Haleema Hann is a Criticality Safety Consultant for Cerberus Nuclear, and is a member of SRP ' s Rising Generations Group.

I ' m part of the nuclear early careers community. After the initial excitement of starting my career, I reflected on my journey and felt a sense of stagnation. Over the past year, I ' ve put in a lot of effort to reignite my passion and set new goals.

Feeling like you haven ' t achieved a significant career milestone in a while can be disheartening. Setting achievable goals which provide direction, assist in measuring success, and thus create milestones to celebrate along the way is an effective way to combat this. This approach helped me move forward but also reframed challenges as stepping stones and training opportunities.

Set a number of goals over different timescales:

• Short-term goals( weeks): Focus on immediate targets such as organising an internal team event, presenting your work and volunteering in your community. These goals can be effective because they often don ' t require external assistance. They also help maintain motivation and the development of long-lasting habits.

• Medium-term goals( months / year): These help build confidence in specific areas, for example by attending events, preparing an abstract or learning a new skill. The SRP Annual Conference provides a great forum for presenting your work with added opportunities for formal recognition.

• Long-term goals( years): These are likely to include working towards promotion by taking on new or different responsibilities. Registration as a Technical, Incorporated or Chartered Radiation Protection Professional through SRP can also be an important milestone, providing recognition beyond your immediate employer.

• Ultimate goals: These could include making a meaningful contribution in your chosen specialisation, gaining recognition as an industry leader and building a lasting legacy.

The goals will be unique to each person, and will change over time. There are two golden rules. Firstly, goals should always be SMART— Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Secondly, it is vital to review progress periodically, in order to celebrate successes, reflect on anything which didn ' t go as planned, and reaffirm or set new goals. An employers ' formal appraisal process provides the ideal opportunity to review progress, as it considers the priorities and objectives of both employee and employer. However, you can also independently review and set your own goals.

In my case, communicating openly with my managers was a significant aid. Their excellent mentorship guided me in beneficial directions. Additionally, focusing on personal development beyond the workplace has been immensely helpful.

The Society for Radiological Protection has a specific membership section for those in the first 10 years of their career – it ' s called the Rising Generations Group( RGG). Through RGG you can access SRP ' s Mentoring Scheme. Find it on MySRP or join SRP to get all the details!

Radiation Protection Today Spring 2025 37