Identifying your essential criteria

Finding your new role is rather like finding a new home - it is a big investment of your time and resources.

The right place for you will need to meet both emotional and practical requirements. You need to find somewhere you enjoy being, that makes you feel good. It may need to be in a certain location and within easy reach of other people and things that are important to you. You also need it to match your budget. Most people wouldn’t start looking for a new home without having some sort of essential criteria.

It is the same with your next career step. Creating your list of ‘essential’ and ‘desirable’ criteria will help you focus on finding the right opportunities, and avoid wasting time and energy on the wrong ones.

This exercise is not about identifying your next step - it is simply about thinking through what you need from your work rather than what that work is.

In the boxes are some questions to get you started. You may have other things you want to include. Use the other resources on our site such as ‘Understanding your true potential’ and ‘Exploring the Landscape’ to help you.

If you have lots of things in some of the boxes, try writing them down on post-It notes and ordering them, with the most important first. Be tough with yourself! Those that are essential to your happiness and well-being are your ‘essential’ criteria and you will use them to assess any opportunity and see if it right for you. Those that are nice to have, but which you can live without, will become your ‘desirable’ criteria and take second place to the things in your ‘essential’ list.

If you want further support we may be able to help you. Email us to find out more.

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