|
Carolyn B. Thompson Reprint Rights
Training Systems, Inc. 470 Words
221 Vermont Road
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-469-1162
Career Plateaus
by: Carolyn B. Thompson
Are you growing--or growing bored? Do you feel stuck on dead center?
Job and career plateaus are part of the rhythm of people's lifework. For
the individual, a
plateau can be a vantage site from which to review one's career - a time
of challenge, reflection, and
choice.
The first step is to set some short term and long term goals. The steps
taken to reach these goals
will depend on the reasons for the plateauing. If you're life plateaued,
the actions you take will
probably be outside your work. This may mean taking a sabbatical or part
time work while pursuing
your life goal.
You may not know what you'd be interested in. There's a skill test, Career
Values and
Motivated Skills Card Sorts, where you have to choose which things you
value most and least and
which skills you really enjoy using to those you really dislike and then
decide which of all the skills
you are highly proficient at and in which you are not proficient at
all--and it's great fun! Another
way is to list 20 lifetime experiences you loved. Or you can get some
university catalogues and pick
out the kinds of courses you'd like to take. There are also many, many
books on career
development that you can get--"What Color is Your Parachute?" by Richard
Bolles, "Do What You
Love", "The Money Will Follow" by Marsha Sinetar, "Do What You Love" by
Paul and Barbara Tieger.
After determining what your interests and skills are, further training or
education may be necessary.
Through career development, you'll discover that "up" is not the only way
of achieving career
satisfaction, security, and commitment. By understanding your motivations,
needs, talents, skills,
work goals, and personal values and by finding alternative ways of
integrating these aspects of
yourself with your career, you can achieve a personal transformation and
gain a rewarding career!
Carolyn B. Thompson is the President of Training Systems, Inc., a
customized training and HR consulting
company that helps small and medium sized organizations enhance their
ability to recruit, inspire and retain
quality employees and improve performance through training. Carolyn is an
experienced trainer and
consultant knowledgeable in the challenging area of employee recruitment,
inspiration and retention.
She has written articles for several prominent magazines, been the subject
of articles in local
newspapers, and written chapters for several books. In addition, Carolyn
produced a two-tape audio
cassette set entitled "Straight Talk for Employers", and the worksheet,
Ten Steps to Determining the
Return on Your Training Investment. She's written and published a book
entitled "Creating Highly
Interactive Training Quickly and Effectively", is currently writing a book
about on-the-job training,
and co-authoring another book "Inspiring Employees to Excellence Using The
Bible As Your Guide".
Training Systems, Inc. 2000 |
