Who am I?
The question ‘who am I?’ is a tricky one to answer, and yet it is the most important thing to think about when building your brand. To successfully take your next steps into your civilian career you must first assess what is important to you. Luckily, a self-assessment can help you with this.
What is a self-assessment
Think about your self-assessment as a combat estimate about your transition. By answering a set of questions, you will be able to specify the factors that are going to affect your transition into civilian employment. By evaluating these factors, you will be able to narrow down your job search and make the most of your time and energy applying for jobs.
What are the questions you should be asking yourself?
To effectively complete your self-assessment these are some of the questions that you may want to consider:
What are your interests?
When considering your next career, think about your interests and what job roles corollate with these.
What are your values?
Working for an organisation that holds the same, or similar, values to you will help you transition to a civilian workplace a lot easier. Your values could be sustainability, open-mindedness, or room for personal growth. Whatever your values are, try and match them to the jobs that you are applying for.
What motivates you?
Think about what it is that motivates you to go to work. Rather than applying for jobs because you need employment, figure out what it is that motivates you and apply for roles that support your motivation. For example, if you are motivated by making the world more sustainable then you may want to apply for engineering roles.
What external factors do you have to consider?
External factors will undoubtedly influence the jobs that you apply for. External factors include family situation, relationships, area you live, and distance you are willing to travel. Considering these factors will help you to keep a realistic outlook on the jobs that you apply for.
What job would you like?
If you already have a role in mind that you would like to apply for, then that’s great! Note down all of the possible roles that you would like to try and use your other self-assessment questions, such as external factors and motivations, to narrow down your options. Even if you don’t know the exact role that you want to try, knowing the sector that you would like to go into is equally as helpful.
How much money do you have to earn?
There is a difference between how much money you must earn and how much money you want to earn. When doing your self-assessment, consider how much money you need to earn in order to survive and make this the base salary for the jobs you apply for. It’s always good to have aspirations, so also consider, realistically, how much money you want to earn. This can be a goal that you can work towards through skill building in employment, internal promotions, or sourcing new job opportunities.
How do you do a self-assessment?
A self-assessment needs to be completed by you, only you know the answer to the questions being asked. You may find it useful to talk to friends and family about your self-assessment. You could ask them what civilian roles they think you would thrive in, what external factors you may need to consider, or you may just want to ask them about their jobs.
As well as friends and family don’t be afraid to reach out to your network of ex-Military personnel. These are the people that would have had to complete their own self-assessment, or may even still be completing theirs, so lean on them for support.
What comes after your self-assessment?
Once you have completed your self-assessment you should have a much clearer idea of what type of role you want to go into, including what type of organisation you would like to work for, roughly where your job will be located, and what your base salary will be. With this information you will have a much narrower job search which is much more focused on you successfully entering a career that you like rather than just any employment.
If you are struggling with your self-assessment, or even just your job search, then register with us today for tailored employment advice and guidance.
