1.7 Questions for Periodic Career Review

You’ve had an opportunity to complete several exercises related to developing greater insight into yourself in your career. Since you’re always growing and changing, it helps to have a list of questions you can periodically come back to in order to reassess  what you’re learning about yourself vis a vis your career development.

  Your Turn!

Spend some time considering the questions below. Write down your responses. Review periodically – perhaps annually or twice a year- to monitor changes including new interests and new personal insights.

You can download and store your responses in a folder on your computer so that you can easily retrieve and revisit them.

• How am I using my talents?
• In what ways am I engaging in activities I enjoy?
• Am I living the life I want to live?
  • If yes – how?
  • If no – what is one thing I could adjust to move me towards the life I want to live?
• What (or who) is supporting me in moving in a positive direction?
• What do I see ahead of me on my career path?

This process is never complete; it is an ongoing, lifelong process. Finding ways to check in with yourself and reflect (in whatever way works for you – be it answering the questions above, journaling, talking it through with a friend, etc.) allows you to notice things and make adjustments here and there to move you closer and closer towards the life you want to live.

 “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. ”

—-  Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

Adapted from Niles, Amundson & Neault (2009).
Career Flow: A Hope-Centered Approach to Career Development, Pearson.