A career resolution is exactly what it sounds like: a resolution for your career intended to help you grow into a better professional. At Work It DAILY, we believe that you need to work on your career every day (yes, you do, in fact, need to "work it daily"). So, everyone should make a career resolution or two along with those other ambitious personal resolutions. They can be little things like learning a new skill or growing your professional network, or bigger goals like landing a promotion or getting a new job.
But how do you know what kind of career resolutions to make?
You can begin by asking yourself, "Am I where I want to be in my career?" If your answer is "no," you need to take a closer look at your career goals.
Here are five more career questions you should be asking yourself this new year to figure out how to grow your career and become the professional you know you can be.
1. Am I Proud Of My Job Title?
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You could be a janitor or a neurosurgeon, it doesn't matter. If you aren't proud of what you do for a living, there's something missing: passion and purpose.
Career burnout is real, but sometimes it's deeper than that. Our passion at 25 won't necessarily be our passion at 40. And that's okay.
When we are passionate about what we do, we are proud because we are doing what we think is important, what we love doing. We feel a sense of purpose. We are adding value to and making a difference in this crazy world—in a small, but significant way.
Every job is important. No matter what your job title is, if you aren't proud of it, and don't feel like you can leverage your strengths as a professional in the position, you should absolutely change that. Identify that one problem you want to find a solution to and go after it. What are you waiting for?
Remember, the only bad job is the one you aren't passionate about, the one that isn't allowing you to leverage your professional strengths and reach your potential.
If you don't know what your professional strengths are or what kind of work you'd find purposeful and fulfilling, we recommend taking our free career quizzes.
Take the quizzes now to learn your unique combination of professional strengths and how they can help you get better career results so you can be proud of what you do.
2. Do I Feel Secure In My Career?
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This is a bit different from job security. Actually, job security doesn't exist. Every job is temporary. Think you can stay in the same job for decades and then retire? Think again. While that may have been commonplace for past generations, today's workforce and job market are completely different than what they were a decade or two ago.
So what does it mean to feel secure in our careers? When we believe as professionals that we can add value wherever we are.
You are a business-of-one. A company won't want to invest in you if they don't know the kinds of services you provide, the kind of value you could add to the organization, and the problems you could solve for them. Here are some examples of questions that will help you determine if you're secure in your career:
- Are you adding value at your current job?
- Are you honing your skills, expanding your network, and building your personal brand?
- Do you feel confident that if you lost your job, you'd be able to find a comparable one in the same field?
- Do you feel confident you'd be able to demonstrate to potential employers how you add value?
Since every job is temporary, it's extremely important to constantly work on our careers and ask ourselves these questions frequently so we always feel secure in our businesses-of-one.
3. Will I Be Able To Achieve Wealth?
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When most people think of "wealth," they think of dollar signs and anything that you can attach a monetary value to. Our jobs help us build wealth. We're not going to tell you that money isn't important. Of course it is! It allows you to live the life you want to live. In many ways, money equals freedom.
But the truth is, there are other forms of wealth that are more important that you can't attach any monetary value to.
Real wealth comes in the form of family, friends, hobbies, experiences, knowledge, and community. If you don't have these things, money will never fill that void.
So, is your career allowing you to build this type of wealth? The intangible kind? Or are your relationships suffering because of your job? Is your work-life balance nonexistent? Do you have any time to pursue hobbies, learn, or volunteer?
Your career should never inhibit you from achieving real wealth. The best job isn't the one that pays the most. It's the one that pays the bills and gives you enough time to live, too.
4. Do I Have Any Regrets?
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Just asking ourselves this question can be difficult because maybe we don't want to know the answer. Acknowledging that you regret something in your life is the first step to making a change. Guess what? There's still time to chase your dreams!
If you do have regrets, that doesn't mean you haven't been a successful professional. That also doesn't mean you haven't had a good career. You could be the most successful person, but if you never got up the courage to start that business, make that career change, or go back to school, you'll most likely think, "What if?" for the rest of your life.
You'll never know if you don't try. Don't be afraid of failure. Life is just one big experiment, and it's your job to learn from those experiments. That's how you discover what works and what doesn't. That's how you discover what's possible.
