Like a flick of the switch summer and what warm weather the UK has enjoyed seems to be a distant memory. As the year continues to fly by and September romps past the window companies and technology firms are already hard at work planning for 2014. Things can change in the blink of an eye especially in sales and if you are not following these companies in planning your career for 2014 you could be seriously missing out or find yourself somewhere you career was never destined to be.

A question that is asked in a significant number of job interviews is; where you do you see yourself in 5-10 years? but have you asked yourself what you want for the next 12 months? Do you want to be doing exactly the same job this time next year – if you do then kudos for finding a job you obviously love doing. For those who can’t imagine themselves doing exactly the same thing in 2014 now is the ideal time to ask yourself what you really want.

Do you want to be doing the same job but with a bit more responsibility or something different entirely!? If you are looking to progress your career within your current company over the next 12 months then don’t just sit back and wait for development opportunities to be offered. Now is the perfect time to tell your line manager or relevant superiors that you want to take on more so they can include the relevant time, training, or resources in the company’s next business plan and any other 2014 planning they might be conducting.

If you are not sure what exactly you want to be doing the why not take the time to sit down and consider everything that is currently happening in the business and ask yourself do I want to be able to do that? If the answer is yes then you could have struck on just the thing to learn and work towards. Why not ask your boss to sit down and ask him where he sees you in the next 12 months. If they are happy for you to just be doing the same old thing and don’t want to challenge you when you obviously are eager to be stretched then do you really want to be working for them this time next year?

Doing the same old routine day after day, week after week, can be soul destroying for some people. A fresh challenge of new responsibilities can be just the thing to turn a boring old job into a stimulating highly rewarding role. If you are not carefully and plan where your career is destined you could find yourself in a rut with no end in sight and nothing on the horizon.