According to the results of recent surveys in the UK, US and Ireland more than 50% of the workforce is unhappy with their career or job.
Most of these people are unhappy with the actual tasks they are doing in their job. The only way they will be happier is if they do something totally different – i.e., take a different career direction. The same goes for a lot of people who are made redundant.
These people have a choice, stay with the career they are or were in, or change it. The biggest thing preventing you from getting a career you love… believe it or not… is YOU!
Many people are simply not prepared to put in the effort needed, preferring to take the easy way out and accept second best… or maybe even whatever seemed like a good idea at the time. They do what they had the points for in their leaving cert or what their parents did/told them to do. Or they come up with excuses such as financial restraints.
It’s important to realise that choosing a career (or changing careers) is right up there with getting married, having kids, and buying a house. It is one of the most important decisions you will ever make in your life! For a few decades you will spend 60 odd hours out of 168 each week working and travelling to and from work.
And what happens at work, whether it’s good or bad, affects ALL the other aspects of your life – your health, family, finances, relationships, self-esteem and so on.
Choosing a career is NOT something that can be done in less than five minutes, but unfortunately, that’s how much thought some people put into it. Then 5 years later they are still on the factory floor, or answering phones at a call centre, selling door to door or in the same office doing the same every day.
Choosing a career involves much more:
1. Looking closely at yourself
2. Researching jobs which might be suitable
3. Being able to make a decision, and
4. Acting on, and being happy with, that decision.
The first of these steps in finding a career you love is “self-discovery”. It looks at such things as:
* The things you like and dislike doing
* The things you are good and bad at doing
* The skills you have or need to get
* Your achievements to date, and what you want to achieve in the future
* Your attitudes, values and personal style.
A thorough, honest and realistic self-assessment is vital if you are to gather the necessary information to make a good career decision… if you are to find a career you might love to do! If you want to find a job that is not work anymore!
That’s where my I come in with my career coaching package. While people can just opt for a new CV or interview technique sessions, I encourage a broader view on how to choose a career or change to the career you always wanted.
First the client and myself look at what makes them tick, what their core values are, what needs to be in place for them to be happy. This can range from family to faith to competitiveness to control to joy. We then use these values as a benchmark for career identification.
Then we look at the clients existing skills, strengths and character traits. They might be skilled at talking or problem solving, their strength might be a natural sense of humour and their character may be Loyal and Supportive.
We then explore the client’s interests, hobbies and favourite things. What is their favourite pastime? What do you read books on? How do you like spending a Sunday afternoon, if you won the Lottery how would you spend it etc…
When we have the results of all the exercises and work done, we match all of these with the ideal role in the ideal industry for the client.
Once this work is completed we start the actual practical work of skills gap analysis, CV and cover letter writing, interview preparation and job searching. Another USP is that I always personally follow through until the client secured a job or is satisfied with the progress made. This is done on a 1 to 1, confidential basis with the client’s agenda as the only one in town.
So ask yourselves and those around you the question if they want to get what they really want from the rest of their career or if they want to settle for second best? If you or them want to stop dreading Mondays, please get me their number so I can call them for a no charge consultation.
Patrick Mercie, 4ward 2 Success, your career coached 1 VIP at a time.