Archive for Identify Your Ideal Career
A confusing riddle: What career is best for me?
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Do you ever ask yourself, “Why is it so hard to figure out what career is best for me?” Sometimes it feels like you’re running on a hamster wheel, or moving through a dense cloud of fog with no clear destination in sight. You are not alone! I frequently work with highly educated, wonderfully successful clients who wrestle daily in the career decision-making fog. Interestingly, no matter how smart you are, and even how well you can see the forest from the trees, for clients in your current profession, it is a challenge to shine a light on your own blind spots and have the complete picture you need to move forward with confidence.
There are two things you need to make an effective career decision.
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First, you must know yourself incredibly well. You cannot achieve this simply because you have 20 years of work experience or because you completed career assessments. Your fulfillment components are often too complex to understand on the surface. Components such as personality, interests, values, skills, and work environment preferences require deep exploration and tough questions that break down mental barriers and reveal authentic themes.
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Second, it is critical to thoroughly understand your career options – what’s out there? What exactly does that entail? Only then can you use your must have evaluation criteria derived from your fulfillment components to effectively evaluate options for your best fit career.
This is indeed a process! If you find yourself in the career fog right now, please contact us as we would be thrilled to help guide you through to clarity.
Can you find your dream job on your own?
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A lot of potential career coaching clients will ask me, “Why do I need a career coach, can’t I figure this out on my own?” The truth is, usually they haven’t figured it out on their own, which is why they’re talking to me. What I tell them is this, “Yes many people can, and have figured out their career direction without the help of a career coach, which is great!” I’ll admit that I’m a little jealous of those people, because I wasn’t one of them.
Many people have trouble finding their dream job for various reasons. They’re confused with so many career ideas in their head. They have too many people giving them advice, and it’s steered them off track. Maybe they don’t know themselves well (that was me!) or maybe they’re simply too busy to really take the time to figure it out in the right way. Whatever the reason is, I tell my career coaching clients, “Yes you may be able to figure it out over time, and perhaps by a process of elimination. But eliminating ideas over time can take a while.”
When I was stuck I felt like it would take me 10 years to figure out my dream job through process of elimination – trying different jobs over time. I really didn’t want to wait that long though. It would’ve been too painful. If you’re having trouble with it, it’s more effective and efficient to get right to the heart of it, and figure it out as quickly as you can. Life’s too short. If you can figure it out on your own, that’s great! But don’t settle or waste time in a job you don’t enjoy.
If you are interested in learning more about our services and how a career coach can help you, please contact us today for a complimentary consultation.
Balance the practical with the passion
Posted by: | CommentsWatch this YouTube video as I expand on the advice from an article on Forbes.com. Sometimes your dream job can seem understandably unattainable, but if you define what you’re passionate about first, you will be more motivated to continue in your job search even through tough times. Passion will pick you up off the bathroom floor so you have to tap into it. Learn to balance the passion and the practical. Always focus on both, but don’t let one override the other.
Read the article here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswomanfiles/2012/01/03/finding-your-dream-job-from-the-bathroom-floor/
Know your career purpose and get to the heart of fulfillment!
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I was working with my career coaching client, Sara, last week and we were talking about developing her career purpose and mission statement. Have you written one yet? If not, you need to! Doing this exercise will get you straight to the heart of what would be most fulfilling to you in a career.
In our career workbook we have several exercises to help you get to this, and it takes some time and thought for our clients to figure it out. One way you can get started on it however, is to ask yourself, “What you want your career to be about, long term?” At the end of your life what would you want to be able to say about your career? That you helped people in some way, had a certain impact on the economy, or maybe something else? Just imagine you’re writing your biography.
Looking back, what would be most meaningful to you? Just brainstorm, write down whatever comes to mind first, and see what pops up.
Hallie Crawford
Ideal Career Coach
Don’t listen to your friends…even though they mean well!
Posted by: | CommentsIn this video I expand on advice from an article about finding your dream job from Forbes.com. In order to find your dream job you have to know what you want first. Then listen to your friend’s advice and take what works for you, leave what doesn’t. You have to filter anyone’s advice by what works for you at all times so that you don’t get off track, and take a job just because someone else suggested you’d be good at it. Listen to yourself first, at the end of the day you know what’s best for you.
Read the article from Forbes.com here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswomanfiles/2012/01/03/finding-your-dream-job-from-the-bathroom-floor/
How do you know if it’s you or the job?
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I was talking to my career coaching client, Damon, this week and he asked a great question. I hear this often, so I wanted to share it with you. How do you know if your job is not a good fit for you, versus you just need to improve yourself and work on your skills? There’s no one size fits all answer. Although, it would it be very nice if there was! Here’s how you can start to understand the difference:
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Remember that there are some things we can learn and some things that we can’t. Some things are also a lot harder for us to learn than others. It’s the distinction between talents and skills. Talents are inherent while skills can be learned. When you are thinking, “I should be better at this,” are you considering something that you can actually learn and develop? Or is it a natural talent that just is not there.
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You need to understand the difference between something you can work on and improve versus something that is part of your personality type. Some thing’s you can’t necessarily change, and you wouldn’t necessarily want to. You are who you are. So in some cases we need to accept that, move on, and realize there’s a better job fit for us out there.
I hope this is helpful to you to get you started on thinking about talents versus skills and understanding and your personality type.
Hallie Crawford
Career Transition Coach
P.S. Find out if for sure if you’re in the right career with our free Ideal Career Quiz.
Chocolaty inspiration to help find your dream job
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Last night I had the opportunity to speak for Georgia Tech Alumni Association’s Waffle House Career Series. The topic was “Live and Work with Passion and Purpose“.
It was an exciting and well attended event. There was great interaction and participation. We discussed how to bring passion into both your personal life and your career. Thank you to all those who came out!
Inspiring example: A participant from last night, Michelle, said her dream job was to make chocolate. I talked to her more today, and I really believe she will make it happen. She is currently getting her MBA at GA Tech to learn how to run a business. She plans to open a retail or online store. She did an internship with a chocolate maker in Australia. I know she’ll make her dream a reality because she has a plan, has multiple options to make it happen in a practical way AND she has passion for it. This is something she really enjoys doing.
What’s your passion? How will you make it happen?
Are you in the Lost Generation?
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This is a great article I would like to share with you. Part of the reason I like this article so much is because I can relate to it.
Read this article here: Finding Your Dream Job from the Bathroom Floor
I remember crying in mom’s kitchen and actually the bathroom at work (several times). I felt I was part of the “lost generation” in my 20’s. I didn’t know what I wanted to do and where I should go. I didn’t realize the first step I had to take; just like the lady in this article.
I needed to figure out who I was and I what I wanted in the first place. After all my crying I gained some clarity in a workshop with a career coach, and I started getting back on track. But I had to go through that whole process to get where I am today. Many things have changed since then (i.e. technology, the economy slump.) One thing that doesn’t change is the fact that you need to know yourself and know what you want before you will get anywhere.
If you are ready to gain some clarity in your career direction, check out our 5 Keys to Finding Your Ideal Career E-book.
