Make The Right Career Move

It is not realistic for HR Managers to believe that there will not be any staff turnover in the organisation. Having regular staff turnover need not be a negative proposition as it may imply that the industry is very dynamic. There are also other varied reasons for this: The organisation may undergo a restructuring exercise or its headquarters may be relocated to a different country. With new talents to improve the competitiveness of the organisation, it is dependent on each employee to take full control of his career progression.

In this article, tips will be provided about making the best decisions in career progression.

Your Expertise:

You have to be objective and honest about your own personal expertise assessment. Are you suitable for a particular job or are you expected to learn in new skill? It is best to find out about the future progress of your chosen industry so that your skills will not be deemed as outdated by other organizations.

Your Networks:

You should also get in contact with your corporate networks and find out more about the industry. This will be useful if you want to take up relevant courses to boost your employability in the industry. You can also join informal Internet Forums to get more information.

During The Transition:

It is wise to take stock of your current situation before you make a career transition. The most important aspect is your regular financial commitments. The reason is that making a career transition needs considerable adjustment in time and building new working relationships. You may have to set aside more money in your new working environment for transport, eating and business entertainment.

Your Company Has Changed Focus:

You feel that your organisation may have changed its long-term focus and your skills may not be as important as before. This is not uncommon occurrence especially with globalisation. It is good to have a word with your immediate superior and explain your wish to change your job specification. Your initiative may actually prompt your immediate supervisor to recommend you for a promotion.

Needing New Challenges:

With the recent dot-com explosion, many people have been exposed with the excitement of setting up a company from scratch. There is a lure of being an entrepreneur. You may not want to be a technopreneur but you are certainly considering to be an Independent Consultant.

Do not throw away your current contacts: They may prove to be instrumental in getting new contract. Leave your organisation in good terms; they may be your future alliances.

Overseas Posting:

Your Career Move may also be an overseas posting. The reason is that your performance may be monitored and a good showing will bring positive results. Before you accept the overseas posting, you should make the effort of finding out about the living conditions and expenses. A lot of this information can be found on the internet It is also prudent to get in contact with other employees who have had the same overseas posting.

Developing A New Product/Expertise:

If you are in the R&D industry and you are developing a patent, you may decide to make a career move because your current work environment may not be conducive. This is not a difficult decision as developing a patent may take about 5 years and you do not want to waste your productive years not completing the patent design.

Needing More Flexibility:

A career move be a signal your deep desire to pursue other interests. This can be in the form of writing a book or completing a study program. Many senior employees make this conscious decision after their children's education have been settled or after accumulating a comfortable retirement fund.

About The Author

This article is the copyright of Colin Ong TS of MR=MC Consulting Pte Ltd (http://www.mrmc.com.sg) which provides Customized Training for Organizations and Educational Institutions in the area of Knowledge Management, Workplace Issues & New Technology Empowerment. Also visit http://www.mrmc.com.sg/12n

colin@mrmc.com.sg

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard during heightened security checks at Chennai International airport in Chennai, India, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008. Indian airports were put on high alert after the government received warnings of possible airborne attacks. (AP Photo)AP - A Pakistani militant group apparently used an Indian operative as far back as 2007 to scout targets for the elaborate plot against India's financial capital, authorities said Thursday, a blow to Indian officials who have blamed the deadly attacks entirely on Pakistani extremists.



Auto executives, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger,  Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, and Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, before a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the auto industry bailout.  (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)AP - U.S. automakers drew fresh skepticism from lawmakers Thursday in a rocky confrontation over their pleas for an expanded $34 billion rescue package they say they need to survive. Congressional analysts said one bailout plan under consideration would fall short of what the carmakers want.



AP - Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians could face mandatory 30-year prison sentences under an aggressive anti-drug law being considered as the Justice Department readies indictments, people close to the case said.

A wounded Iraqi policeman is brought to a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008. The man was among two policemen wounded when their patrol car was struck by a roadside bomb. i(AP Photo/Karim Kadim)AP - Suicide bombers killed 17 people — including two American soldiers — and wounded more than 100 in a string of blasts in two Iraqi cities Thursday as a timetable for withdrawing all U.S. troops won final government approval.



Caren Ramirez is shown in this booking photo provided by the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. Ramirez was arrested in connection with alleged abuse against her 17 year-old nephew who showed up Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 at a northern California gym with a chain locked to his ankle. (AP Photo/ San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department)AP - A California couple has been charged with kidnapping and torturing a 17-year-old boy police say they sometimes kept shackled in their home.



Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Albert Lea, Minn. is seen in an August 208 photo. Two teenage girls who worked at Good Samaritan Society nursing home have been charged with abuse, accused of taunting, spitting on and groping the breasts and genitals of residents who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and other dementia disorders in a complaint filed Monday, Dec. 1. 2008. Brianna Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Larson, 18, were charged as adults.  Four other teens who worked with them at the Good Samaritan Society were charged as juveniles for failing to report the incidents.(AP Photo/Albert Lea Tribune, Brie Cohen)AP - Two teenage girls who worked at a nursing home have been charged with abuse, accused of taunting, spitting on and groping residents who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.



