portfolio career

Transferable skills – where next? Part 3.

April 7, 2021 By // by Rachel Brushfield

This is part 3 of a 4 part blog series about transferable skills.

This blog is an extract from section 6 of our Energise career e course: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/e-course/

Read part 1: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/transferable-skills-where-next-part-1/

Read part 2: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/transferable-skills-where-next-part-2/

How can you use your best skill in new contexts?

People often don’t know how the skills they use in one context could be useful in another context, job or career. We can only know what we know and it can be hard to be clear about what other career options are open to us.

One of the things that I do with my clients is help them understand how their minds work and the steps they take with solving a problem for example; then identify other contexts where this approach could be useful. It is amazing how skills are transferable to completely new areas.

Examples of skills that can be transferred:

From sales & marketing property to sales & marketing hotels as a place to stay
From insights about consumers to insights about people
From employed PA to self-employed virtual PA

From sales and marketing property to sales and marketing hotels as a place to stay

One participant of our Energise ‘Steer your career’ workshop had been made redundant from her job in the property industry, selling houses. At that time, the prospects of finding another similar job were almost non-existent. We helped her to see how her skills of sales, marketing and dealing with customers were very transferable. She reshaped her CV and achieved a fantastic prestigious job for Malmaison hotels, broadening her experience and marketability.

She missed the property world, so went back to it when more jobs became available, so her career revitalisation was temporary based on market conditions. As a result of working with us, she gained an increased awareness of herself, her values, her skills and motivations, so she knew that property was where her heart lay.

From insights about consumers to insights about people

Insight mining is one of my key skills and it is a combination of observation, analysis, making connections and thinking laterally. In the past, I worked as an account planner in the communication industry and a key part of my job was reading research, looking at trends and analysing information to mine insights that would help brands and companies to achieve a competitive advantage.

I now use those same skills with my clients in career revitalisation. Insights about themselves and what makes them unique, insights about what target employers or customers want, insights about how they can be different from their competitors. Different context, same skill.

From employed PA to self-employed virtual PA

Many companies have been making PAs redundant, partly to reduce costs to companies, but also because computers and technological advances make it easy for management to do their own typing and administration.

This is an example of huge change to what used to be an established career for life. At the same time as demand for this type of job is shrinking, more and more people have been setting up their own business. If you own a business and have no staff (usual when you start) it is hard to do everything yourself and makes a lot of sense to focus on what you are really good at. Having a virtual PA makes good sense.

The number of hours in each working day is finite, so it makes sense to be smart and use them wisely. If I am spending time in customer care lines to renew my domain name, not only am I feeling frustrated, but also I am not using my time in the best way which plays to my strengths!

Read my article about having a virtual PA on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/whos-looking-after-you-rachel-brushfield-the-talent-liberator/

What next?

If you are at a major career crossroads and thinking about changing career direction, becoming self-employed or developing a portfolio career, we can help.

Why not get in touch to arrange your free no obligation meeting?https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Save the dates! Coming soon.

Energise seminars to help you to market yourself.

10-12 Tuesday 11 May 2021 on Zoom: “Why me? What value do you bring?” https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marketing-seminar-why-me-what-value-do-you-bring-tickets-149507654419

10-12 Tuesday 15 June 2021 on Zoom. “Marketing me: Proactive marketing.”

Transferable skills – where next? Part 1.

April 6, 2021 By // by Rachel Brushfield

This is part 1 of a 4-part blog series about transferable skills.

A common theme amongst all of the career coaching clients I work with is a) they have a blind spot seeing their own skills and talents and b) how they can use them in other ways, i.e. possible new jobs or different careers to what they have done before.

I act as a pair of ‘wing mirrors’ to help them see their skills and be clear about where else they can use them.

In these times of redundancies and shrinking sectors caused by the impact of the coronavirus, this is a very important area to explore as part of your future-proof career.

What is a skill?

A skill is defined as: “cleverness at doing a thing, either from practice or a natural gift.”

Why do people find it hard to see their own skills?

Most people don’t think of themselves in terms of skills, and find it immodest to talk about their own ‘natural gifts’.

