Career change

Career cul de sac?

November 18, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

This is a guest blog from one of our clients, Rick Cotgreave. We helped Rick discover his second career at 40.

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Maria Robinson

These are Rick’s words below:

“What can I do? I’m 40 years old, I’ve lost the enthusiasm I once had for my work, there must be more to life. How can I use my skills more productively? What opportunities are out there?

These are just some of the questions I had when I met Rachel in 2010. I was taking a sabbatical from work and was feeling lost. The future looked uncertain, staying in the same job and ticking down the time until retirement was terrifying. Surely there was a more productive, a more exciting, and a more rewarding way to make a living.

I had been given a gift voucher to see Rachel as a Christmas present. We arranged to meet and spend some time exploring how to combine my skills, experience, and passions to create a meaningful career. At the time I had no idea that just a two hour meeting would create such a significant shift in direction for me.

With skill Rachel coached and advised me to examine the things that really mattered to me to take a fresh perspective on my experiences and to bring them together in a way that was both relevant and of real value in the wider market place.

My background was predominantly in sport, I’d played lacrosse internationally and used that build my first career doing sports coaching and teaching Physical Education. Sport provided a great foundation for a mind-set keen to constantly look for ‘better’ and ways to develop and improve. I’d also studied yoga and meditation for many years which gave a balance to the competition of sport and helped provide an insight into the mind-set of contentment and fulfilment. Teaching had been a great way of sharing my passions with other people, but I sensed that there were more opportunities beyond the world of education.

Rachel broadened my perspective and allowed me to see how my skills could be applied in the corporate world. I began to see that a keen understanding of performance excellence learned in sport was a transferable skills that could help businesses improve individual and team effectiveness. An understanding of mindfulness could help raise awareness, manage stress and improve performance under pressure. It was this knowledge combined with the passion for sharing, teaching and coaching that would provide the building blocks for my second career.

In just two hours with Rachel, my eyes were opened to new possibilities. I subsequently resigned from my role, gained extra training and qualifications in coaching and began to build my business, Mobius Performance. I chose the name Mobius to represent the fusing of the inner and outer worlds – bringing together the performance excellence seen in sport and the personal excellence discovered in meditation.

Since meeting with Rachel I have been able to create a career that is much more rewarding. I learn something new every day and develop my skills further than I ever had the opportunity to do before. I have had the privilege to work with some brilliant people and share my passion for human development in businesses all over the world.

It might have only been two hours, but the meeting with Rachel was the start of something that continues to grow. It’s a constant reminder to me of the power of coaching – the right person, at the right time can make a massive difference to someone’s life. We all have something inside of us, it sometimes takes someone else to give us a gentle nudge so that we can grow and blossom. “

For more information about Rick, click on this link:

http://www.mobiusperformance.com/about-us/rick-cotgreave/

Imagine what an Energise gift voucher could do for you or someone you care about? Click on this link to find out more about our services/enquire about Energise gift vouchers:

http://careerstrategies.co.uk/careercoaching/what-next/

For more insights, tips and inspiring client examples, follow Rachel on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/talentliberator

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Alan Kay.

What could your second career be? Download our free Skills report as a first step:

www.careerstrategies.co.uk/changingcareersreport

My inspiring clients. Part 2 of 4.

November 2, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

Most people don’t realize how amazing and talented they are, and hide their light under a bushel.

My job is to help them to see their talent & uniqueness, work with them to define a career vision, strategy and plan and support them to market themselves and get to where they want to be, overcoming actual and perceived hurdles.

My clients inspire me so much and I learn a lot from them, getting new ideas that help myself and I can share with others. This is a 4 part blog series each sharing 5 current client scenarios and 5 success stories to inspire you.

5 current client scenarios

• A quality assurance manager in her 30s who wants to become an events/project manager

• A management consultant in her 30s frustrated with full time employment in the NHS who wants to do contracting work more in line with her values

• A former manager in her 40s in a corporate who has been a full time carer for her family for many years and who now wants to create a new career & life for herself

• A female in her 30s who has just returned back to the UK after living in Australia and wants to get a job and build a network

• A successful management consultant in his 50s who wants to define their brand and market their business to get more clients in the UK rather than abroad so they can spend more time with their family

5 inspiring client examples:

Evolving business focus (Lorna)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106770475879.html

Family friendly business (Francesca)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106769308248.html

Hobby into a business and child friendly (Martin)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106786138295.html

Leaving corporate life – portfolio career (Pippa)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106787631164.html

Life work balance – (Jon)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106769307989.html

Are you ready to create your own success story? Get in touch.

