Being grown up and having the freedom to ‘decide’ is a goal that most of us have. However, once we have reached our early twenties, and we realize that we are actually getting a little freedom, it is not such an exciting prospect. Why? Because along with the freedom comes the need to make responsible decisions, ones that are likely to dictate the course that our lives will take.Getting Closer To Graduation Day
As we get closer to graduation day, whether it is for our first or second degree, or continuing education courses, most people are faced with a bewildering question – “What do I want to do?” It is now time to be proactive and take life by the horns. The course of your life has already been decided by the courses you took and your experience – for better or for worse, they have narrowed down your choices.
The key to figuring out where you fit in professionally is to put your academic or previous working life on paper and send your resume to prospective employers. It is then that you will see how it measures up in the real world. When it comes to your employment-related skills, ask yourself – how do they compare with the jobs available on the market? Do I have what employers are looking for? If your answer is ‘no’, ‘maybe’, or if you answer your own question by the fact that you are not getting any calls for interviews – then it’s time to do some reassessment – and decide if you need to bolster your skills with additional training, courses or meaningful work experience.
Once your skills are solid, you should compile a list of employers that you could approach. Why? Because jobs don’t grow on trees – you have to go after them! ‘Proving your worth’ is the name of the game. Once you get a few interview calls, (and with any luck, a subsequent job offer), you need to decide if you are going to take the job or not. At this stage, it is imperative to make the right decision – weighing salary, potential for advancement and the type of company – to be sure that it is the right job for you. If you have to wait a while longer for a suitable job to come along, then do it – it will be better for your career progression in the long run.It Is Wise To Seek Wise Counsel
Whatever stage of your career you are in, a sound piece of advice is to seek counsel from the ‘experts’, such as a career coach. Run your ideas and career options by them. A good career coach is likely to be well-informed about the current trends in the job market and is also likely to be able to tell you how a particular job choice will (or won’t) help you. A career coach works for you, so you will receive sound advice.
Whether you are changing careers or just starting out, this phase of your life is likely to be scary – but it needn’t be traumatic. By taking advantage of additional training, education and the right career guidance, you should be just fine.

I’m sure you’ve heard all of the saying to get you started on something new. You put one foot in front of the other. One thought leads to the next. One action causes a result. One breath brings the next. And the journey has begun.

Where are you not moving forward or taking action? I’m sure you have any number of reasons why you’ve stalled, taken a time out; don’t feel up to doing anything, etc. Some of this could be clinical, i.e. depression or anxiety and if so I encourage you to seek appropriate help and support. But it can also be environmental, fatigue, confusion, lack of clarity or you just don’t feel like it. Oh, I acknowledge that these could be legitimate reasons for you to place your career and life on hold – short term. But then, how do you rev up that engine to get going again?

Step by step, inch by inch… It’s no secret that the most successful people didn’t have fame and fortune thrust upon them. Heck, even Paris Hilton has to “work” to gain and sustain her publicity! But what they all know is that it’s one step, one foot, one thought will lead to the next. And that keeps them moving forward and taking action.

There are a number of ways that help you to get your motor runnin! But first things first…you must be or become crystal clear about what it is you want. Otherwise you’ll take a step, get distracted by life (as we all do) and lose your energy around moving forward. Next, just decide on one step, one thought, and one action, no matter how small, that will keep you moving and build momentum. It could be talking with an expert, reading a book, doing a free consult with a coach, making a journal entry, getting quiet and visualizing your success, meditating or talking with a trusted friend over a beverage. Think of the rock that begins to roll downhill, once begun it’s hard, if not impossible to stop.

You should keep track of each accomplishment so that you can look back at the evidence of your success. You can do this by keeping a journal. In it, write down your clear statements of what you want, capture all the ideas that come to you and make note of what you did and how it worked out. Once you have a record of your success, it becomes so much easier to repeat it. And your energy starts to surge with the pride of accomplishment. This is not to be taken lightly! Think back to your last successful undertaking. If you break it down and look at it in detail, you’ll recognize that it began with a first step, no matter how big or how small.

As you approach your career and life transitions, it can be overwhelming to see the big picture – grand and bright and not know how to get there. By starting with one step, one foot one thought, you can make it look and feel as if it were like magic!

