Where To Next?

More and more I find friends, family and colleagues come to me for employee relations advice. They need to talk to someone who is educated in this field and willing to offer guidance when requested.

An area I have been developing is career coaching and thinking about the benefits each person can receive by working with an expert coach in this field.

A career coach should be able to:

• Help you recognise your own value

• Help you plan your career

• Help keep you accountable

• Help you prepare for interviews

• Overall boost your success

If we break down these areas - helping someone be clear on the value they can contribute in a role is critical - each person needs to build their confidence in their strengths and then be able to sell themselves. I can appreciate that makes some people feel uncomfortable although the honest truth - this is the one time you need to make it all about you.

Planning your career is a seperate step. Providing direction to work out what you do or don’t want to do is a starting point. Today there are so many different career paths you can take and you need to truly understand where your desire sits and if you want to fuel that.

Accountability does not just sit with me - it will sit with you. Nobody else can make this happen. That old saying you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. When you are ready to embrace this step you are ready to own your career direction.

Interview preparation is a special skill. There are so many tips and tricks I can present to you having interviewed thousands of people during my working life. It can be as simple as what to wear, to what to say, to how to research a company.

My ultimate goal is for you to find success and you can be surprised how quickly that can happen once you invest the time to take charge.

Where to next?

When I Grow Up

Do you remember at school you were asked over and over again - What do you want to do when you grow up?

Which really on reflection makes me think what you do as job is what defines you, which we know is not true.

Today when you ask the younger generation what they want to be? The most common answer is FAMOUS. No more career goals of being a doctor, lawyer or a teacher.

What I love about the world now is the opportunity that exists. When I went to University there were different options for study although the courses were similar with the same run of the mill subjects. Now we have options like Digital Entrepreneurship, Personal Branding, Authentic Leadership or Corporate Sustainability.

At any age you can go back to study and take a new career path if you are ready for a change. Many courses also offer full time and part time study with some offering complete online learning so you never need to be in a classroom.

If you feel a little lost about your career direction, one book I read and it continues to be republished is “What colour is my parachute” by Richard Bolles. The book gives you the tools to discover and land your dream job. They have already released the 2022 edition. You do need to “do” the book, as there are activities to complete so you can define your purpose and way forward.

The message is - it’s never too late to change career direction. Network and talk to others in the field you are interested in to see what doors can be opened for you. You are never stuck where you are, especially if you are not feeling fulfilled.

Perhaps in the future we will start to hear about happiness instead of fame, helping others instead of what’s in it for me and maybe my dream of being a back up dancer is a reality.

When I grow up I want to be?