If the pandemic has caused you to decide to take action on your career, there are a few things to consider, says Linda Reardon, Careers Advisor with Australian Catholic University.
Linda Reardon, Careers Advisor with ACU, provides career guidance and support to students on their career development learning journey.
Linda has worked in higher education for many years. She enjoys her work and feels a perfect fit at ACU’s campuses at Blacktown and Strathfield. “I was raised a Catholic and had an opportunity for a short stint at ACU when I quickly realised I felt at home,” she says.
She feels faith can positively impact your relationship with your work.
“If you have a faith in the overarching forces at play and feel intuitive that the positive is at play, it can make a difference to your attitude. I feel that kind of faith can play a special role in your work and can help to make things flow with ease. Having this kind of backup at work can give you an unwavering confidence and can allow you to be the best person you can be at work.”
Linda stresses the importance of three things when choosing a career: having self-awareness, exploring specific avenues you feel you would be good at through networks and connections, and being open to exploring much wider options that may not seem obvious.
Writing down the pros and cons and the reality as to whether these might be a fit for you is a good starting point. Working part-time or volunteering in your planned career also helps you discover what you enjoy and what you don’t. Talking to others helps enormously.
She encourages people to think about where to find networks, especially through social platforms such as LinkedIn. “Networking is very important, particularly because there exists what we refer to as the ‘hidden job market’ where around 80 per cent of jobs are not simply advertised, but rather they are filled when people are recommended by someone they know or have worked with,” she says.
Networking is more than just knowing people, says Linda.
“We advise our students to form genuine and thoughtful connections with people and when they do connect, they should think about it from the mindset of ‘how can I help this person?’, rather than ‘what can this person do for me?’.”
The benefits of finding the right job extend beyond satisfaction, to boosting your success and those around you.
“When someone is flourishing in their role, things will seem to flow more easily,” says Linda. “With less stress to contend with, people are able to apply creativity and thoughtful consideration to their work.”
“People who are flourishing in their role will also usually have the confidence and drive to go the extra mile to help someone else within the team or to bring in new ideas for the team to explore.”
This article was originally published in the 2022 Lent and Easter/Autumn 2022 edition of the Catholic Outlook Magazine. You can read the magazine here.
