“Richmond Associates impressed me not only by their professionalism and efficiency, but also by the friendly, interested and comfortable way the whole process was carried out. I felt supported all the way.”
Unsuccessful candidate: Development Officer (Individuals) – School of Oriental and African Studies
At the recent CASE Europe Conference in Liverpool I had the privilege of chairing a session with Benedicta Morrow Slasson and Jennie Moule – both Deputy Directors at UCL - on this very topic.
Much of the session was devoted to looking at the careers of successful fundraisers and working out the common themes of what made them succeed. In this newsletter there is the chance to read about how Becky Williams, Director of Development at Tate, got to where she is today. It is always fascinating to hear about how people chart their career path and what distinguishes a successful career from a series of jobs. Every year I, and my colleagues at Richmond Associates, read hundreds of curriculum vitae/resumes and interview a huge number of Development, Fundraising and Alumni Relations professionals. A common theme that emerges time and again is that those people who have taken time out, at some point, to think seriously about their career have usually then gone on to make the right career choices at the critical times. What made them stop and think about their career ranges from the ‘negative’ scenarios: redundancy, illness, a bad boss, being overlooked for promotion, or an institution that lacks visionary leadership and direction to the more ‘positive’ end of the spectrum: finding a good mentor, a new found talent or interest, going on maternity leave, partner gets a new job or simply a hankering for something more worthwhile.
Definition of a career: A chosen pursuit; a profession or occupation. The general course or progression of one's working life or one's professional achievements.
A career is a series of choices. How you make those choices depends on how much you know yourself and how true to yourself you are prepared to be. Career planning is actually life planning. Very rarely do we make decisions about our careers in isolation. The factors that we take into account change depending on the stage of life we have reached. Taking time out to reflect - on the stage we have reached, the skills and experiences we have gained and those we need to acquire to continue to progress - is time well spent. Where we want to live, whether we want to work full-time or part-time, whether we are the sole breadwinner or part of a team, what type of organisation we would be proud to be part of, whether we want to manage a team or not, whether we want to be involved in a start-up situation or whether we prefer to work in a well developed operation, whether we want to travel internationally or stay close to home – all of these factors have a bearing on our career choices.
Arriving at the answers to those fundamental questions usually involves talking to your partner, your friends, your family, other professionals, a mentor or someone who knows you well.
The next time you are called by someone asking if you are ready to think about your next career move – you will know what you are looking for and will hopefully have a much more fruitful conversation. Knowing what you would like your career to look like is a good start to planning the rest of your life.