Common phrases that people express are: “I just do my job” or “it’s just what I do.”

It is not surprising therefore that people need support in seeing new career options for themselves.

People are discouraged from saying that they are clever and our specific and unique talents are rarely acknowledged or recognised by others. Other people may have thought about you are good at, but not shared this information with you, so it is worth asking to elicit this useful information.

In employer engagement research, frustration about lack of feedback is a common complaint from employees about their line managers, so giving feedback to your direct reports is a good thing to do to boost morale at this time if you are a manager.

Articulating the benefits you bring

Awareness of your specific skills and the ability to articulate them, sharing tangible examples of the benefits they bring is crucial in career success, especially when you are competing against a lot of good candidates.

Spell it out

For people seeking a new or different career, being explicit in helping others to see how your skills are useful in a related context is a must to convince your potential employer that you are up to the task, and not a risk. Self-awareness, confidence and the ability to market yourself, plus overcoming natural fears about change enable a change in career direction to be within reach.

Self-reflective questions

What’s my best skill and in what other contexts is it useful?
What work tasks make me feel energised?
What work activity can I not stop myself from doing?

Inspiring quote

“Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities. Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.”

Norman Vincent Peale

5 tips to help you identify your transferable skills

1) Get someone to ask you how you do your job and to write down what you say and then share their perspective of your skills with you.

2) Think about something you do well naturally and write down the specifics using the third person. Practice saying “I am really good at, for example when ….” This makes it feel more comfortable and not ‘boastful.’

3) Analyse the ‘process’ you use to do your work step by step. Most people have a process incorporating certain skills but don’t see this, as they are too close to themselves. This can be turned into a model or infographic to use on your CV, on social media or on a personal web site.

4) Ask people you work with or live with for feedback about your specific skills and do the same for them.

5) If you want to fast track your awareness, get a career coach who is trained to see your skills and help you to see opportunities where they are useful that you may be unaware even existed.

Helping people to identify their skills, knowledge and experience and new context in which it can be applied is one of my best skills. This is a combination of analysis, lateral thinking, making connections, keeping up with trends in careers and skills, and working with people from many different sectors over the 20+ years that I have been doing career coaching.

If you are at a major career crossroads and thinking about changing career direction, becoming self-employed or developing a portfolio career, we can help.

Why not get in touch for your free no obligation meeting? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Save the dates! Coming soon.

Energise seminars to help you to market yourself.

10-12 Tuesday 11 May 2021 on Zoom: “Why me? What value do you bring?” https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/marketing-seminar-why-me-what-value-do-you-bring-tickets-149507654419

10-12 Tuesday 15 June 2021 on Zoom. “Marketing me: Proactive marketing.”

Variety is the spice of life

February 14, 2021 By // by Rachel Brushfield

Introduction

I have been running my own business Energise for over 24 years and have always enjoyed variety.

In 2011, I was lucky to read the book ‘The Shift’ by Lynda Gratton, a Professor at London Business School about changing work trends and what the world of work would be like in 2020.

I am so glad that I did, because having implemented its recommendations myself, I am now in a good position to help people at this challenging time in the world, with Covid-19 having accelerated a decade of change into 1 year.

What is a portfolio career?

A portfolio career is work/a career made up of multiple components, for example freelance work, a contract, a part time job, non-executive directorships, trustee and volunteering, rather than just having 1 job or running 1 business.

As a metaphor, a portfolio career is like choosing Dim Sum or Tapas in a restaurant, a variety of different dishes, rather than just one single main dish, giving you a variety of flavours and textures and a moreish combination.

Why are portfolio careers growing?

Portfolio careers have been growing for a while, because of 2 growing segments:

· The ‘want a portfolio career’ market – pre-retirees wanting a gentle ‘slope’ rather than a steep ‘cliff’ to retirement, and millennials (young workers) who have different career aspirations to previous generations.

· The ‘need a portfolio career’ market – this has grown massively because of the impact of Covid-19 on both the employed and self-employed sectors; shrinking markets, forced career change, reduced consultancy projects with greater competition, more people becoming self-employed, and a raised ‘bar’ of the standard required to secure a job or project.