In an article titled “Who is Managing Your Career? I introduced a new self promotion strategy for internal career development or career advancement. I looked at the benefits of keeping your employment file up to date by ensuring the Human Resource Department received and recorded a précis of any new skills, qualifications or experience.
This article looks again at the benefits of keeping your file updated, how you to go about it, a guide to the information that should be provided, and how it should be presented.
Updating your employment file is important if you don’t want to be overlooked for promotion, to be considered for higher duties or special projects, changing career direction internally, to back up any salary requests or to bullet proof yourself against retrenchment due to organisational change (see my article).
Most large companies conduct regular performance appraisals, where skills, training and professional development will be discussed as part of the appraisal, and your records will be updated. If appraisals are not conducted, it is your responsibility to advise your Human Resource Management Department or persons who manage recruitment, when you acquire new skills outside the workplace.Career management – taking the first stepConsult with your Human Resource Manager.
Set up an appointment with your Human Resource Manager (HRM) or the person who is in charge of recruitment. Explain why you want to be able to update your employment file and clearly state how this could benefit the company.
Unless they are short sighted, your Human Resource Manager (HRM) should welcome this approach. Once you commence your employment you are pigeon holed to a great extent. Your resume is sitting in the files and management is probably unaware that you have gained valuable skills they can utilise. It is a cost effective method to look at their own employees before advertising for staff with specific skills. It is also good HR practice to employ people within the company who fit into the organisational culture.Make sure there is a process in place for updating your files.
If your request to have your employment file updated is successful, ask about setting up a process as to how it is going to work. Without an official sanction by “the boss,” it won’t work. Your HRM may want to see the information you are presenting for inclusion in your file and then delegate the tasks of updating your employment file to a staff member. Consult with your up-line manager/supervisor.
Ensure your supervisor and immediate reporting manager are aware that you are providing career related information to human resources/management and why. Give them a copy of the information. Be ethical and non threatening at all timesOnly provide relevant information if you:-1) commenced a degree/certificate course.
It is important that the company knows you are starting a formal course. Don’t wait 8 years until you complete it (see original case study). Provide the course details with a “to be completed by date” and provide a course outline. If you think the units you will cover in the first year/or have already obtained, are relevant, include them with the unit outcomes separately, with a headline “units completed.”2) attended private training or professional development courses.
Be clear if this was part of the company’s Training and Development Programme or if you undertook it independently. Once again you need to provide a course outline, course outcomes, number of hours you attended, the name of the company who provided the training, and any certificates you received and possibly the facilitator’s name. 3) completed a special project.
If your company doesn’t do performance appraisals then do not assume your role and contribution is noted on your file. Once again write a short note and précis of the project, what it entailed, your role, and final outcomes. 4) received recognition for your achievements or service.
Did you receive any verbal recognition for any contributions you made? This may be at a staff meeting or in a number of indirect ways. Now be careful here. At an appropriate time ask your supervisor, or immediate reporting manager, to see that it gets added to your employment file. Explain why you want it on your record. It would be bad form to go behind anyone’s back to do this. Think through what you are going to say. A wrong word or tone could put your supervisor offside.
Why the different approach? A special project is likely to be a formalprocess and therefore you have the right to ask for it to be recorded on your employee file. 5) received a compliment via your Manager or Supervisor, from a client or customer regarding your performance or the way in
which you handled a task/complaint?
It is appropriate to ask the person who received the compliment to advise your direct manager/supervisor to have it recorded on your file. 6) have been asked by a client/customer how he/she could let your company know how efficient/empathetic/helpful you were when handling their complaint?
Be clear about what you should do if this situation arises. Have this worked out in advance. I don’t know how many times I have brushed this off and said ‘just doing my job’. DON’T ever say this. Turn it into a career strategy.
Thank them and then ask if they would mind putting it in writing. Make the process as easy as possible or they may not bother. Most people would rather do this over the phone.
Ask them if they wouldn’t mind “sending a short note” to human resources or appropriate person. Provide them with a name, title and address. In this electronic age they may want to email it, so suggest what to put in the subject line to ensure it is not deleted as spam.Think ahead Have all this information typed out and stored on your computer ready to email to send to the customer before they go cold.
Make sure you state in your correspondence or phone call – “here are the details you requested.” Things have a way of coming back to bite you.7) have made a significant contribution to the community or achieved sporting or any other awards?
If you achieved a leadership award or sporting achievement, even within a team, it demonstrates planning skills, initiative, teamwork or good citizenship, for example. It is appropriate to have it recorded in your employee file.
If you, or your team, appeared in a newspaper or newsletter, ask your “contact” in the Human Resource Department if it is worthwhile putting on your hard copy employment file because it demonstrates leadership (or whatever you think it demonstrates.) You may want to say. “I think this information is important” then say, “don’t you?” It is probably a good idea to save this type of information until you have added some other data on your file. Why is it important to record any substantial community work or involved in sport?
These are the attributes employers are looking for in an employee. They look at someone who is promotional material. Sometimes the skills are only secondary. Read any job advertisement and it become clear that attributes are given more consideration than the job. How to present information for inclusion in your employee file.Make it easy. Remember, this information may have to be electronically recorded onto a database, so make sure the information you provide is relevant to your company and is recorded in a concise way for input into the database. Type up a précis of the information if necessary. Ask if they also keep a hard copy file. If so, It is a good idea to enclose a brief cover letter outlining how this information can be utilised within the company should the need arise. Deliver it personally if you can and start building a relationship with the person in charge of employment files. Respect the person who may have been asked to update your file It is an extra task and we know how this can throw out work deadlines. Do not be demanding or indicate that you have the right to supply them with extra work. Make sure you are well groomed. Don’t make a quick trip to the HR Department in your dirty overalls, for example. If overalls is a work uniform then it is appropriate to wear it, but do make sure it is clean and your grooming is spot on. Don’t go overboard and dress for an interview. You should always dress appropriately for your position, not just on this occasion, but always. It does affect your chances of gaining a promotion.
So as you can see, there are at least seven examples of information you can add to your employment file. If you use this approach you are proactively managing your career.
Copyright – Iris Wood August 2007

