A career is a professional vocation that people spend many years or decades working in and often involves specialized knowledge gained either from education and/or experience in the career field. Most people have a variety of positions and roles in their careers, ideally with an upward progression over time.
Selecting Your Career
The first thing that will impact your career is choosing which field or industry to work in. Most people want to take the time to pick a career path they will enjoy so they do not have to start over down the road, often having to climb ladders again in a new career field. Some people know exactly what they want to do, and this step is a breeze. The majority of people, need to do some soul-searching and exploration. Knowing your values and what is important to you can help guide selection. Some people want to advance knowledge or technology, some give back to others, some want to make a good living, and others want to express their creativity. Certain values often line up better with certain careers. Some people take vocational assessments like the Self-Directed Search based on Holland’s code types to help narrow their selection. Assessing your personality and interests can help match you with certain careers. Some people are able to explore these interests through college coursework. Sometimes taking a sampling of coursework in the first couple years of college helps to find what appeals to you, so you can major and specialize your knowledge base, thereby setting the stage to move into a career field.
Management Facilitation or Hindrance
Once you are working in your career, it is important to get a sense of the company culture and management style. Some companies do a great job of finding and helping facilitate people’s talents and moving them into positions that they will excel at and enjoy. Other companies are just looking for warm bodies, people to do the “work”, or new ideas they can use for themselves. Many people have experienced a boss who took credit for an idea or accomplishment that they did. These are just a few things to watch for as potential hindrances to your career growth.
What Personal Factors Can Inhibit Career Growth
As difficult as it is, we sometimes need to look in the mirror and assess whether we may be holding ourselves back. Sometimes there are personality traits that can be off-putting or slowing growth such as being rigid, struggling with control issues, or being shy and not speaking up. Attitude is another area that can affect a person’s advancement. Those who tend to be negative, pessimistic, mean, or retaliatory are not likely to advance relative to those who are supportive of the team, encouraging, and positive. Personal stressors often put a drain on our bandwidth, focus, ambition, drive, and determination. Mental health issues can also negatively affect a career. Those with untreated ADHD find themselves struggling with concentration, meeting deadlines, and paying attention to details and are often passed up for promotions. Depression leaves many with low energy, ambition, and drive resulting in marginal performance and low productivity. Anxiety can create distractibility, low confidence, and passivity, which can hamper career growth as well.
Maple Grove Psychiatrists
If you are interested in talking with one of our providers about ways to explore and improve your career prospects, feel free to contact IPC so you can schedule an individual consultation with one of our providers so we can help discuss treatment options. Please call us now at 763-416-4167, or request an appointment on our website: WWW.IPC-MN.COM so we can sit down with you and complete a thorough assessment and help you develop a plan of action that will work for you. Life is too short to be unhappy. Find the peace of mind you deserve.
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