Job Priority Exercises

Upon completing these exercises, you should have a much better idea of what you want from a job, and also what skills and abilities you can bring to it.

Exercise 1: What are your overall goals and needs?

Being aware of your personal and career goals is important in determining what sort of position you apply for. Can the position you are interested in applying for meets your goals, needs and work values?

Step 1

Take a few minutes to think about what your long and short-term goals are at the moment. Keep in mind that effective goals should be:

• realistic, ie: they should be challenging, but achievable
• as specific as possible
• clearly expressed.

Career/job goals are likely to be successfully achieved if they are linked to your personal goals, so it is recommended that you begin with your personal goals. Personal and career goals change at different points in our lives; remember that what you're considering is what your goals are at present. Below is an example of what might be considered as short-term and long-term goals.

Example 1: Short-Term Goals (eg: 1-5 years)

Example 2: Long-Term Goals (eg: 5-20 years)

Step 2

Now write your own short- and long-term goals by downloading and printing out the form provided. Try to list 2-6 goals in each box.

Once finished, you will have a written record which you can use to help you:

• determine if a vacancy you're interested in meets your goals and is therefore worthwhile applying for
• periodically monitor which goals you have achieved and which goals still have to be achieved or reviewed.

Exercise 2: What are your skills?

We often overlook or don't recognise what we've achieved or what skills we've gained through employment. In particular we tend to overlook skills gained through other activities such as raising children, volunteer work, leisure, travel, education and work experience. What skills and achievements do you already have that you can bring to another position?

Step 1

A very useful exercise is to spend some time thinking about your past and identifying what you've accomplished, things you've done well, things you are proud of or that you've enjoyed.

Step 2

Memory Net refers to the process of reflecting on your life and your achievements at school, work, in your life etc, and capturing these. Make a note of these by downloading, printing and filling out the Memory Net form.

After filling in the Memory Net you may find it beneficial to write out your achievements as prose (paragraph style rather than a list), focusing on your accomplishments, no matter how small, from childhood onwards. This can be a wonderfully gratifying exercise, giving yourself a 'pat on the back' for the achievements and for skills you have gained and used. If you're having trouble identifying accomplishments and skills, you're probably being too hard on yourself! Ask someone who knows you well for their opinions.

By identifying and writing down your skills and achievements, you have a record that you can use to:

• provide data for use in your résumé, in addressing selection criteria, and in answering questions at interview
• boost your confidence.

Exercise 3: What are your current work values?

Another exercise you can do is to focus on your values related to work and identify what is important to you in a job at the moment. Being clear about what you value most about a job will help you when deciding whether or not to apply for another position. Do you really want to apply for another job (if currently employed)? Or does your current job meet your short-term goals, needs and work values?

Step 1

Download, printout and work through the values checklist and rate the importance of each work value by ticking the appropriate column. Try and complete the checklist quickly and be honest with your answers. Remember you are choosing what is most important to you in a job right now; your values may alter over time and with changing circumstances.

Step 2

Look through the completed checklist. Of the items you've rated as Very Important pick the three that are most important to you at the moment. When you are considering applying for a job, consider whether or not it will meet the work values you have identified. Occasionally you may decide to take a job that doesn't quite meet your criteria, as you see it as a 'stepping-stone' to the career you really want.