For more useful insights, follow us on Twitter:
Tweets by talentliberator

My clients are very unhappy with me

October 6, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

Sometimes my clients are very unhappy with me. They question what we are doing, how we are doing it and whether it works. I don’t mind. It is the storm before the calm.

Usually it is because they are very frustrated with themselves and/or feeling stuck and scared.

Changing career can be a pretty scary decision. A big change evokes big emotion and natural fears that need to be worked through.

During the process, they can feel very stuck at times, having made the decision to change, mentally left behind where they have been but not yet sure what they are going to do next and how they are going to get there. They don’t know what to do with this uncomfortable emotion swishing about so they project it onto us.

They can be slightly aggressive, defensive, ‘arsy’ even, but I see it as a positive because I know it is normal and healthy. They can be how they are and express exactly how they feel with me. Their friends and family may be worrying about the change they are making and talking about their fears to them can make them feel more worried and anxious, when they are feeling quite anxious enough as it is.

The breakthrough, or ‘aha’ moment follows this stuck phase and they move forward, often quite fast. The calm after the storm.

If you are considering a career change, it won’t be all plain sailing, but you will get to calm waters and be glad that you set sail, even if there are some squally patches along the way.

The alternative is staying in stagnant water that becomes more putrid over time, feeling more and more fed up, stuck and unfulfilled.

So what choice are you making for you? Get in touch if you are ready for change.

Click on this link for some blog about fears:
http://liberateyourtalent.wordpress.com/?s=fears+

To follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Opt in to receive our Energise bulletins; career strategies, smart living and working, self-promotion. You can view previous topics and opt in from this page:
http://www.liberateyourtalent.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=106

Who’s your Sherpa?

September 27, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

I recently heard an amazing speaker at an Ernst & Young quarterly women’s network event: Herta von Stiegel.

She decided she wanted to climb Kilimanjaro as a challenge for reaching 50. Not only that, but to do it taking a group of disabled people and their helpers too. It took two years of planning and she succeeded. The climb resulted in a book called “The inner mountain” which draws parallels between leadership lessons and her experiences climbing Kilimanjaro.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mountain-Within-Leadership-Lessons-Inspiration/dp/0071773061

Two things I personally took away from her talk were:

Vision is the intersection between something you are passionate about/a major strength and how it meets a human need.

The aptness of the ‘inner mountain’ metaphor for career change.

Many people want to change career but don’t start because the change feels too great, the climb too steep, too daunting. No one who has climbed a mountain or done a marathon would say it is easy, but they focus on the motivation of the outcome and break the stages into steps just as climbers have different camps along the way e.g. base camp.

Two of the highlights for me about helping people to change career are the ‘aha’ moments – insights about what they really want to do, what is stopping them and breakthroughs in progress. Career change like climbing a mountain is an outer journey too, but very much an inner one of personal discovery and change.

Three questions for you:

What do you feel passionately about doing through your career to help others?
What are you really good at?
What’s stopping you from career change?

Here is what a client of ours said recently:

“Coaching has been very instrumental for me, because it helped me carve my own path at my own pace, to reach my goal. I’m not sure that without coaching, I would still have had the willpower to change and enter a completely different line of work – I may have thought about it, but whether I would have put it in action anyways? I’m not so certain!

Also, I enjoyed speaking with Rachel, because I knew that she wouldn’t be judgemental or biased – she understood where I was coming from and she understood why I needed the change, which has been at times, difficult to explain to friends and family.”

Click on this link for some blog about fears:
http://liberateyourtalent.wordpress.com/?s=fears+

To follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Yes! But, but, but…..

August 27, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

What’s your ideal career? Is it what you are doing now? If not, what are you doing about it?

Many people want to change career, get to the starting blocks, and then find ‘buts’ and never move any further. So how can you overcome fear?

The thing is ‘buts’ are normal and part of the career change process. Identifying them and working out how to get around them or jump over them is important.

‘Buts’ can be big or small, but they are still ‘buts’.

BUT what will my parents think?

BUT what if I make the wrong decision?

BUT what impact on my employment rights?

BUT how long will it take?

BUT where else are my skills and experience useful?

Sound familiar?

It is easier to overcome the ‘buts’ with support. Talking with friends and family can add to the ‘buts’ because they give their view and see problems and risks rather than seeing the situation through your eyes. Not everyone will welcome the change that you need, sometimes because it affects them in a way they don’t like.

A career coach like me champions you and is experienced at the process of career change and the natural fear and buts that arise. Our society isn’t especially open in talking about fear.

Some of the ‘buts’ my clients have tackled have been:

– A lawyer dealing with their father’s disappointment of not wanting to remain in the law
– A teacher sourcing a certificate from their native Italy years after doing the exam to be able to apply to do a course to retrain
– A Doctor letting go of the high regard of others ‘oh, you’re a Doctor?’ at parties

and many clients working through dealing with unknowns and uncertainties and the perceived risk in a challenging market

What would your ‘buts’ be?

