For many people, the holidays are a time for peace and quiet, whether abroad or in the comfort of their own home. It’s a chance to recharge the batteries so you can come back to work ready to tackle whatever may be thrown at you with your energy levels at a maximum. But it’s also the ideal time to relaunch your career.

Take a moment to ask yourself the following questions

The return to work is looming and you may find yourself experiencing doubts and asking questions like:

• “What am I still doing here?”
• “Keep going, only one more month until the Christmas break”
• “I’d love to do something else, but what?”
• “I don’t feel right here, nothing makes sense any more”
• “Working in these conditions doesn’t suit me, why am I still working here?”

If you can relate to any of these, have a think about retraining or changing career. Make the most of the holidays to sit down and consider your situation and improve things.

How happy exactly are you?

It’s crucial that you’re aware of the situation and take the first step towards personal growth and development. 

To help you, we’ve developed a barometer which will allow you to measure your happiness at work, in under two minutes.

Here are a few ideas and food for though to help you relaunch your career:
 

1. Take stock of your personal life

There are various techniques you can use to take stock of your personal life, but we’ve chosen a very simple one: The Wheel of Life. This method will help you to analyse your situation with ease and to put together your own personal assessment.

To get started, print out the wheel below.

Next, fill in each box up to the number that you think represents each area of your life (10 indicates that you are fully satisfied).

Once the wheel is complete, you’ll have an overview of your situation.

You can also read this article if you want to learn more about how to use the Wheel of Life.

2. 7 minutes a day

As the primary aim of holidays is to clear your head and not the opposite, spend no more than 7 minutes a day taking stock of your career. Choose the most appropriate moment when you won’t be disturbed and when your ideas are clearest.

It’s important to write all your ideas down. Use a green pen for positive ideas, a red pen for negative ideas and a blue pen for neutral ideas.

At the end of the holidays, sort your ideas into three columns:

This way, you can take a look at all your ideas and make the most sensible and natural decision for your career.

A coach to develop your career?

Find out how a career coach can help you develop your career by making the most of the value proposition you create as a qualified person for your employer.

Using a career coach should not impact your bank balance. This is why MyNextCompany is one of the few organizations, if not the only one on the Belgian market, to offer free career coaching services.

3. Do you know your talents?

You have skills and knowledge such as your degree or experience; these are known on the job market as “hard skills”. But with the shortage of applicants, another form of skills developed and are now extremely valuable: these are “soft skills”.

But what exactly are “soft skills”?

These are the skills which enable you to develop within a company. They could include the ability to fit easily into a team and develop with the other members, or managing a team or project. It’s about interpersonal skills as opposed to know-how or expertise.

Write down all your “soft skills” in your notebook; they will be extremely useful if you decide to look for a new job.

To help you put together your list of “soft skills”, take a look at this article.

Now you’ve written them down, you need to showcase them. Personality determines 82% of the decision when it comes to choosing a new person to work with, ahead of experience and career journey.

If you’re not sure how to showcase your “soft skills” and give yourself the best chance of finding your dream job, you can download our white paper “The keys to securing your dream job”.

4. Create your plan of action

If you think you need to take action after the holidays, quickly put together a plan of action.

How?

Again, use your little notebook and write down all the actions you plan to take when you return to work.

For instance:

• Update my CV
• Update my LinkedIn profile
• FInd out about the job opportunities available
• Contact a coaching service
• Speak to my manager
• …

Once you’ve finished your list, put all the things you have to do on a timeline. Don’t put yourself under pressure, because this change needs to be a pleasant rather than a difficult one.

Get the best advice and find out about the latest developments to help you present yourself on the job market and improve your chances by downloading our white paper “The keys to securing your dream job”.

5. Talk to your friends and family

The end of the holidays is approaching. You’ve had the time to calmly take stock of your situation, and it’s now time to talk to your friends and family about the conclusions you’ve reached.

Communication is key because it enables you to share your ideas and thoughts, but also to establish your options and give you the energy required to take the steps you’ll need to go through.

If you’d like some professional advice, you can contact a coach who specialises in professional orientation. Some platforms, like MyNextCompany, offer free advice.

The holidays are over and it’s time to go back to work.

You’ve enjoyed your holidays, you feel relaxed, you’ve taken an important step in accepting that your career is taking a new turn, and all in a calm, pressure-free way.

You now have your plan of action to achieve even greater happiness and be on top form in your career!