How do portfolio careers vary?

Portfolio careers have been around for centuries – think holiday destinations with seasonal tourism, who need a different way of earning a living for the rest of the year.

Portfolio careers vary a lot, and they also change a lot!

They can be segmented into:

· Similar e.g. associate work with different companies

· Contrasting e.g. leadership coach and historical author

· Synergistic e.g. bee-keeper and dentist

A portfolio career isn’t the right career choice for everyone, so thinking it through carefully is essential. Working with an experienced career coach, specialising in portfolio careers can be invaluable.

A portfolio career is like a kaleidoscope.

You can adjust it and create new work patterns that suit you, as your needs change, and market trends shift.

Everyone is unique and so is each portfolio career!

What are the benefits of a portfolio career?

Benefits include:

· Variety

· More fulfilment and flexibility

· Constant learning

· Increased career agility

· Enhanced career resilience

· A future-proof career

· Reducing your career risk

What are the drawbacks of a portfolio career?

Drawbacks include:

· Constant change

· Less certainty and security than a traditional career

· Need to focus on trends and take stock regularly

· Must embrace marketing and networking

· Need to be super-organised

A portfolio career is like having a ‘safety net’.

Is it really a good idea to put all your career ‘eggs in one basket’ in an uncertain world?

What next?

To receive a free Energise report: ‘Discover Portfolio Careers’ including a free 15-question suitability questionnaire and/or to arrange your free 20-minute no-obligation meeting to explore whether a portfolio career is right for you, get in touch with Rachel Brushfield using this link: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Recommended reading

Lynda Gratton ‘The Shift’ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shift-Future-Work-Already-Here/dp/0007525850

Andrew J Scott + Lynda Gratton ‘The 100 year life’ https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Year-Life-Living-working-longevity/dp/1472930150

Andrew J Scott and Lynda Gratton ‘The new long life’ https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Long-Life-Framework-Flourishing/dp/1526615169/r

More about Energise

View Rachel Brushfield’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/energiseliberateyourtalent/

Rachel Brushfield’s portfolio career

Inspiring Portfolio Careers https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/

EnergiseLegal https://www.energiselegal.com/

Energise LLClub – Inspiring Portfolio Careers for Women Lawyers. https://www.llclub.org/

PWHub – Inspiring Professional Women – a network for senior employed women, all sectors, with quarterly CPD style events. Rachel is a co-founder. https://www.pwhub.org.uk/

This blog was originally a guest blog for Oxfordshire Business Community Network: https://oxfordbusinesscommunitynetwork.co.uk/blogposts/variety-is-the-spice-of-life/

Ready to be put ‘out to grass’? Or not! Part 2 of 2.

February 11, 2021 By // by Rachel Brushfield

This is a 2-part blog by Peter Wilford about supporting Finance Directors (FDs) to consider about whether to retire or not, and how a portfolio career can be a good career choice for the pre retirement life stag.

This is part 2.

The rest of this blog is in Peter’s own words.

Read part 1

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/ready-to-be-put-out-to-grass-or-not-part-1-of-2/

How we help our clients

Success comes from a number of factors.

We help our clients to develop a Plan ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ for their job search and marketing activity.

Each plan is carefully crafted and the priorities assessed.

This gives the Financial Director (FD) confidence that he / she is not putting all their career ‘eggs in one basket’. This is especially important for the uncertain times in which we live.

We coach them at every stage and act as a sounding board to keep them on track.

Career plan ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’

Typically, career Plan ‘A’ might involve securing 2-3 pieces of paid consultancy work – often with an SME and where they were not likely to be seen as a threat to the incumbent CEO or Financial Director, but are able to add significant bottom line value.

Career Plan ‘B‘ might be to focus on obtaining some interim work, particularly if they have already worked in a sector where interims are required and / or in a Senior Finance project role.

Career Plan ‘C’ might be to set up their own business and to create a web site and look at building a portfolio career to include typically:

non-executive director (NED) work

mentoring of younger finance professionals

voluntary work

paid consultancy projects.

Also perhaps:

supporting a friend in their local area with their own business, to broaden their experience, leading to new future opportunities.