Black and white thinking is common – all or nothing. In reality, there is always more than one option.

To follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Have you downloaded our free PDF to identify what your transferable skills are? Click on this link:

Free Skills download:
http://careerstrategies.co.uk/changingcareersreport/

11 career steps to a second career

August 5, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

Fancy a second career different to your first? Many people fall into their first career, so it’s not surprising that more and more people are seeking a second career.

It can feel like a void when you change career, so it helps to have career steps to pave the way to your future.

Last week I did telephone coaching sessions to prepare two clients practically and mentally in their decision to negotiate a career step in their career change.

Client A is working full time and wants to change career direction and needs to be able to do an internship in the Autumn in their new area of work. They broached the subject of a sabbatical with their line manager with 3 options. It went really well and it is looking like a ‘yes’ to the sabbatical.’

Client B’s current role is being made redundant and they have been offered alternative roles but are concerned that this is not the right choice for them and they want to take the opportunity to do something different. Result – they successfully negotiated redundancy.

Coaching is really useful to help people to prepare and think through different options, make the right decision for you and communicate this in the best way to the target audience to achieve your desired outcome.

What could your stepping stone be to a different career? In future, work will become much less guaranteed and more transient with temporary assignments the norm for many of us, so this is an important thing to start thinking about.

Here are 11 possible stepping stones to pave the way for your new career:

1. Get made redundant and get a lump sum
2. Take voluntary redundancy and get a lump sum
3. Take a sabbatical
4. Take a career break
5. Switch from working full time to part time with your current employer
6. Leave your current employer and do contracting/interim work in the same industry/profession
7. Switch from full time employment to freelance project work in the same sector
8. Help out a friend in their business to gain new experience
9. Save up a cushion to dedicate to creating your career change
10. Do some volunteering
11. Fund your own retraining while still self-employed to broaden your skills, qualifications and choices

What other career steps would you add?

If you are thinking about career change, start the career steps to your new career this August.

For more insights and tips, follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Have you downloaded our free PDF to identify what your transferable skills are? Click on this link: http://careerstrategies.co.uk/changingcareersreport/

Is a new career like a marathon?

July 29, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

I was chatting to a potential client last week who runs marathons. How they approached the 26 mile race reminded me of people who want a new career.

Many people want a new career, but it feels so huge and overwhelming that they never start.

If a marathon runner dwelled on the fact that they had to run for 26 miles, they would probably be put off doing marathons, whereas if they focus on 1 mile at a time, the race is far less daunting.

The same is true with a new career – it is a big decision and best tackled one step at a time.

The world is changing so fast, taking this approach with a new career is wise because you can review your strategy as you go along, just as a marathon runner would depending on the weather conditions, speed of the other runners, terrain etc.

How do you perceive a new career? What would be your first step?

August is a great time to start so you are prepared and ready in September.

To follow us on Twitter, click on this link:
https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Free Skills download:
http://careerstrategies.co.uk/changingcareersreport/

Read about two of our clients who created a new career:

Persistence to realise a career vision (Anna)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106812347557.html

Starting a charity (Mary)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106770362344.html

Does your job ever make you weep?

July 24, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

I had an e mail this week from a potential client. I bet some of you can relate to what they said in their e mail or know someone it reminds you of:

“I am not happy in my current role and have for a while been thinking about what to do next. I know I do not want to stay in my current profession but in truth do not know what I want to do. This has been brought to the fore last week as I was put at risk of redundancy by my employer although there are a number of new posts that I could apply for and I think the expectation is that I will take one of these. This would be the easy option but I think will still leave me wondering ‘what if?’

‘What if?’ is a hard one isn’t it? It is in the future and an unknown quantity, so you don’t know if you will wish you had done something differently and have regrets or not.

This week I have worked with a number of new clients who hate their job/career. It is not uncommon for them to feel depressed and sometimes they cry in the session because they are so fed up of feeling fed up.

It is not surprising is it? As a metaphor, it is a bit like a plant trying to grow without any sunshine and in the wrong environment for it to thrive.

When we first start working together, we do a session in two hours which helps them to identify what motivates them and what is important to them (their values). They quickly see that their job or career is not giving them these things. You can see the light bulb go on. Sometimes moving department or company can make all the difference, but for many changing career is what they choose to do.

Career change is a big decision so we tackle it thoroughly, strategically and practically.

Who do you know who is wondering ‘What if?’ It is never too late to change track, get on the right path and have more career fulfillment. Summer is a great time to do the career change programme when the pace of life and work is a little less frenetic.

