Where's your career going? Do you have a defined plan of where you want to be in one, five or even ten years' time? If not, you're not alone. We speak to lots of candidates who come to us when they realise that their career is drifting along without any true direction.

Focussing on work, family and other priorities they have taken their eye off the ball and find themselves going nowhere, stuck in a rut with the outcome being their career has stalled.

The first action to take to get out of the rut is to ask yourself a few probing questions. In today's post, we have shared our favourite three.

Where do you WANT your career to go?

Just saying that you want to progress or that you want to earn a better salary isn't good enough. You need to know in which direction you want to develop your career. As a specialist commercial recruiter, it's a question we ask people a lot because it underpins what we can do to help them.

One of the biggest decisions that people may take is whether to stay 'at the sharp end', or to climb the ladder to management or leadership position. For instance, to go the more strategic route and go for a management role that looks at things from a wider perspective and has less day-to-day interaction with the finer details of the business?

There's no right or wrong answer, but you do need to ask yourself this question and provide an answer. Once you've done this, the way is clear to plan on how to get there.

Can your current employer facilitate this?

Now that you've decided on the direction that you want your career to go in, it's time to decide whether your current employer can facilitate this.

There may be signs that they can, but you need to ask yourself these questions.

• If I am capable and performing well, why haven't they done it before?

• If you are in a stalled position, going nowhere so do you really think that they have marked you out as someone they want to develop?

We see this so often, good candidates with great skills going to waste and it's a reflection of the company's lack of training and development procedures rather than the candidate's skills.
Be bold, be proactive and look outside of your current employer and see the exciting destinations your career could take you.

What do you want from an employer?

Now that you've decided to look at opportunities elsewhere, you need to find an employer that can match your ambitions. However, it's not that simple. You need to find an employer that can facilitate your ambitions and one where you feel you can fit into their culture.

Two similar companies may have a very different 'feel' to you. For example, some companies can be big on developing team camaraderie and love nothing better than seeing employees celebrating a good week by having a few drinks after work on a Friday. Other companies may have a more restrained, corporate culture. There's no right or wrong; it's just a case of finding a company that you like the feel of. But how do you do that?

Don't go it alone

So why not place your career in the hands of a specialist recruiter? Your career is crucial to your overall quality of life, so why risk making poor career choices?

Here at Metis, we help hundreds of candidates every year take the next step in their career. We know the roofing and building envelope sector inside out and can help you find the right role at the right company.

Our connections are so good; we place many people in roles that haven't even been advertised, such is the trust some of the major construction employers place in us.

Call us today and let one of our specialist consultants drive your career onwards and upwards.

About Metis Recruitment

We are Metis, a recruitment company that loves to find you a fulfilling job or the right staff to compliment your organisation and propel your business forward. You can email us on info@metisrecruitment.co.uk or speak to one of our friendly staff on 01522 424145.