In this photo taken Oct. 29, 2005, Dominic Spano, front, of New Milford, Conn., and his son, Michael Spano, 12, load an MG-42 machine gun during the Westfield Sportsman's Club's annual Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the club ground in Westfield, Mass. It was announced Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, that Dominic Spano and two other men were indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 8-year-old Christopher Bizilj, who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi during a gun show at the Westfield club in October 2008.  (AP Photo/The Republican, Christopher Evans)AP - Three men, including a small-town police chief, were indicted Thursday on involuntary manslaughter counts in the gun-fair death of an 8-year-old who accidentally shot himself in the head with an Uzi that a prosecutor said he never should have been allowed to handle.



In this April 19, 2007 file photo, Erik Estrada poses on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Nick Ut, file)AP - Erik Estrada has returned to Muncie to take part in overnight police patrols in the city where he starred in the short-lived reality series "Armed & Famous." The former star of the 1970s motorcycle cop drama "CHiPs" is a reserve officer on the Muncie Police Department.



AP - A New Jersey woman is suing a Pennsylvania sports bar and restaurant, saying she got stuck inside a toilet bowl for 20 minutes when the seat broke. Kathleen Hewko, of Delran Township, said she was in the bathroom at Starters Pub in an Allentown suburb when the handicapped toilet seat she was sitting on cracked and dumped her into the bowl.

Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery leaves a meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008  in New York. The NHL suspended  Avery indefinitely on Tuesday, Dec. 2 for making a crude reference to former girlfriends while talking with reporters. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)AP - Sean Avery surged past camera crews and reporters Thursday, choosing to save his comments this time for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman during a three-hour disciplinary hearing. The Dallas Stars forward was suspended indefinitely on Tuesday just hours after he used a crude expression to describe former girlfriends now dating others while speaking to reporters.



Richard Wagoner (R), chairman and CEO of General Motors, and an aide arrive to testify before the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the financial assistance package for the big Detroit automakers on Capitol Hill, December 4, 2008. (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - The top executives of the major U.S. automakers faced skeptical questioning on Capitol Hill as they pleaded for $34 billion in federal aid and warned of a possible collapse that would jeopardize millions of jobs.



The AT and T logo in an undated photo. AT and T said on Thursday it would eliminate 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its workforce, as it joins a raft of corporations trying to slash costs in the face of the economic downturn. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc said it will eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in a fresh wave of cuts to cope with an economic downturn that has exacerbated a decline in traditional phone sales.



A job seeker visits the ASSEDIC (jobless insurance) agency booth in Marseille, December 2, 2008. (Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)Reuters - The European Central Bank, Britain and Sweden all made big cuts in interest rates on Thursday to shore up economies across Europe in the face of ever-bleaker financial news.



Closed circuit television footage released on December 3, 2008 shows gunmen walking across a parking lot after a shooting spree at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. (Investigating Team Video via Reuters TV/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday Pakistan had given assurances of its commitment to root out terrorism and round up anyone connected to last week's attack in the Indian city of Mumbai.



U.S. soldiers of 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division stands guard outside a mosque in the Hurriya district northwest of Baghdad December 3, 2008. (Erik de Castro/Reuters)Reuters - Iraq's Presidency Council has approved a security pact with the United States that paves the way for a complete U.S. troop pullout by the end of 2011, a spokesman for the council said on Thursday.



A shopkeeper is seen at an electronics shop in Moscow during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's annual question-and-answer session with the Russian people, December 4, 2008. (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)Reuters - The United States will quickly feel a change in attitude from Moscow if President-elect Barack Obama transforms Washington's policies toward Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.



Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej attends the annual Trooping of the Colour, an annual military parade, in Bangkok's Royal Plaza, December 2, 2008. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)Reuters - Thailand's revered and influential king missed his traditional birthday eve address due to illness on Thursday, a speech many Thais had hoped would provide short-term relief to the country's intractable political crisis.



A still from a 2002 advertising campaign launched by the U.S. government to persuade Muslims around the world that U.S. Muslims are free to live and worship as they wish. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Hate crimes against Arab Americans have decreased steadily since the September 11 attacks but are still more common than they were before the hijackings, a civil rights group said on Thursday.



European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet gives a press conference after a meeting of ECB governors in Brussels. Leading European central banks took historic action Thursday to ward off spreading recessions, slashing their key lending rates to boost businesses and consumers.(AFP/BELGA/Dirk Waem)AFP - Leading European central banks took historic action Thursday to ward off spreading recessions, slashing their key lending rates to boost businesses and consumers.



A map locating the western Iraqi city of Fallujah. Car bombers killed at least 15 people in a former rebel bastion on Thursday as Iraq's security pact with Washington won final approval before its launch at the end of the month.(AFP/Graphic)AFP - Car bombers killed at least 15 people in a former rebel bastion on Thursday as Iraq's security pact with Washington won final approval before its launch at the end of the month.




So You Want To Be a Nurse When You Grow Up?