“The Indispensable first step to getting what you want out of life is this: Decide What You want.” -Ben Stein

Let’s say you reach a fork in the road and have to decide which way to go on your career journey. This is naturally a difficult place to be in, but you have to make a decision.

Values clarification becomes indispensable when you are at a point where you must choose between two or more career options, but you’re uncertain which option is best for you.

At such times, you must ask yourself this question:

What are my most important career values?

The rub is that when you choose one option, you often leave behind some values connected with your alternate option. The trick is to be certain that in the end, you choose the option that is most closely identified with your top values.

For example, I recently spoke with a graphic artist employed by a small publishing company. The key to his career success has been his mentor relationship with the soon to retire company president. He knew that he did not want to work with the incoming president. He was paralyzed, however, to choose between his two remaining options; Either move to a new company where he feels positive about the executive leadership. Or, start up his own business.

What to do? Make sure you clarify your career values in order to make your decision with confidence.

First, under each option list your top 3 to 5 values or benefits to you, of each. In this case:

Option One

Option Two

Here’s the challenging part, now rank your top five values drawing from both lists.After several go rounds and some major soul searching, this individual ranked his top five values:

You can see that the majority of his values including his top two values, are drawn from list one. Although choosing which projects he takes on is important, when push came to shove he ranked it lower than the opportunity to work with a new mentor and not having to do marketing and sales.

After taking a step back and carefully considering his competing values, this individual chose option one.

When facing this kind of difficult choice, the above described coaching process insures that you make the best decision for YOU. One that will make your career soar and brings you joy and pride.

To learn more about how Seth can help you and to download his free Special Report: “10 Ways to Jump Start Your Career by Leveraging Your Strengths,” visit his website: http://www.CreativeVisionCoaching.com or email him: Seth@CreativeVisionCoaching.com

(c) Copyright – Seth Kaufman. All rights reserved worldwide.

