Earlier this week our General Manager asked us to identify two things we were actively going to complete by the end of this week. It was to be an individual goal set by ourselves, noted by our peers and was something to be followed up at the end of the week. Often time’s people can set themselves goals that are unattainable, wishy washy or something that isn’t tangible, however, our task was to set focused goals and something that we could be held accountable for.

One of my colleagues left the meeting and also left me with a comment about our GM’s idea, “Good, something proactive instead of reactive!”

Around this time in the recruitment game we often hear a lot of excuses about the time of year and people are too busy to meet up but it started me thinking, maybe now would be the optimum (pardon the pun) time to meet with a consultant to discuss a plan for the New Year.

So many candidates will tell us that we should meet up in the New Year when the market has picked back up but is that being a little reactive? Maybe you should be sitting down with your consultant to put together a plan, an achievable goal that you can both work together on.

You should be explaining to your consultant what your thoughts are currently and why you are looking to the market for other opportunities.

What is it that you want to achieve in 2013?

For the time being, forget where you want to be in 5 or 10 years’ time, maybe it’s time to have a practical discussion about something tangible, achievable and realistic that you and your consultant can work together on in the short to medium term.

If you start planning now, both you and your consultant can write down and take individual responsibility for chasing up specific leads, targeting positions or companies and achieving that goal for the New Year. Why wait until mid-January to start the discussion with every other John and Jane Smith who are still fresh from their New Year resolution? This will inevitably see the process role out into February and mid-March and may not see you into something tangible until the second quarter of the year.

If you are looking to move on from your current role now, can you really last another 4 months?

Setting achievable goals and actively putting in place plans to work towards these goals has never been a strong point of mine, but without it you can often end up like a plastic bag in a park, floating aimlessly along until you accidentally run into something.

If you haven’t already been in contact with your consultant maybe you should now, and ask for 20 or 30 minutes of their time to be a little proactive about 2013. Be honest with your consultant and yourself, set something achievable and put in place solid plans to get you there.

Although in saying that, the world is supposed to end next week…..

Isaac Dufficy – Consultant

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