Here are a couple of examples of career change:

Anne

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1108092201346.html

Duncan

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106786590378.html

For more insights and tips, follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Fancy being a content curator?

July 6, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

Content curation is one of two phrases I heard this week for the first time.

The other one was ‘Digital shadow’. I love new things. It can be a bit tiring but it makes me happy!

“Content curation is the gathering, organizing and on-line presentation of content related to a particular theme or topic”.

Content curation is a skill and an art – what to include, what to leave out and how to express/present it.

Portfolio careers used to be new – the perfect second career for people like me who love variety and who would rather have work like tapas or dim sum than just 1 main dish.

Apparently 90% of the information on the web has appeared in the last 2 years. That is enough to make your head explode, hence the need for content curators to manage and make sense of it.

A museum like the V&A, for example, only has a small proportion of items on display. They have been careful selected and displayed. The rest are archived.

The world needs content curators with people becoming information grazers and a shorter attention span. I am even worrying about this blog being too long. … Bear with me though.

A common worry for people who come to me wanting a second career is that they don’t like what they are doing, but they don’t know what else they could do instead. They can go round and round in circles feeling stuck and frustrated. Another block to career change is that people cannot see how their skills are transferable to do something else, as they have been doing one thing all their lives, sometimes for the same employer.

Luckily I am the mistress of reinvention and have a broad network and constantly connecting mind – (wish it had an ‘off’ button), so am good at helping people to see their skills, how they are transferable and new careers where they can be applied.

New careers like content curation are appearing all the time and sometimes, a bit like with new product development, needs can be created when people did not know that they had them. Imagine creating your own career playing to a strength, hobby or passion!

Many moons ago, I worked as an account planner in the advertising and communication industry for JWT, little did I know it, but I ‘content curated’ all the time, synthesising research into a creative brief, a white paper, useful insights & ideas or a brand positioning. I remember to this day, my first freelance project for what became a regular client. This gruff Yorkshireman (I love Northerners) dumped a huge stack of research reports on my desk and said: “Right then, let’s see what you can do with that little lot by 5pm today.” It felt like an exam! I delivered. Phew!

It was the beginning of my content curator career, although I did not know it at the time.

Good content curation is a bit like an iceberg – there is only a small bit visible compared to the amount of work that was put into it.
So if you are at career crossroads, don’t worry. Your perfect second career might be emerging as we speak.

What new careers have you heard about recently?

PS By the way, if anyone knows what ‘digital shadow’ is, do let me know, as I haven’t discovered the answer yet.

To read our bulletin about Portfolio careers, click on this link:
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1103260139794.html
To read about Anne’s career change from market research to facial workouts, click on this link:
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1108092201346.html

For more useful insights and tips, follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Mind the gap

June 30, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

Do you find career change daunting?

Many people want to make a career change, but choose to stay put instead. With an uncertain economic situation and with perceived security, this is a common choice. But at what cost?

Sitting on a fence for too long gets a bit sore.

Many people will happily buy 2 coffees a day or eat out three times a week, or buy clothes and shoes, the money for which over a year would fund a career coaching programme or a course to further their skills. We call this unconscious eating, drinking, shopping habits; ‘filling a gap’. Sound familiar?

Better to mind the gap than fill it.

This week during a coaching session with a client their fear about career change was palpable. Our client was clear about where they wanted to go, they had an impactful CV, and are extremely marketable. But they were in the void.

What is the void?

It is a place of ‘not-knowing’ and not knowing is scary and unfamiliar.

You have gone beyond where you have been in your career but not yet reached where you are going to be, and you don’t know how you are going to get there. People who have only worked in one company or type of work feel this especially strongly.

At this point in the process, common questions and themes are:

– How do ask for introductions?

– How do I get on the radar of headhunters?

– My network is very narrow, how do I build it when I am busy at work?

– How will I make the right decision?

– There is so much competition, how can I stand out?

We help our clients with these topics and a lot more, including creating a career strategy and plan and being a ‘Sherpa’ to help them get to their summit.

For those of you reading this, what are you doing to do this week to move your career in the direction you want it to go?

One action would be to set up a savings account to invest in your career, skills and knowledge. Even a small amount e.g. £5/week adds up over time.

In future, people will need a higher level of skill to secure the job they want, take responsibility for their own career, rather than leave it to their employer and to market themselves.

Be one of the wise ones.

Don’t wait for the end of the downturn to start creating your future.

For insights and tips, follow us on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/talentliberator

To read our Career Strategies, Smart living and working and Self-Promotion bulletins with useful insights and tips/opt in to receive future ones, click on this link:

http://www.liberateyourtalent.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=106