Someone I’ll call “Gloria” told me this story:
“At a recent potluck dinner, my friend Brian brought a six-pack of his special cider. We had more beverages than we needed. At the end of the evening, Brian went into the refrigerator and grabbed his untouched cider. He took it home.
“Our hostess, Nancy, was furious. She wrote Brian a strong email, claiming he had insulted her”
My sympathies are with Brian. To me, a potluck means you bring a contribution to the party, not a gift for the hostess. And I avoid those events whenever possible.
So…what’s the relevance for careers?
Clients often call me when they’re puzzled by events in a new job (“Why would I be asked to edit this report when I’m a senior manager?”). Or maybe they’ve got a new employee and they’re tearing their hair out, wondering, “Why would anyone skip a meeting when we specifically said attendance was expected?” And more.
It’s all about fitting into a new environment — whether you’re new to a job, career or even service where you’re the customer.
(1) Don’t get mad — get inquisitive.
A prospective client asked if I could edit some content. I explained that I don’t do editing. I don’t tweak other people’s words, commas and paragraphs.
But I discovered she used the word “editing” to mean “writing copy starting with a written discussion of our target market.”
So “edit” might be a polite way of saying, “This report is worthless. Just start over.”
And some folks distinguish between “expected” and “required.”
(2) Study the lunchtime lingo.
Groups have norms about teasing, dressing up, initiating conversations, writing memos and lunch.
Some people see an invitation to lunch as the closest thing to a marriage proposal, especially if a male invites a female or vice versa. (I wish I were kidding.)
Some groups have norms about bringing lunch, eating out, and skipping lunch to work out.
I once heard about a department where bringing your lunch meant you had taken yourself off the fast track. I heard about another where nobody ate at all: the “in” crowd went running. A consulting firm took seriously the maxim of “Never eat lunch alone.” Associates were expected to sacrifice their waist lines by taking clients to lunch several times a week. I suspect doggie bags were a big no-no.
If these issues are important, you can usually find out before you get hired.
But if you really hate meetings, you might get a pass by feigning ignorance. When asked why you didn’t show, you say, “I though ‘expected’ meant ‘lightly suggested.’ So I skipped the meeting and took a client to lunch.”
Use at your own risk…once.
(3) Avoid the old-timer trap.
Every time I changed jobs, even in the same career field, even in universities with similar structures, I bumped up against new cultures.
What do you ask the admin staff to do? Where do you get coffee (and when)? And if you miss a meeting or turn down a lunch offer, are you branding yourself as a maverick?
Inevitably I made mistakes. And I watched other newcomers do the same.
The reasons were innocent. If you’ve asked a staff assistant to make copies or calls for the last 5 years, you’ll automatically do the same at your new job. You probably won’t even stop to wonder, “Should I do this?” unless you’ve been made aware that customs might vary in that particular area.
But old-timers (who can’t imagine any other way either) tend to assume the worst. When I became an old-timer (or at least a medium-timer), colleagues would ask rhetorically, “Who does he think he is?”
It took awhile, but over the years I learned to say, “He thinks he is a lost, confused newcomer. Let’s explain that we need to go have coffee and it’s a non-negotiable right now.”
Returning to the potluck example: I suspect Brian’s friends always took home the leftovers — their own and maybe everyone else’s. It never crossed his mind to leave his cider in someone else’s refrigerator.
That’s my own favorite part of a potluck. The folks who know how to cook never want leftovers. More for me.

There comes a point in everyone’s life when you re-evaluate what you do for a living. Maybe one person no longer enjoys his job anymore or another person feels as though she has nothing else to learn from her current job. Regardless of the reason, these individuals are eager to find a new exciting career that feels like a better fit for them and one that is in the direction that they would like to go. Whether you have decided to seek employment in the medical equipment sales world or you would prefer to become a zookeeper, you need to remember a few important job seeking skills.

First, you should not rush into a sudden career change without planning everything out. If you are the main breadwinner for your family, then you have great responsibility to make sure that your family is not destabilized by this change. Talk over your preliminary plans with your spouse and other people whose opinions you trust. Once all the pros and cons are on the table, it is much easier to make the best decision. The next step is to develop a strategy. If this new direction is very different from the one you had before, it is best to enlist a mentor to assist with the transition. It is very normal to feel nervous, but if you have a solid plan and a strong support system, you will be able to weather the biggest bumps without losing your momentum.

Make sure you review the rules on job interviewing, cover letters, and tailoring your resume for each job in which you are interested. Do not be discouraged if you do not have much success at first. Job seeking takes time! For example, if your previous job entailed sitting at a desk all day writing up analytical reports, you will need to prove to interviewers that you have the ability and the skills to be a great medical sales representative if that is what you want to do. The two jobs might be very different but there are always transferable skills that can apply to anything! Making these points smoothly during an interview takes practice, however.

Do not give up! If this change is something that you know will make you happier and improve life for you and your family, then it is definitely something worth looking into. Good luck!

Whether your sudden change in career was by choice or by circumstances totally beyond your control, any alteration in job status has the potential to cause stress. New changes inevitably leave many people wondering how to best cope with the situation.

If the change in career was not your choice, then it is time to begin thinking before looking at new options. Because you may have always associated yourself with a certain industry or profession in the past you might now inadvertently be overlooking the perfect opportunity.