And even if you do "fail," that's an incredibly more valuable experience than waiting out the clock on a mediocre career. So, don't give up on your dreams just yet.
5. Can I Reach My Full Potential In This Role? In This Career?
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When we feel like we have more to contribute to society, that's a sign we haven't yet reached our full potential. Do you feel like you're wasting your potential at your current job? Do you think you'd reach your full potential in another career?
Really think about what you want your professional legacy to be. It's a lot harder to get up in the morning when you don't find fulfillment in your work. When it comes time for you to retire, are you going to look back on your career and feel like you could have accomplished much, much more with those 50 years?
Everyone has unique gifts, skills, and expertise. When we focus on developing ourselves as individuals, as businesses-of-one, it's a lot easier to share those things with the world. Give yourself a chance to reach your full potential. If you haven't taken our free quizzes yet, your results will help you do just that. You may be surprised by what you can accomplish.
Before you get back into the same routine at work this year, we hope you take a few minutes to ask yourself these career questions. Listen carefully to how you answer them. You may need to make a career resolution or two.
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This is the career story of a nonprofit development director as told to JustJobs.com Academy. This site features real stories from professionals in a myriad of professions. If you have considered a career in philanthropy, read on to learn what the job is really like from this Associate Director of Development. Visit JustJobs for more interviews with philanthropy professionals including one from a fundraiser and a giving coordinator and many others.
I have been employed for several years in a Development Department for a nonprofit agency. My job titles have changed along the way and currently I am the Associate Director of Development. It's expected that I will eventually be the Director, but it's unclear when that might happen. My organization supports people with developmental disabilities by assisting with location of resources, operating group homes, and offering many respite options for families.
I entered this field for several reasons. My biggest motivation was the desire to do something that mattered and to help make this world a better place. I was aware my salary would probably range between $30,000- $40,000 for a while, but when I am named Director I expect to be making closer to the mid $60s. Clearly, I didn't select this career path with dreams of vast wealth. There are many other rewards that keep me going and I truly love my job.
One of the nice things about working at a nonprofit is that we get a great vacation package and 12 paid holidays. I always joke they can't pay us very well but they are happy to give us enough days off to make up for that.
To work in the development field, it's vital to have at least a two-year degree. A Masters degree is not required, but if you want to advance to a management position, it will help you get there. We are also offered tuition reimbursement if we decide to further our education. That benefit helped me complete my Masters degree.
My position involves wearing many hats. In a typical day I might spend 1-2 hours making phone calls to donors and event sponsors. I run committees that are overseeing various events and fundraising drives. I work on marketing campaigns, talk with reporters, and edit our agency newsletter. No two days are exactly the same and I am never bored.
I often meet with donors to maintain relationships, thanking them for their support and ensuring their future commitment. Those meetings are a highlight for me. It's a time to pause and talk about the successes of our organization and share the details of our future goals. Those conversations always fill me with both pride and anticipation for what I do. My passion is evident and my fundraising goals are reached because of it. People respond when you are genuine.
Another wonderful part of my job is when I have the opportunity to spend time with the men and women our agency supports. They live in group homes that are lovely, clean, and very homey. The staff is exceptional and their compassion and kindness is humbling. I am consistently impressed by the wonderful people we employ. Seeing the smiles and pride on the faces of the men and women in the homes is simply priceless.
There have been a few challenges along the way. Nonprofits often run short-staffed to save costs. Unfortunately, that means I often find myself working extra hours to pick up the slack. Balancing my home and work life is very difficult at times. I have learned to set boundaries and to be open with my supervisors about what I can and cannot do. I no longer accept deadlines that will require excess hours. I was uncomfortable in the beginning because it's in my nature to please people. However, I am glad I made the stand and I feel much better about my time now. Additionally, they agency recently approved a part-time position to assist in my department. I smiled to myself when I heard. I guess they finally admitted that I was doing the work of 1.5 people.
There's a certain type of person who will do well in a nonprofit environment. If you are motivated by the knowledge that your work is positively affecting lives, this could be the job for you.
Associate director of disabled image from Shutterstock
