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attractive, you need to be realistic a) about whether, upon reading further about what the role entails, you are capable of fulfilling those duties competently and b) if you match up to the type of person they are looking for. For example, if the role requires an extrovert sales person and you are introvert who has never experienced a sales role, the chances are that you would not fit the role required.

This does not mean that you should only look for "safe" positions. There is nothing wrong with taking on a job that challenges your experience and expertise or means learning new skills. What it does mean is that you need to be realistic about how far that challenge is capable of being met by you.

Salary band

If we are all honest, one of the first things we look at when searching for a new job is the salary and benefits being offered. The higher these are the more we are drawn to the position.

However, two acts of realism need to be undertaken here. The first is to be aware that the salary will only last if you can complete the required role. Thus understanding the role and being capable of doing the job is important. You do not want to find yourself in a job seeker position in a few months time with a failure added to your CV, however much the salary is.

The second aspect of salary is to understand the mechanics of how job roles work. In most companies you can climb a promotional ladder once you have joined and proved yourself. The larger the company the more rungs there will be on this ladder. Smaller companies have a shorter ladder. What is being said here is that, irrespective of the salary, you need to be realistic about the chances of advancement. If there is little opportunity for promotion the salary is not going to improve very much over the years.

Sometimes it is worth electing for a position with a lower starting salary in the knowledge that the career path in that organisation will be longer and more fruitful.

Job satisfaction

We spend around 30% of our lives working. Therefore, is it wise to choose a career simply for the money? The answer is of course not. With so much of our life invested in work, it is important to be realistic about job satisfaction. If you are not satisfied and fulfilled in your career this is likely to spill over into frustrations at home, so every area of you life could suffer. In such cases it is better to forgo the extra thousand dollars or pounds and choose job satisfaction instead.

Nothing comes easy

There is a lot of truth in

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