Center for Professional Development, University of Hartford

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ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Career Jitters May Be Preventing Future Growth

(Published in the Hartford Business Journal)

Are you anxious about your job? Worried about the economy? Concerned that you're going to be hampered in your ability to move ahead in your career? With today's volatile economy, it's not surprising if you're feeling somewhat anxious about your job. If you're concerned that the economy is going to have a major impact on your ability to keep your job or to move up in your organization, consider taking action to strengthen your situation. Rather than stagnating where you are, look for ways to keep growing. Consider "growing in place." It's important to keep building your skills and competencies even as the economy is changing. The more you can build on your skills and competencies, the more appealing you will be to your current employer or (if you decide to look for a new job) to a new employer who is considering hiring you. To "grow in place," consider taking the following steps:

1)		Clarify what your strongest skills, competencies and interests are. Do this by thinking about your current work responsibilities and identifying what you do well. Your skills are usually identified through words that indicate an action that could be carried out in many different settings. For example, skills can include decision-making, influencing, numerical ability, problem-solving, planning, or writing effectively - to name just a few skills. Competencies are usually broader than skills and encompass a variety of skills in one competency. For example, leading a team is a competency that might include the skills of leadership, planning, decision-making and problem-solving. Examples of other competencies you may use in your work are knowledge of the competition, multi-tasking, development of people, customer focus or computer savvy. Your interests can span a wide range of subjects or they may be more focused. As you think about your interests, identify topics that you would enjoy and want to continue to learn about at work. For example, you may have interests in finance, languages, people, the environment, law or graphic design. Identify your interests in as detailed a manner as you can and then highlight the interests that you most want to continue to use and learn about in your work. Reflect on, and write down, what you think your skills, competencies and interests are. Perhaps, as an example, you communicate effectively with others (a skill), are good at leading a team (a competency), and like working on financial issues (an interest). Try to identify each of these traits for yourself in detail.

2)		List the skills, competencies, and job responsibilities that you do moderately well but know you could improve. Also identify skills, competencies or job responsibilities that you wish you could do but don't do now. Your goal with this step is to become very clear about what skills, competencies, and job responsibilities you could improve and ways you'd like to grow. You don't have to show this list to anyone, so be brutally honest with yourself.

3)		For each skill, competency or job responsibility you want to develop or wish you could use, list a couple of things you can do to begin to develop that trait. Maybe there's a course you could take or a training class you could attend. But don't get too hung up just on getting training. Also list things you could do differently right at work. If you want to learn to do something better, perhaps you can ask someone who's good at that responsibility to work with you or mentor you so you can learn from them. Maybe there's a project you could work on or a presentation you could prepare that would allow you to develop the skill or competency you want to strengthen.

4)		Talk with your manager about specific skills or competencies you'd like to develop and ask for help identifying things you can do to improve that particular skill or competency. When you show interest in growing and learning new skills (especially if doing so will improve your contributions at work), most managers will be happy to help you identify steps you can take to improve. Once you've taken steps to improve a skill or competency, you can then use that additional capability to help move you ahead in your current company or, eventually, you can use the additional skills or competencies to move into a new job in a different organization.

As you can see from the above information, the steps in this process of "growing in place" involve: 1) clarifying your skills, competencies and interests, 2) identifying what you want to learn or do differently, 3) pinpointing specific ways to begin to learn, and then 4) taking action to move ahead with your own growth and learning. If you find that you're having trouble proceeding with this process, you may want to contact a career counselor to get some individualized assistance in clarifying your skills and competencies or in building a plan for development. Additionally, you may want to use a career-planning book to help you clarify your skills and interests.

Career growth and development is something we all need to pursue on a regular basis. On-going learning that strengthens your skills, competencies and responsibilities keeps you from stagnating and can make your talents and abilities even more desirable to your current employer. Through such growth, you can ensure that you continue to contribute effectively to the needs of your current employer and you're more likely to remain a desired member of the team. If you choose to seek a new position in the future, on-going growth will also serve to make your qualifications more desirable to a new employer. So, manage your "career jitters" by taking positive action to "grow in place" and strengthen both your current situation and your future possibilities.

Eleta Jones, Ph.D., LPC is Director of Career Counseling at the Center for Professional Development, University of Hartford. Since 1968, The Center for Professional Development has been providing career development services to adults from across Connecticut.

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