Archive for Ideal Career
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.
Hallie Crawford
Ideal Career Coach
P.S.
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
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.
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.
Hallie Crawford
Career Help Coach
What should your New Year’s resolution be?
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It’s that time of year again. The time to reflect on the years past, and decide what you want your future to hold. What will your New Year’s resolution be? Start the new year off with this Goal Setting Worksheet.
When you’re setting goals (resolutions), it’s important to create a structure for doing so and to write them down. Remember it’s not real until it’s in writing! A big reason to set goals in the first place is to create the life you want right!?! At the end of your life do you want to say you tried to achieve what you want or that you didn’t try at all? A goal that’s not written down is just a wish.
If you would like some extra help in setting goals for yourself and your career direction, please contact us today for a complimentary consultation. We look forward to hearing from you - Happy New Year!
P.S. Are you in the ideal career for you? Find out if you are on the right track with this quick Ideal Career Quiz!
The secret to finding fulfillment in your career
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So how do you know what’s fulfilling for you to help you define your ideal career? The secret is – Values. Values are one of the first things I help my career coaching clients identify in order to understand what would be fulfilling to them. Values are your guideposts to fulfillment and the foundation of figuring this out. Begin figuring out what your values are right away.
To figure out what your values are, you can ask yourself questions like:
- When in the past, professionally, have you felt lit up inside or energized?
- What in your personal life gives you a sense of satisfaction or joy?
- What deep seated personal priorities or values do you hold that are so important to you that if they were taken away, you’d feel frustrated or deprived in some way?
You’ll notice these are hard to answer questions. They’re meant to be that way for a reason. By answering these questions you’re trying to uncover what’s deeply important to you in your life, and then begin to translate that into your career.
I hope this advice was helpful to you. If you still feel lost in your career path, please contact us today to set up a complimentary consultation with one of our Certified Career Coaches.
Hallie Crawford
Atlanta Career Coach
How to find your dream job
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I was working with my career coaching client, Margaret, last week and she made a great point. Sometimes it’s hard to identify specific things you want to have in a dream job, especially when you’re not sure what’s realistic or what’s possible and when you don’t have specific examples.
If you haven’t had a job you truly enjoy, it can be tough to know what you want to do. This is because there are only a few examples to draw from to give you a sense of what would work. Margaret and I came up with this homework together. For the next 3 days, Margaret focused on identifying tangible examples of what she wanted in a job simply by paying attention to her current job, talking to friends, reading books, and noticing what other people did in her workplace. It was a simple exercise that gave her several tangible examples of things she wanted in her dream job.
Try focusing on what you like and don’t like at your current or previous job. You might be surprised to see what you come up with.
Hallie Crawford
Job Search Coach
P.S. If you would like more help identifying your ideal career, check out this FREE REPORT: ”Top Three Tools to Identify Your Ideal Career” today.
The true culprits of job dissatisfaction
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As a career coach, I consistently meet with career coaching clients who feel they’ve lost their sense of purpose in their work. They want to feel more passionate about what they do on a daily basis, and they often feel their work is the culprit. They feel their boss, coworkers, office environment, monotony of their schedule, or cubicle are the reasons for their lack of excitement and motivation for their work and life.
However, the truth is that these factors are actually symptoms of a deeper issue that is the true culprit of their frustration. The deeper issue is that they’ve lost touch with what makes them feel alive and passionate about life.
Our jobs are an important way we express our strengths and talents, and a way for us to feel we’re making a contribution to the world. When our jobs do not allow for this expression, we no longer feel fully alive. Instead we feel frustrated, and our days can feel more like drudgery than excitement.
Therefore, if you’re currently dissatisfied with your job, before running to a job board to find openings, spend some time on the following steps:
1) Identify your strengths
- What do people compliment you on?
- What activities cause you to lose track of time because of your enjoyment?
2) Identify the contribution you want to make to the world
- What issues do you get most passionate about?
- How can you help contribute to the solutions around these issues?
By taking a look at these two issues, you are working with the real culprits to your dissatisfaction at work. If you’d like help in identifying your strengths and the contribution you want to make in the world, contact us for a complimentary consultation.
Darcy Holoweski
Certified Career Coach
