possibly most important consideration – motivation. It’s only when you’ve established and really understand what your motivations are, that you’ll be able to market yourself as an individual in a convincing manner.
A person’s motivations can and do change as they progress through their career. The table below is indicative and is not to say that somebody in their 40’s would not be motivated by factors in the other profiles but generally the motivational rating would not be as high in comparison.
Priority | Motivating factors – 30’s |
1 | Personal Development – continuing opportunities to learn and stretch myself |
2 | Income – Today – relatively well paid in comparison to my peers |
3 | Income – Future – my earnings will probably increase significantly in the future |
4 | Challenge – taking on new projects and tackling new problems |
5 | Feedback – to know when I am doing well by others confirming it |
Motivating factors – 40’s | |
1 | Responsibility – directly responsible for important activities / people / projects |
2 | Autonomy – some control over how I plan my time and where I go |
3 | Security – knowing what I will be doing and earning in a year’s time |
4 | Skills – Work Balance – my skills and the work I do are well matched |
5 | Recognition – recognised for my skills and contribution to the organisation |
Motivating factors – 50’s | |
1 | Values – agree with the values of the organisation and see those values being practised |
2 | Variety – my work is varied and interesting |
3 | Enjoyment – totally absorbed in what I do |
4 | Meaningful – my work is meaningful and fulfilling |
5 | Making a Difference – seeing my contribution directly add to the ‘bigger picture’ |
A great tool that you can use to gain further insight into your motivations and preferences is the Myers Briggs MBTI, for more information click here or contact an Associate to see how we can help you.