5 Career Questions To Ask Yourself This New Year

Popular 5 Career Questions To Ask Yourself This New Year Jenna ArcandJanuary 04, 2023 Woman thinking about her career goals

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The new year is here! For many of us, January is the perfect time to reflect on our lives and set new goals, hoping to become better versions of ourselves. Most people make personal resolutions, like getting in shape, quitting smoking/drinking, or learning a new language. But, what about career resolutions?

A career resolution is exactly what it sounds like: a resolution for your career intended to help you grow into a better professional. At Work It Daily, we believe that you need to work on your career every day (yes, you do, in fact, need to "work it daily"). So, everyone should make a career resolution or two along with those other ambitious resolutions. They can be little things like learning a new skill or growing your professional network, or bigger goals like landing a promotion or getting a new job.

But how do you know what kind of career resolutions to make?

You can begin by asking yourself, "Am I where I want to be in my career?" If your answer is "no," you need to take a closer look at your career goals.

Here are five more career questions you should be asking yourself this new year to figure out how to grow your career and become the professional you know you can be:

1. Am I Proud Of My Job Title? Man reflecting on his career and considering a change

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You could be a janitor or a neurosurgeon, it doesn't matter. If you aren't proud of what you do for a living, there's something missing: passion.

Career burnout is real, but sometimes it's deeper than that. Our passion at 25 won't necessarily be our passion at 40. And that's okay.

When we are passionate about what we do, we are proud, because we are doing what we think is important, what we love doing. We are adding value to and making a difference in this crazy world—in a small, but significant way.

Every job is important. No matter what your job title is, if you aren't proud of it, you should absolutely change that. Identify that one problem you want to find a solution to, and go after it. What are you waiting for?

Remember: The only bad job is the one you aren't passionate about.

2. Do I Feel Secure In My Career? Young woman thinking about her career and wondering if her job is secure

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This is a bit different from job security. Actually, job security doesn't exist. Every job is temporary. Think you can stay in the same job for decades and then retire? Think again.

So, what does it mean to feel secure in our careers?

Well, when we believe as professionals we can add value wherever we are.

You are a business-of-one. A company won't want to invest in you if they don't know the kinds of services you provide, the kind of value you could add to the organization, and the problem you could solve for them. Here are some examples of questions that will help you determine if you're secure in your career:

Are you adding value at your current job?
Are you honing your skills, expanding your network, and building your personal brand?
Do you feel confident that if you lost your job, you'd be able to find a comparable one in the same field?
Do you feel confident you'd be able to demonstrate to potential employers how you add value?

Since every job is temporary, it's extremely important to constantly work on our careers and ask ourselves these questions frequently so we always feel secure in our businesses-of-one.

3. Will I Be Able To Achieve Wealth? Young man thinking about how to build wealth in his career

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When most people think of "wealth," they think of dollar signs and anything that you can attach a monetary value to. Our jobs help us build wealth. We're not going to tell you that money isn't important. Of course it is! It allows you to live the life you want to live. In many ways, money equals freedom.

But the truth is, there are other forms of wealth that are more important that you can't attach any monetary value to.

Real wealth comes in the form of family, friends, hobbies, experiences, knowledge, and community. If you don't have these things, money will never fill that void.

So, is your career allowing you to build this type of wealth? The intangible kind? Or are your relationships suffering because of your job? Is your work-life balance nonexistent? Do you have any time to pursue hobbies, learn, or volunteer?

Your career should never inhibit you from achieving real wealth. The best job isn't the one that pays the most. It's the one that pays the bills and gives you enough time to live, too.

4. Do I Have Any Regrets? Professional woman on laptop thinking about the regrets she has in her career

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Just asking ourselves this question can be difficult, because maybe we don't want to know the answer. Acknowledging that you regret something in your life is the first step to making a change. Guess what? There's still time to chase your dreams!

If you do have regrets, that doesn't mean you haven't been a successful professional. That also doesn't mean you haven't had a good career. You could be the most successful person, but if you never got up the courage to start that business, make that career change, or go back to school, you'll most likely think, "What if?" for the rest of your life.

You'll never know if you don't try. Don't be afraid of failure. Life is just one big experiment, and experiments never fail.

And even if you do "fail," that's an incredibly more valuable experience than waiting out the clock on a mediocre career. So, don't give up on your dreams just yet.

5. Can I Reach My Full Potential In This Role? In This Career? Confused man wondering if he can reach his full potential in his current career

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When we feel like we have more to contribute to society, that's a sign we haven't yet reached our full potential. Do you feel like you're wasting your potential at your current job? Do you think you'd reach your full potential in another career?