Age bias towards employing 50somethings

Securing a full-time role as a finance director (FD) in a large organisation in your 50’s is both difficult and extremely time consuming, unless you have a strong business network and very well-established head-hunter contacts.

Opportunities for an FD to get work more easily lie in the Small Medium Enterprise (SME) sector.

Finding your niche and how we help

One FD client, whose experience was both corporate and SME based, identified that his niche market was medical devices companies.

We worked together to write 2-3 compelling direct approach letters and he drew up a list of 50 SME organisations within an agreed geographical area.

The letter was strong.

His value add proposition was convincing.

We coached him to be thoroughly interview prepared.

The result was a series of interviews with the MD / CEO of medical device companies.

Proactively helping our clients

We are proactive in our approach, providing a bespoke service, unlike the large career management companies/outplacement organisations which can be ‘sausage machine’ in nature, and relying primarily on on-line career portals and a standardized approach. One size does not fit all.

Ways in which we help our clients

We go the extra mile at Energise for our clients. Ways in which we support them include:

Introducing them to relevant contacts in our own networks
Encouraging them to adopt a proactive approach to marketing, often in new areas and outside their comfort zone
Getting them to think ‘outside of the box’, for example to approach their Professional Institute e.g. ICAEW for possible mentoring
Encouraging them to attend industry conferences to broaden/widen their network
Sharpening up their technical skills
Pointing them to non executive director (NED) membership organisations.
Invited them to our local Institute of Director (IoD) group
Introducing them to local employers
Helping them build up their lists of head-hunters and to learn how to manage these conversations to the best effect

The result

All our clients have now been either placed or are enjoying a new phase of their working life.

Some have been introduced to our Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) contacts for fresh support with financial planning.

Several have kept in touch.

Our clients have told us that they would not have known what to do without our help, coaching, senior experience and reassurance.

More

‘The 100-year life’ by Lynda Gratton and Andrew J Scott: http://www.100yearlife.com/

‘The new long life’ by Lynda Gratton and Andrew J Scott: https://thenewlonglife.com/

‘Future skills for a life-long competitive advantage part 1’ for the award-winning Future of Work Hub: https://www.futureofworkhub.info/comment/2019/3/22/future-skills-for-a-life-long-competitive-advantage-part-1

‘Future skills for a life-long competitive advantage part 2’ for the award-winning Future of Work Hub: https://www.futureofworkhub.info/comment/2019/6/26/future-skills-for-a-life-long-competitive-advantage-part-2

A portfolio career is like a kaleidoscope

February 4, 2021 By // by Rachel Brushfield

A portfolio career is like a kaleidoscope.

Because it is made up of different components, e.g. freelance projects, a part time job, a contract, a non-executive director post, and volunteering, you can adjust it when you want to and create new patterns which inspire you.

You can learn new skills, knowledge and create new experiences.

This has a cumulative benefit over time giving you more options and possibilities in future.

You can create different patterns.

What would you like to see for your career?

More

Check out our inspiration page: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/inspiration/

22 tips to create your successful portfolio career

February 4, 2021 By // by Rachel Brushfield

Creating a successful portfolio career takes thought, reflection, self-awareness and planning.

Here are 22 tips:

Be clear about your career horizon/vision
Learn from those who have one
Get an experienced career coach or mentor
Research market needs
Have self-awareness about your motivations, values, needs, wants and financial security thresholds
Make time to think, plan and reflect
Don’t be afraid to say ‘no’ to the wrong thing
Invest in your skills and knowledge
Make time to market yourself
Define your personal brand
Keep an eye on changing trends
Build a high quality and diverse network
Know what makes you unique
Create and maintain a financial ‘cushion’
Stay ahead of your competitors
Avoid losing time e.g. politicking and gossiping
Have a good support system
Use technology to be expedient
Be open to unexpected and unplanned opportunities
Don’t be afraid to pivot/change your focus
Have a compelling verbal business card
Create case study examples of flagship cases and projects

What tips would you add?