Don’t make the mistake of believing there’s only one specific niche or sector you must adhere to. There could be many occupations related to your skills that you might not have ever considered, or even known about. Stepping outside your familiar comfort zone even briefly has the potential to open up doors you may have never even knew existed.

Realize that it’s never too late to change the type of job you have or explore the career path you’ve always dreamed about. If you’re apprehensive about making the big move to a new career, or are worried because you have no choice, you’re certainly not alone. Today, more so than ever before, mid-life or later career changes are becoming common as people are taking steps toward fulfilling their dreams, utilizing their real talents, or simply adapting to circumstances beyond their control.

If you have the time to research various industries that interest to you, you will be able to determine which avenue is better for you in terms of salary, career growth, and personal satisfaction. Finally, we all want to be able to come home at the end of the day with a feeling of purpose and accomplishment. This is also the best way to begin creating a solid plan to outline your goals and your achievements. This will ensure you’ll not only be successful, but also happy in your new line of work.

Taking a career assessment test can be an invaluable way of helping you make the decision between different types of occupations that you would be best suited for. Use the test results as a guideline to consider a career you may have always wondered about or perhaps never even thought.

The power of positive thinking should definitely be applied here. Look at your sudden change of careers as a challenge or a stepping stone to bigger and better things; this will help you concentrate on gaining a good job. Although sudden career changes may take place rather quickly in terms of time, it’s still a period of transition that requires inspiration, perseverance, commitment, and a good, solid plan to ensure your success.

Are you interested in changing careers or changing jobs? If you are, your first impulse may involve automatically quitting your current job and going right out and applying for new jobs. Of course, the decision is yours to make, but you may want to refrain from taking this approach, as there are no guarantees. Instead, you may want to take the time to find the perfect jobs to apply to, as well as use career training to your advantage.

As you likely already know, career training comes in a number of different formats. In all honesty, career training typically caters to different careers. For instance, if you are looking for a career in healthcare, you may be required to attend medical school, even just to receive certification for nursing. On the other hand, if you are interested in working as a secretary, your career training may involve courses that teach typing or office management skills. Although career training comes in a number of different formats, it can dramatically improve your chances of successfully changing careers or jobs.

As previously stated, career training courses come in a number of different formats. With that in mind, career training, no matter what classes or courses you take, is designed to help educate you on one particular career field, such as nursing, accounting, or office management. Although career training courses can vary greatly, you often walk away with a large amount of skill and knowledge. In fact, depending on the career courses or classes that you take, you may be able to walk away with a degree or a certificate of completion. These are documents that you can give all prospective employers access to for verification of your training, knowledge, and skills.

One of the many reasons why career training can assist you when you are looking to change careers or even just jobs is because it can help you stand apart from your competition. Although career training is still popular today, not as many job seekers take advantage of it. This means that you can really use career training to your advantage. For instance, if you are interested in applying for a job as a secretary, you can take a few office management classes, typing classes, or computer software classes before you start applying for new jobs. By taking this approach, your job training is new and fresh. This not only gives you an advantage over those who do not have career training behind them, but it also gives you an advantage over those who received training a year or more ago.

As ideal as it is to hear that career training can offer you assistance, when looking to change jobs or careers, you may be curious as to how you go about getting that training, especially if you are still currently employed. Career training is offered through a number of different centers, which are commonly referred to as career centers or vocational training centers. You may also be able to receive career training at your local community college. What is nice about many of these establishments is that they offer affordable and flexible training classes and courses. In fact, you will likely find that a good percentage of career training classes are taught at night or on the weekend. This is what essentially enables to you receive career training while still holding down your current job.

As outlined above, it is relatively easy for you to go about enrolling yourself in career training courses, for a wide variety of different career fields. There are also a number of benefits to doing so. Of course, the decision as to whether or not you want to use career training to your advantage is your decision to make, but if you are serious about changing jobs or changing careers, it is something that you should seriously consider. In all honesty, what do you have to lose by at least examining all of your options first?