Really think about what you want your professional legacy to be. It's a lot harder to get up in the morning when you don't find fulfillment in your work. When it comes time for you to retire, are you going to look back on your career and feel like you could have accomplished much, much more with those 50 years?

Everyone has unique gifts, skills, and expertise. When we focus on developing ourselves as individuals, as businesses-of-one, it's a lot easier to share those things with the world. Give yourself a chance to reach your full potential. You may be surprised by what you can accomplish.

Before you get back into the same routine at work this year, we hope you take a few minutes to ask yourself these career questions. Listen carefully to how you answer them. You may need to make a career resolution or two.

Need more help with your career?

We'd love it if you signed up for Work It Daily's Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

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8 Ways You're Being SHUT OUT Of The Hiring Process1-hour workshop to help job seekers figure out what's getting them tossed from the hiring processCover Letter 3 Tips For Overcoming Your Biggest Job Search FEARS Jenna ArcandSeptember 28, 2022 Work It Daily's live event "3 Tips For Overcoming Your Biggest Job Search FEARS"

Work It Daily's live event "3 Tips For Overcoming Your Biggest Job Search FEARS"

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Understanding which fears are getting in the way and how to overcome them will make all the difference. Sometimes you might not be aware of which obstacle is getting in the way of your goals. If you want to overcome these fears once and for all, we invite you to join us!

In this training, you’ll learn how to:

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Happy woman smiles while talking to her coworker

“Just the facts ma’am” — Wrong!

At school and university, we are constantly taught that only facts and rational, logical arguments matter. Then we enter the workforce. People’s responses seem to be driven more by feelings than by facts.

Wouldn’t it be great if we “unemotional” types could figure out how people were feeling? Maybe we wouldn’t “put our foot in it” so often. Maybe we might find it easier to handle customers/bosses or colleagues.

There is! It’s a technique life coaches use. It’s called “listening for emotion.”

What To Listen Out For Man listens to his coworker while they work on a project together

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There are five areas to home in on…

1. Words spoken

Listen carefully when someone uses “emotion words” such as “this made me really angry," “I was scared to death,” etc.

This might sound like an exaggeration, but it tells you how the speaker feels about the situation. To find out more, you might want to ask: “What was it that made you so angry/scared?" etc.

When your speaker answers, stay silent and listen carefully to what they say. You might learn something that will help you see things from their point of view.

2. Words not spoken

Sometimes the message is in what is not said. This often happens when you are on a customer’s site, and two colleagues are talking. One says something like: “Well, George will be George…” and the other just exchanges a glance with the first.

We can infer that both colleagues find George difficult to deal with. If George happens to be a key influencer for you in the company, that can be useful to know.

3. Pitch

As you listen to a person’s voice, you get an idea of what tone is “normal” for them.

At some point, you may notice that the person’s tone gets lower.

This may signal a change of mood. Ask yourself: “What triggered that apparent change in mood? What were we talking about at that point?”

By matching a change in the tone of voice with a change of subject, or in response to something you or someone else said, you can tell if you hit a nerve that you might otherwise have missed.

Depending on the situation, this might be an area to avoid or probe further.

4. Pace

As you talk to the other person, you will get an idea of how fast they normally talk. Once again, watch out for any sudden change of speed.

If a person suddenly starts talking faster, they may feel uncomfortable and want to get past this topic as quickly as possible.

If a person hesitates, they may be unsure of what is the best thing to say to achieve the desired result.

Either way, they appear not to feel as comfortable as they did a few moments ago.

Once more, ask yourself: “What triggered the apparent change in mood? What were we talking about at that point?”

This may reveal what the “elephant in the room” really is.

5. Power (Volume)

How loud is the person talking? Think about how the person is speaking at the start of the conversation and how they change their volume.

Many people will focus on a person who gets louder during the conversation, but in fact, it’s often when they get quieter that is more revealing. This happens when the conversation has taken a turn that they do not find comfortable.

Our favorite questions, “What triggered the apparent change in mood?” and “What were we talking about at that point?” will serve you well.

Changing The Temperature Businesspeople listen to their coworker talk during a meeting

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Once you get used to the idea, you will realize that these changes rarely happen in isolation. A reduction in volume usually comes with a reduction in pace.

If you are talking to the person face to face, this may also come with the person turning away from you.

Practice Makes Perfect Businessmen talk to each other and read each other's emotions during a meeting

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You have many opportunities to practice and perfect this skill.

