It’s been a bit tricky for me. I’ve always received contrasting advice. Recruiters tell me that I don’t have enough time in my current job built up to move on. Mentors tell me to move onto something bigger and not settle at a non-ideal place for too long.

In the end, one is in the best position to assess what to do. If you are no longer learning, if there are no more challenges, if there is no space to explore your leadership qualities, if you cannot go on training courses that you need…then perhaps you’ve given your part and done all you can in that position.

My view is that if it’s no longer fun, no longer exciting, then it would make sense to start looking elsewhere to see if challenges exist outside of your current employment.

For me the realisation came when I decided I am ready to go out there and risk it. Risk failing, risk not getting the job, risk making mistakes. If you no longer feel uncomfortable to put your reputation on the line then it’s time to pursue the career you really want.

The people you work with has a big impact on how you perceive and enjoy each job. That’s where I’ve learned my lessons. I’ve been lucky to have met many different and all interesting people. From long term retail employees, to IT specialists and construction workers. It’s taught me how to deal with people, how to solve problems in different ways and how to identify the different expectations.

At times I’ve very much cherished the workplace relations with other colleagues, other times I’ve been affected by them. Each experience has given me something to think about and learn about. If I had the same attitude and approach to people as I did 10 years ago, I probably wouldn’t do so well in my current employment. So in a sense, I’m glad I’ve had both positive and negative experiences.

So to share a lesson with you, I’d say that tolerance is the greatest thing I’ve learned in the last decade of working. Understanding that every individual has the capacity to think and act differently to you is important. Guessing or assuming people will respond a particular way to something isn’t very clever. It’s important to accept people and to always respect them, even in times of irresponsibility. We are all at different stages of our lives and careers. We are unaware of different aspects that could be affecting one’s personal life. Often we perceive each other incorrectly, we perceive them according to our standards, not according to a general standard. People who we think are working against us are probably just curious as to our way of thinking and analysing problems.

Meeting difficult people is a two way lesson. We can learn how to deal with uncomfortable situations better but we should also be assessing whether we contributed to the difficulty in the first place. We often say to ourselves “gee, that person has a negative attitude, they don’t contribute to team morale do they”. What we should be thinking is “how have my actions helped in bringing about the best outcome given the circumstances”

If we focus more on ourselves and what we can do then all our concerns of others tend to have less importance. If we are making the contribution because we want to solve problems and contribute to our organisation then there would be less time to judge and point the finger at others.

Whether we like it or not, for most tasks we need to rely on others to accomplish them. If we can ignore minor distinctions in peoples’ personalities then the focus is placed on the work. As long as you are adding value, there will be people sceptical of you but it’s much better to sit back and reflect on what you accomplished than to talk of the flaws of your colleagues. We all have flaws. It’s better to work with peoples’ strengths.

I’ve read some blogging tips over the break and once again it seems that personal blogging is doomed. Apparently one must blog about a specific niche topic and offer readers material that’s important to them. One can’t use a blog like a journal anymore. While it’s not necessary for non-professional bloggers to follow a rule book, sticking to one theme makes sense.

This year I plan to write more about my professional interests and development. It might not attract many readers but creates a log of my career at different stages.

As for New Year resolutions, I’d be content with moving into a business analysis role by the end of the year. I’m going to invest in my knowledge and skills and look forward to reporting on my progress soon.

Now on the serious side. Ok you’ve finished uni and have gained employment in an office job in your career path or at least something interesting. What to do next?

Whether you are in your desired role or not, the process of developing yourself has not finished, in fact you are probably less than half-way there despite your recent three years at university.

I recommend finding a professional organisation for your industry if one exists. Becoming a member of a professional society can do a number of things for your career. First of all, you can get recognised in your profession and commence your path to become a certified professional. It allows you to come into contact with peers in your industry. Thirdly, you are then more aware of continuous education opportunities.

While it’s great to have a degree, so do most people in professional employment. Getting certified, taking on further studies and creating networks will help you excel much faster than your average graduate.

Once I graduated, I joined the Australian Computer Society (ACS). Due to the degree I studied, I was able to get recognition straight away. I became a certified technologist and ICT practitioner. As long as I continue to invest 20 hours each year in my personal development, I will eventually be granted the title of ‘professional’. In this time, I’ve become aware of what types of work exist in my industry and have attending interesting lectures.

A professional isn’t automatically a professional just because he/she was able to pass all the units in that course and receive a degree. Having an external body recognise your industry qualifications compliments those letters that appear on your business card after your name.

I finally finished attaching all the photos that were lost in the maintenance. All posts that once had photos, once again have them attached.

This news maybe didn’t warrant a blog post but the +2 hours of work that it took me does!

Now to clean up the post categories to something simpler…