Change your career? In midlife? One catalyst of midlife crisis is a life not truly aligned with your present shifting values. You no longer find fulfillment in the same things you did when you were younger because your values may have shifted and this disconnection contributes to a sense of midlife crisis. In midlife you may begin to feel bored with your job and start to think about making a career change. You may also notice yourself feeling irritable, frustrated and even depressed in your current job. These negative feelings may be a result of thinking about what you have given up by pursuing your current career. You may start remembering the dreams you have left behind. So now what do you do? Should you change careers? Two Exercises to Help you with your Decision:

1.   The following five questions are based on a model created by Linda and Sandra Perosa. Ask your self these questions:What would it mean for me if I did not make a change?Are there serious risks if I do change?Am I being realistic to hope to find a better solution?Is there adequate time to search and implement a change?Take some time to consider the above questions and write your answers in a journal. It may help you to get your thoughts down on paper so you can thoroughly address each issue.2.   The following is another exercise* I use with my life coaching clients that you may find helpful. On a scale of 1-10 rate yourself for each of the following. 10 being the strongest and 1 being the weakest:How willing you are to do what you need to do to make this career change. How strong is your belief in your ability to plan the steps necessary to make this change? Do you feel you have control over making this change? Are there people in your life who will support this change? Is your decision to change careers your own decision?After you have assigned a rating pick one of these areas to address and see if you can do something over the next week to raise the score ½ point. So if you rated number three a 5 is there something you can do this week to make it a 5.5? How can you increase your control over this change?The Enemy – The Negative Chatterer If you decide to take steps toward creating a new career you will notice the old familiar voice of the negative chatterer trying to stop you. The negative chatterer may come from within or without. The external negative chatterer may be a family member or friend who has always been afraid of change and has tried to hold you back in the past. Find someone who supports your decision. The internal negative chatterer is also an old familiar friend who rears his ugly head every time you try to move forward. You may fear failure or commitment. It is also possible for old negative feelings from childhood to rear up and to try to stop you by telling you that you are not good enough or smart enough to make this change. Speak back to those negative thoughts and think back to a time when you broke through the barriers and succeeded.Let me know how you are doing!References: *Heppner, Mary (1998). The Career Transitions Inventory: Measuring Internal Resources in Adulthood. Journal of Career Assessment Vol. 6 Number 2Perosa, L & Perosa, M. (1997). Assessments for Use with Mid-Career Changers. Journal of Career Assessment Vol. 5, Number 2.copyright 2008 Donna Deming All Rights Reserved

There are times when circumstances at your workplace prompt you to go in for a career change. Your frustration could arise from factors like working hours, the pay packet, your boss, sometimes even an annoying colleague. Now career transition is always your decision in the end, but sometimes you need to think things over and not jump the gun. Let us have look at some such situations.
A new supervisor makes many people rethink their career plans. The reason is not hard to find. A new boss often feels that they should quickly establish their authority over the human resources at their disposal. This makes them a bit difficult at the outset. Just hold off the urge to quit right away. Give it some time. You might be surprised to find your new boss displaying milder, even friendlier aspects of their personality as time goes by.
A common reason for going into a job search mode is the annoying co-worker. They may or may not be the person sitting at the next desk, but they have the habit of getting under your skin. It is unfortunate if the dislike of a colleague is strong enough to get you looking for recruitment services.
Under normal circumstances no one should make you quit your job, especially if someone else rather than yourself is in the wrong. Naturally if a fellow worker threatens your safety you need to take immediate action. But the first step should always be contacting higher ups and airing your grievances rather than running off to the recruitment agencies.
A poor appraisal of your efforts at work may cause you to want to quit your job. It might seem to you that you have been unfairly assessed. You might feel embarrassed and frustrated, even unwanted by the organization. The thing to remember here is that it can happen to the smartest and most hardworking of employees. You cannot be perfect all the time. It is important to take this setback to your career plans with a positive frame of mind. Let it be a wake up call to refocus on your workplace actions so that your efforts contribute to the achievement of organizational goals. Instead of resigning, the way forward should be to try for a better appraisal next time.
Being denied the promotion you believe you deserved can sometimes be hard to take, leading you to consider career development elsewhere. Quitting immediately is not the solution, though. A good number of factors come into play when the matter of promotion crops up. Try to figure out what went against you. Was there a more qualified colleague? Did a more experienced or senior employee get promoted instead of you?
You can also treat this as an opportunity to set goals for yourself, fine-tune your efforts at the workplace, and improve your skill set. If in spite of this you find yourself being repeatedly passed up for promotions that you deserve, then it’s time to seek recruitment advice and look for career advancement somewhere else.
In all the situations mentioned above, you might feel a strong impulse to quit your job immediately. Apart from extenuating circumstances, such as sexual harassment in your workplace or other dangerous situations, you would be better off thinking it over calmly and objectively before you make your decision.