If you are looking for work or a new career direction, here are nine questions that you should ask yourself before making your next career move. God’s promise to you today is that, regardless of the number in opposition, if you trust in him and take some practical steps you will begin to see him move on your behalf. After all, if God is for you, who can be against you?
1. Are you approaching this subject prayerfully?
Don’t forget, prayer was God’s idea in the first place. If you ask him about his plans for your life, imagine where God could lead you. Forget to pray at your peril!
2. Do you know what you really want to do?
Could it be time to review of your life goals? The Bible tells us that God himself placed desires into our hearts to do something. If we work out what these desires are it can be a great way of determining God’s direction in our lives.
3. Have you thoroughly researched your career options?
Often we know more about what we don’t want to do than what we do want from a new career or job. Before you make any commitments to a new direction, make sure you spend time gathering information.
4. Are you fully aware of the range of skills you have to offer your next employer?
Getting an understanding of these skills by doing an assessment can be another great way to discover what God has planned for your life. God will not call you to a role without first giving you the innate skills (although they may need developing) required to do the task.
5. Are you ready for leadership?
This could be the moment in which God is calling you to a higher position and more responsibility in management. He often calls us to make a leap of faith and step out of our comfort zones, which can be a real challenge. But can there be a higher reward than pursuing God’s plans for your life?
6. How well do you know yourself?
Gaining an understanding of your personality type can serve as a great guide to understanding what sort of career or role you would suit. You don’t want to be a square in a round hole, do you?
7. Who do you know?
The old adage, ‘It’s not what you know but who you know’, is still a major factor in gaining employment. I’m not just talking about your social media networks, but also who you know in your clubs, your church, down your street and so on. You may be amazed by the people in your networks who are able to open a door for you.
8. Are you looking for work strategically?
Up to 70% of all jobs reportedly go unadvertised, so the question you should ask when looking for work is: how do I get to these jobs and beat the competition?
9. Do your circumstances support your dream?
Sometimes our dream careers are not matched by circumstances. But is this really so? Even though God may be saying ‘no’ or even ‘not yet’, he may have placed you in a particular position so you can find work and move forward in a more creative fashion, for example becoming self-employed or working part-time. It’s time to think outside the box!