Watch films where the acting is considered good, and conversation is a major part of the film. The opening scene of the Godfather, where various characters come to Don Corleone asking for favors at his daughter’s wedding, is a classic example.

Watch interviews. A couple of classics would be David Frost’s famous interview with former President Nixon after he had been impeached or Emily Maitliss’ interview with Prince Andrew. The Michael Parkinson celebrity interviews often revealed unexpected emotional depths.

If you are talking in a group, try observing the other people’s behavior more carefully. You may need to talk less yourself to give yourself time to observe. What you see may be quite revealing.

Michael Crighton, in his novel Rising Sun, observed that Japanese managers will often deliberately take a “back seat” at the start of a negotiation, partly to give junior colleagues the chance to gain experience, but also to observe the other party without having to think about what they are saying first, and so gauge the other person’s vulnerabilities before stepping in to close the deal.

The final stage is to start evaluating the other person’s emotional state as you are talking to them yourself. You will find this exercise gives conversations a whole new depth.

Further reading...

You may find this interesting too: Pulling The Tiger’s Teeth: How To Deal With Angry Customers

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Man answers interview question about how he handles a heavy workload

We all have times on the job when the work piles up. However, we don't all react in the same way. Some of us handle that stress better than others. A potential employer naturally wants to know how you will react when that situation happens in this new job. So, they say something like, "Describe a time when your workload was particularly heavy and what steps you took to handle it."

How would you describe a heavy workload?

A heavy workload is a workload that requires you to use your time management skills to juggle multiple tasks, responsibilities, and projects in order to successfully complete them on time—without sacrificing the quality of your work.

How should you answer interview questions about how you handle a heavy workload?

In order to effectively answer interview questions about how you handle a heavy workload, you need to know how to answer behavioral interview questions using the "Experience + Learn = Grow" format or STAR technique. You also should understand what employers want to know (what are they REALLY asking?).

Behavioral Interview Questions

This is a type of behavioral interview question. These types of questions ask you to describe your past actions or predict how you'll react in future situations. These can be great ways to get insight into your personality and how you approach difficult situations.

Answers to behavioral interview questions are best structured using the STAR format (situation or task, action you took, and results you achieved). Using this technique ensures you say what you need to say to give a complete answer to the question. (Some people forget to talk about the results they got from the actions they took, but this is the most important part.)

What Do Employers Want To Know? Young man answers interview question about how he handles a heavy workload

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Basically, employers want to know how you approach problems and stress. Can you adapt? Can you prioritize? Can you stay calm? A lot of people will just say, "I stay until the work is done." Persistence is good, but letting them know that you approach problems analytically and strategically is better. Show them that you can think critically and make good decisions. Walk them through how you have dealt with this issue before or how you would deal with it.

Good Sample Answers Hiring manager asks job candidate how they handle a heavy workload

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Here are a couple of examples of good answers to this question:

1. "We all have times when the workload gets a little heavier than normal. I've found that the best way to handle it is to step back, take a look at everything on my task list, and prioritize. Most of the time, not everything needs to get done immediately. Some things are more critical to team goals than others, so sometimes it's necessary to prioritize."

Then, tell a short story about a time when you did that, and tell what the results of it were: you got X task done, which was beneficial because of Y.

2. "In that kind of situation, prioritizing and teamwork both become critical. I speak to my supervisor to see if I can help him or her and get some input on which tasks to tackle first."

Then, talk about the time you provided assistance to your boss on a mission-critical task and what happened as a result of that teamwork.

Every interview answer should help sell you for the job. Be prepared with great answers for dozens of tough questions in How to Answer Interview Questions and How to Answer Interview Questions II, both available on Amazon.

Need more help with your job search?

We'd love it if you signed up for Work It Daily's Event Subscription! Get your career questions answered in our next live event!

This article was originally published at an earlier date.

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5 Career Questions To Ask Yourself This New Year {"customDimensions": {"1":"Jenna Arcand","3":"career, career advice, career happiness, career success, career development, career growth, new year, career resolutions, potential, career change, career questions, questions to ask yourself about your career, career tips, career help, career growth and development, professionals","2":"popular","4":"01/04/2023"}, "post": {"split_testing": {}, "providerId": 0, "sections": [0, 370480899, 376489962, 376489624, 479660731, 473310813, 473333499], "buckets": [], "authors": [19836096]} }

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J.T. O'Donnell reflects on lessons professionals can learn from athletes.

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5 Career Questions To Ask Yourself This New Year

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