APPRENTICE star and West Ham United vice-chair Karren Brady answers your careers questions and meets an inspirational CEO.
She gives advice to career advice to a woman struggling to commit to her current job.
Q) With January on the horizon, I’ve been thinking about applying for a new job as I’m starting to get itchy feet in my current role.
But as I’ve had five jobs in the last seven years, all at different companies, I’m worried that potential employers will be put off. I often get bored in a role quickly and find myself hoping someone above me leaves so I can get promoted. But this never seems to happen, so I then decide to move on somewhere else, even if the new role isn’t any more senior.
Should I wait it out at my current company for longer so it doesn’t look bad on my CV? Or if I do apply for jobs, how should I frame my itchy feet?
Ellie, via email
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A) You need to take time to think about what it is you really want to do. You are flip-flopping from one role to the next, becoming bored easily and not building the experience that would lead you to a promotion, all of which points towards you being in the wrong industry.
What excites you? What are you passionate about? Talk to your friends and family and get their input on what career path you might succeed in. Research companies you admire and explore roles within these that you can see yourself committing to. Whatever happens, make sure you don’t rush into your next role.
You can explain to prospective employers that, while you have moved around more than you would have liked, you were trying to find your career path, which you have (hopefully!) now done.
If your career is fulfilling, you’re likely to give more of yourself and go above and beyond to earn that promotion. It’s in your interests to use your initiative to create that excitement.
Got a careers question for Karren? Email [email protected].
Be a boss
Bossing It is Fabulous’ series about ordinary women who have launched incredible businesses.
It aims to inspire other women and show that if these ladies can do it, so can you!
Read more at Thesun.co.uk/topic/bossing-it.
A Day In The Life…
Rachel Watkyn, 50, founded eco-packaging business Tiny Box Company in 2007 and it’s now worth £15million. She lives in East Sussex with her COO husband Steve, 56.
I wake up at…7.34am, when Steve literally pulls me out of bed and shoves me into the bathroom. I’m not a morning person. Only after we’ve travelled eight miles together to our office do I get a cup of tea and two slices of toast and some fruit.
A normal day for me is…Sitting down with my assistant Amber who briefs me about the day’s events, then it’s all systems go and I’m in meetings with customers and suppliers, either on Zoom or face-to-face. During lockdown, my teams worked remotely, but I was in the office daily, working like a runner between office and production staff. I’m also looking for new premises because the business expanded during the pandemic. Our fifth company – Aire Active, an online retailer for ethical and sustainable activewear – is launching in March. I do a lot of motivational speeches to get the message out that women can shape their future, and on Thursdays I run a business clinic with my marketing expert sister Alice, offering free Zoom one-on-ones for small-business owners.
The best thing about my job is…Everyone I work with! It’s also wonderful knowing that, in our own small way, we are making a difference to the environment. Last week, a private equity house predicted that the business could be worth £500million within the next five years. I nearly fell off my chair! When I started the company from my bedroom 14 years ago, I was just trying to solve a problem and make people realise that we can’t keep burying plastic.
And the worst…Having to fire people. It makes me sick for days each time, but fortunately is a very rare occurrence. In an ideal world, I’d definitely give that job to somebody else.
I wind down by…Going for a run, a cycle or a long walk where I drag Steve out like an excited puppy. I’ve also written the first 3,000 words of my own book.
Visit Tinyboxcompany.co.uk.
Karren cannot answer emails personally. Content is intended as general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice.
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