Do you spend much time reflecting on how far you’ve come in your career as an accountant?
Or are you so focused on the here and the now that you’re prone to beating yourself up about not having achieved all that you wanted to?
This week we’re challenging you to look back and take stock of all that you’ve achieved and ask yourself the question, ‘am I celebrating my success?’
The process of self reflection can be really useful as a preparation tool for an appraisal, a job interview or before you chat to your line manager about a pay rise or a promotion.
Here’s some ideas about how to start the process of professional reflection… get a pen and piece of paper at the ready and make a note of all the progress that you have to celebrate.
What qualifications have you achieved or are you on your way to achieving?
Studying for the ATT, ACA, ACCA, CA, CTA, STEP…. the list goes on and on! There are so many qualifications that will add value to your CV and if you’ve achieved any of them in the last few years jot those babies down!
Even if it’s just one exam closer to being qualified, progress is progress so these big milestones are definitely worth celebrating again and again.
What about experiences?
Have you produced your first set of management accounts?
Maybe you’ve taken part in your first field-based audit?
Or perhaps you were invited to pitch for new business for the first time?
These new experiences will have been overwhelming and daunting the very first time, but every time you have a go at something new, you’re learning and growing as a professional and there’s zero shame in being proud of yourself for getting stuck in.
In a month, a year or more, doing these kinds of things can become the everyday and you’ll sail through them without too much thought, but the first time, they’re all a pretty big deal and you should write them down!
Now let’s think about transferable skills.
Perhaps you’re not a natural communicator and feel more at home dealing with numbers than people. But maybe this year you’ve made a real effort to work on that and have had a few opportunities to build relationships with clients. That’s such a valuable professional skill that you’re developing and it’s progress.
Perhaps you’ve supported your managers with leading the social calendar for your team and as a result it all feels a lot more cohesive? Another brilliant skill.
Maybe you’ve got to grips with a new cloud based software system. That’s a skill success without doubt.
Finally let’s consider situations that you’ve handled well, or if not well, better than you once would have.
Conflict is a major source of stress for lots of us but occasionally difficult discussions need to be had to make systems, processes, output and just everyday working life better! So if you’ve taken the harder road as you knew it was the right one, that’s a situation that’s worth some professional reflection.
But what about the things that haven’t gone so well?
None of us are perfect and we challenge all accountants not to have one aspect of their last professional few years that they wish they’d handled differently!
Reflecting on what you might deem to be a mistake or a failure will ensure that you extract all possible learning from it and it convert it instead into a developmental success. It’s all part of how we grow and evolve as professionals.
The skill of reflection
Being able to reflect on your professional development is as a skill in itself and it’s something that we know employers are always impressed by.
If you can show a deeper level of emotional intelligence, self awareness and the human factor when you present yourselves at interview, the vast majority of employers will connect with you on a deeper level and you’ll certainly be a candidate that they give some serious thought to.
We hope, having followed our advice in this article that your sheet of paper is overrun with reflections.
Not only will this process have given your self belief and confidence a real boost, you now have masses of content to summarise into a refreshed CV.
And once you’ve done that, upload it here so we can be sure to let you know about the many firms out there who will be delighted to learn more about all that you have to offer.
For more career counselling you can dive into the many resources in our Candidates’ Hub or you can reach out today for an informal discussion with one of our team.