Understanding what career means to you and unlocking your potential

An Intelligent Approach to Planning Your Career

In order to fully understand how to plan your new career and move forward with confidence, it is important to identify what career means to you. It can however, mean different things to different people.

The dictionary definition of career is 'a profession or occupation chosen as one's life's work (Collins - new edition) However, it is a lot more complex than this.

At A Brave New World we have put quite a lot of thought into this question and from discussing careers for many years with many different people we have come up with our own definition.

Career: The collection of an individual's work experiences, beliefs and values over time.

Today we live in an uncertain world. New technology, global trade, widespread relocation of manufacturing and services and the rapid growth of electronic commerce all suggest uncertainty is here to stay. This will have an impact on our career choices. The question is how can we better understand those implications and move our careers forward with confidence?

In this knowledge driven economy which is constantly changing there is a demand for newer and more exciting ways to understand how we can cope with this change and indeed embrace it. The answer lies in understanding oneself and moving towards a more subjective approach to career thinking. By this we mean understanding our work passions, motivations, identities and attachments to others. In other words to really embrace your career the intelligent way, you must first understand yourself, your own personal motivations, values and beliefs.

This process of self evaluation or assessment is the vital first step towards understanding how you work, why you work and with whom you network with (i.e. relationships, reputations and career supports). We call this the 'three ways of knowing'.

When we talk about the 'intelligent approach' we mean that each individual should, at some point in their career, stop and take a good look at where they are going with their career. You should consider your own career choices through the lens of the three ways of knowing. What's going on with your career right now? Have you ever considered how powerful it would be to really understand your own personal ways of knowing?

At ABNW we get you, through our innovative approach, to go deep into these areas and reflect on statements relevant to each of the ways of knowing. These statements will mean different things to different people. An example might be 'I like to gain a sense of achievement from my work'. For one person this may mean that they like to climb the organisational ladder where as for another it may mean that they like being respected by their peers. The different meanings are the result of the different experiences and values/beliefs of each individual.

Our career counselling sessions will enable you to really understand these components and their relevance to you personally. Only then will you be able to truly analyse your skills and from that identify the skills that make you tick. These key skills will then enable you to understand which career area you may wish to pursue and identify any skill gaps that may require retraining etc.

Change can be daunting or even desirable, marvellous or muddling. What helps a confusing plethora of options to become a wealth of exciting opportunities is clear information and a full understanding of oneself and ones talents.

At a Brave New World, we passionately believe that every one is talented and there is a job out there that will motivate, stimulate and engage you - it's just a matter of going out there and seizing it!