Reconciling what you want to do with your career vs. what you have to do with your career today is a stressful process. The reason you get so stressed out is because you either don’t believe you have to change or close friends keep telling you…just stay the course, something will work out. Yet, still you wait and nothing happens.

Here are some signs that you need to rethink your career management approach:

You continue to be the runner-up with interviews.

Getting a job interview is not a problem with your job search efforts. It is the fact you never get the job offer and are always the runner-up. If you have interviewed for the same kind of position more than a dozen times and you continue to get those rejection notices – a pattern is developing. If you continue to see a pattern, it’s time for you to re-examine what you think you can do vs. what the decision makers see you doing in the workplace.

Promotions continue to elude you at work.

Many companies have internal job postings to create a fairer process for promotional considerations. Ultimately, the hiring manager still has the last call about who is selected to work on their team. Even if your company does not have a job promotion system in place, sometimes getting to that next level seems impossible.

You may believe your career goals are clear and that you have the qualifications to be promoted, but the promotion just doesn’t happen.  When you find yourself at a career crossroads, it’s time to rethink your options and develop a plan to get where you want to go…or accept your fate of staying where you at in your career.

You’ve started your own business and getting clients is difficult.

The reason you may not be getting clients to buy your services or products is because they don’t believe you can help them or see you as an expert in that field. No one wants to engage a generalist when they can get a specialist.

You don’t know what your value proposition is.

This is a tough one because perception plays a role in knowing your value proposition.  Sometimes what we want to do and what we think is our value to others is not what their perceive it to be.

What career management solution is right for you?

If the signs point to your career management needing an overhaul, here are some potential solutions that may put you back on track.

  1. Your image or personal brand needs repackaging
  2. Ask your customers for specific feedback
  3. Define your specialist niche
  4. Invest in training or development to become an expert
  5. Develop a long-term plan for changing perceptions
  6. Reassess if your company and career are a good match with one another
  7. Determine if you are in the right professional or technical field

Finding your productive career management path is hard work – career success rarely happens on its own. When you are more deliberate about developing and executing your plan, career success becomes easier to meet.