You're interested in becoming a nurse. How do you get into the... Read More

Acceptance is the Answer to All Our Problems

Many people today have lost jobs after decades of service; many others... Read More

Salary, Raises, & Perks: Negotiate to Get Paid What Youre Worth!

Salary negotiation requires preparation and good timing. It's important to determine your... Read More

Resume Writing Tips

Make sure that your resume is up to date with your latest... Read More

How to Work Effectively With Recruiters

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T / find out what it means to me" is a line... Read More

Minding Your Own Business

Think you have gone as far as you can in your present... Read More

10 Major Signs of Job Dissatisfaction

The New Year is a great time to analyze your job and... Read More

Job Interviews: Ill File a Grievance!

I recently went to a retirement party with my husband for one... Read More

The Network Within

When you hear the word "networking", what comes to your mind first?You... Read More

How I Joined the Outsourcing Revolution

Mention "outsourcing" to a programmer and you may as well be uttering... Read More

The 6 Stages of Modern Career Development

Career experts say that people will change careers (not jobs) 5-7 times... Read More

Personal Contacts: The Key to Successful Networking

When the word "networking" is used, we tend to think of upwardly... Read More

Counteroffers: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

If "resignation" is the word that strikes fear into all employers, then... Read More

Does Retirement Fit Into Your Busy Schedule?

Why do you work?Stop and think about it. Other than the income... Read More

Dont Quit Your Day Job! Convincing Your Boss To Let You Telecommute (Part 2 of 2)

Ok, so you've determined that you have the right skills and qualities... Read More

What Did You Say?

My table-mates introduced themselves as the reciprocal protocol began. We chatted about... Read More

How To Deal With A Difficult Boss

Most people at some point in their lives have to deal with... Read More

Why One Word Answers are Bad News at Job Interviews

It takes a lot of time and effort to get invited to... Read More

Preparing For An Interview

When preparing for an interview, you need to know your skills, experiences... Read More

Network Now

Have you ever been to a networking event that was awkward, frustrating... Read More

How To Prepare For A Telephone Interview

It is important to prepare thoroughly for your telephone interview.Begin by studying... Read More

What is Contract Programming? An Alternative to the Conformity of Everyday Employment

What is contract programming, you ask? Well, when companies need specific computer... Read More

9 Secrets to Career Success

Are you miserable at your job (or what you are doing) but... Read More

The Ripple Effect of Fear

Unemployment carries a lot of emotional baggage for most of us and... Read More

Do What You Love, Love What You Do

Everyone dreams of a life full of love and adventure. But we... Read More

How to Get the Job You Want in Any Economy... Act Like a Headhunter

Having spent the last few years of my career in the staffing... Read More

Multiple Skills for the 21st Century

(excerpted from The Weekend Seminar - Skills for the 21st Century 1999... Read More

What Your Guidance Counselor, Career Counselor, and Own Mother Probably Never Told You...

The alarm clock jars you awake at some insanely early hour.... Read More

What To Do

Ever had that perfect life when everything seems perfect yet you wanna... Read More

Top Ten Reasons to Start A Catering Business

There is little doubt that Americans still have a deep abiding love... Read More

Telecommuting Website (Part One)

"I've heard you talk about building a website to get telecommuting jobs.... Read More

Are You an Ex-career Woman Living In a New Country?

Were you once a successful, professional woman who had a significant status... Read More

Job Hunting: Its Still The First Impression Stupid!

In the 1992 USA Presidential election, political strategist James Carville hung a... Read More

Now, Do You Have Any Questions?

"Who is that hot babe in the picture?" isn't the type of... Read More

Do You Work to Live or Live to Work?

Let's be realistic here - hands up all of you who bounce... Read More

You Are Not Entitled to a Job!

Résumé TipsSome basics about job hunting...First of all, nobody owes you a... Read More

Job Interviews: Six Steps to Acing a Telephone Interview

Telephone interviews are becoming more popular these days. Whether that's good or... Read More

Applying for a Job in Another Country? International Resumes

Is an International Resume still a Resume? This is a very common... Read More

Career Tips: How To Start A New Career

These days most people accept that jobs are not for life anymore.... Read More

Nine Career Zappers

Today, everyone is looking for the secret to business success. Professionals read... Read More

A Bit of Pollyanna

"Stop being such a Pollyanna," a trusted, more experienced colleague counseled as... Read More

Write Resume Keywords That Gets Your Application Read

As children we often used to read stories where magical words can... Read More

Learn How To Succeed At Career Fairs

This career article will give you some great tips on successfully navigating... Read More

CDL Practice Test ? Offers Practice Tests To Prepare For The CDL Exam

As you take CDL practice test, you do become more familiar with... Read More

F-E-A-R in the Job Search!

Fear in starting a job search is a four letter word! Like... Read More

Your Resume is Just One of the Tools in Your Job Search

A resume is a tool. It allows employers to see what skills... Read More

Q & A How to Find a Great Search Firm

Q & AQ: Are people sometimes cautious of 'headhunters'?A. Yes. However the... Read More