There’s great saying that when you “Fail to plan, you plan to fail”. This is true for most things in life. Thinking about what you want and devising a plan is a great way to ensure you reach your goals. It’s also true for your career goals. Most people often go about their career with little thought or specific steps and it’s often that they find themselves at point in their career questioning how they go there. It’s no wonder they lack true career fulfillment.
We live in a world where you can find a specialist on anything. Struggling with pain management? You can see a pain management specialist. Troubles with your nasal passage? You can see an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist. Troubles with your back? You can see a Chiropractor. Ready to get into shape? You can see a personal trainer or fitness coach. Yet when it comes to your career, you often think you can work it out yourself. Or worse still, you think your manager should tell you what’s next in your career.
Here’s the thing. Your career is yours to own. You are the CEO of your career. So unless you want someone to decide your career path, then it’s time you realised that your career is something unique to you and you need to have a plan. That’s where a professional career coach can help you. By getting to the heart of what your value, what your strengths are and what skills, knowledge and experience you have, they can help you to package up your most valuable assets to ensure your marketability to an employer.
Leaving your career to chance or crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, is best left for playing lotto. But when it comes your livelihood, your happiness and your career fulfillment, why would you leave it to chance? Don’t you owe it to yourself to realise your potential? This is where a Career Coach can help you. There are 3 essential parts to your career:-
Knowing yourself
Values – One of the most important parts to knowing yourself, is knowing what your values are. Values are those intrinisic things which shape our decisions and help us decide what we want. It’s really your internal compass. Being clear on your values is important for your career in determining what you would like in your next job, team or work group and the company.
Needs – A job can affect every area of your life and as such you will have needs to be met. These needs can include a paycheck (specific amount), benefits (such as retirement), interesting work, supportive manager, flexibility and opportunity. Getting clear on what you need from your next job will assist you to know whether a job is right for you.
Knowing your assets
Skills – these are your work-related competencies. The specific competencies required to do a job. Skills can fall into one of three categories, hard or job specific/technical skills, soft or adaptive skills or transferable skills. It will depend on where you are at in your career and where you are going as to which skills may be more applicable. For example, if you’ve been working for 15 years, then transferable skills may be more relevant for you.
Knowledge – this is really the stuff you have learned. It can be formal or informal. Formal knowledge is things like education, courses, qualifications or licenses. Recruiters and potential employers want to know what formal knowledge or training you have obtained as this is often an entry point to some careers or professions.
Experience – this is really the informal knowledge that you’ve learnt along the way in your career. Through both your personal and professional life, you’ve gained experience which has helped shaped who you are today. Often experience has enabled you to develop tools, techniques and processes which are great selling points for a new employer. Actually capturing your experience isn’t as easy as you think. It’s not until you’re challenged to go back over your career or until a career coach helps you to identify this, do you stop and think about it.
Knowing how to market yourself
Branding – whether you like it or not, you are a brand. In the job market, your skills, knowledge and experience are really a commodity which you’re trading. It can be competitive in the job market, so knowing how to brand yourself and confidently sell your skills, is an art. Not only knowing how to do this but to be able to do this effectively to ensure you stand out, is essential to your success.
Careers can be complex and challenging. However, they can also be fulfilling and fruitful. A career coach will help you to close the gap between your current career situation and where you want to be. It can be truly transformational. In this ever-changing world of work, you are being asked to evolve and adapt your career in ways you would’ve never imagined. Having a professional career coach to help you navigate your career journey is an investment in yourself. You deserve to enjoy Mondays, be paid your worth and feel fulfilled in your career.
Feeling lost in your career? Do you need help with your next career move? Most importantly, a career coach can help you close the gap between your current career situation and where you want to be. Above all, Feeling lost in your career? Do you need help with your next career move? Most importantly, a career coach can help you close the gap between your current career situation and where you want to be. Above all, having a career coach to help you navigate your career journey is an investment in yourself. It can be truly transformational. Don’t leave your career to chance. Your career is yours to own. Ready to transform your career?
It can be truly transformational. Don’t leave your career to chance. Your career is yours to own. Ready to transform your career?