CM September 2020

CAREERS ADVICE
CAREER ROADMAP
How can you take control of your career
and plan for the future?
AUTHOR – Karen Young
HOW has your outlook on your
career changed over the last
few months? Huge numbers
of accountants have been
affected by remote working,
furlough and constant
change which may have left many questioning
where they stand currently with their career
development and direction.
According to recent research from Hays
surveying 160 credit professionals, half (50
percent) describe their career prospects as
average or poor, and over a third (36 percent)
are unconfident about progressing their career
over the next six months.
In light of this sentiment, I’ve put together a
few tips on how you can control your career in
the current COVID-era and thrive in an everchanging
world of work.
PLOT OUT A CAREER ROADMAP
How much time do you dedicate to thinking
about your long-term career? Despite drive
and ambition, most of us don’t spend enough
time thinking about this even though our
career can make up one of the most important
aspects of our lives.
With half (50 percent) of credit professionals
anticipating moving jobs in the next six
months, plotting out a career roadmap may
help you target your next job and will give your
career move direction and purpose.
Try answering the following questions to
start laying out your roadmap:
• What does your organisation want to
achieve over the next few years?
• How does your role or department support
this?
• What jobs or skills are in demand in your
industry?
• What are the major digital changes
happening in your line of work?
• Who are the leading figures in your industry
and how did they get to where they are
today?
• How has COVID-19 impacted your
profession or industry?
Write down your answers to these questions to
see if they illuminate career ideas or pathways
which you hadn’t considered before.
DEFINE SOME SHORT AND
LONG-TERM GOALS
Your roadmap should give you clarity about the
direction of your overall career, but defining
some short and long-term goals will bring
this roadmap to life and provide you with the
motivation to succeed.
In the next six months: Start by focussing
on where you want to be in six months and
what immediate actions you need to take to get
there. Consider how the COVID-19 crisis may
have impacted the roles and skills that will be
most in-demand in the coming months.
In the next 12 months: Where do you see
yourself in a year? Try to align this to your
current game plan – and again be realistic
about how COVID-19 might have changed your
career prospects.
In the next two to three years: Finally,
project some long-term goals. Keep these
broad enough so they can be reached if you
move jobs during this time.
MAXIMISE YOUR PRODUCTIVE
PERIODS
Working remotely certainly isn’t easy for
everyone, but over the past few months many
have enjoyed the benefits it has to offer.
Perhaps you feel more productive at home
than in the office? Or maybe you’ve improved
your work-life balance?
As offices start to reopen, getting a handle
on your career may involve reevaluating your
split between working remotely and in the
office. Over two thirds (68 percent) of credit
professionals have been working remotely
during lockdown and 52 percent say it has
made them more productive, so if this rings
true for you, consider approaching your
manager to have a conversation about how
you wish to split your time going forward to
harness your productivity. Most (46 percent)
of credit professionals wish to work partly in
the office and partly remotely in the next six
months, so see if this is an option and how it
might suit your working style.
FINALLY, EMBRACE THE CHANGE
Considering all the change in the world of work
at the moment, using this time to take control
of your career can be incredibly reassuring.
However, as the pandemic continues to evolve
there is still much out of our control and a lot
continues to change in our world of work. My
final piece of advice is to accept and embrace
this while taking on board some of the above
points to sharpen your perspective and set
some clear direction for changing times ahead.
Karen Young is the Director of Hays
Accountancy & Finance
Karen Young
Advancing the credit profession / www.cicm.com / September 2020 / PAGE 47