More

Check out our Inspiration page for useful articles and reports: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/inspiration/

Our blogs share insights and tips on various topics and clients examples: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/blog/

PS Our web site has a search box to save you time and find what you are looking for. (top left under the e mail address on all web pages)

Why choose us? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/talent-liberation/

Who are our clients? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/clients/

What is a portfolio career? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/what-is-a-portfolio-career/

Who is a portfolio career for? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/who-has-portfolio-careers/

Why choose a portfolio career? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/why-portfolio-career/

When is it time for a portfolio career? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/when/

Client testimonials https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/testimonials/

Ready to be ‘put out to grass’? Or not! Part 1 of 2.

February 3, 2021 By // by Rachel Brushfield

This is a 2-part blog by Peter Wilford about supporting Finance Directors to consider about retiring or not. This is part 1.

The rest of this blog is in Peter’s own words.

Context of this blog

I have worked with a number of Finance Directors, FCA qualified, mostly in their 50’s, who had left their last company, either through redundancy or via a mutual settlement agreement.

They had been provided with a set number of hours and sessions of dedicated outplacement support, the term for ‘career coaching’ provided by organisations making staff redundant and through a benevolent fund, and I was their chosen career coach.

Initial issues and challenges

In every single case, my clients said that they had no wish to retire from work yet.

Many said that they could retire if they chose with their strong pension portfolios and other investments.

They were all uncertain about their options next after having had long and successful commercial careers.

Exiting corporate life is a major career crossroads. Working with an experienced career coach is invaluable at this crucial decision point. Especially an experienced one, who has worked with many senior executives.

Lack of awareness of transferable skills.

In almost every case, they had no clear appreciation of:

their transferable skills
how the job market worked
where their options lay within finance
and outside finance.

Of course, they hadn’t needed to!

This can be a very daunting experience for people who have always worked in one profession.

You can only know what you know!

They had been siloed and sheltered working in the corporate world for many years and were now thrust into the open, in effect a boat without a captain to steer it, with no route planned and no rudder.

This can create a crisis of confidence and be stressful – venturing into the unknown!

Career options

Becoming a non-executive director (NED) is a common option considered at this point.

Also doing some voluntary or charity work and enjoying a slower pace of life and improved work life balance. A portfolio career can provide a gentle ‘slope’ to retirement, rather than a sudden ‘cliff’ stopping a long working life abruptly, just because they had reached a certain age.

Almost without exception, they all wanted to move on from working with large organisations and away from the ‘corporate treadmill’.

Lack of awareness about their brand and marketability

Few had any real appreciation of their USP (unique selling proposition) i.e. what made them unique in the market place.

Even fewer had clarity about a target organisation that they would like to work with, and how to go about marketing how they could help, or what services they could offer of value.

A common view, perhaps because they had been in the structure of corporate life,

Some had a degree of arrogance mixed with naivety that they would ‘get something soon’. This is not a criticism, just a consequence of having been ‘cushioned’ in corporate life.

Lead time to create a new role

I had to point out to them, that most people will take 18 months on average, to secure their first non-executive director (NED) role.

Also, that if they wanted to do interim/contract work, the key issue in the mind of the interim recruiter would be “has he or she done interim work before?” and that in reality those who had would be on top of the pile of shortlisted candidates.

In the current Covid-19 market in 2021, recruitment lead times are longer, with companies risk-averse about increasing fixed costs. They also have a large pool of high quality candidates from which to choose from.

Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills are a pre-requisite for success and are becoming more important with the advent of Artificial Intelligence and automation, predicted to increase massively in the next 5 years.

Many Financial Directors (FDs) and senior Finance professionals are brilliant at numeracy and numbers.

Words and people are, understandably, not their best strength.

Also, whilst they bring commerciality, few are competent at marketing themselves. They have never had to.

Like lawyers, FDs, are qualified and trained to do a specific job, from their early career, and in the past this has not included pitching.

One or two of my clients have been the exception to this norm and they have invariably secured commercial work more easily, possessing this experience, securing both full and part time roles.

Compelling CV and achievements

Some FD’s had some semblance of a CV, few have though about and been able to articulate strong and compelling achievements.

I had not expected them to know about a Skills CV and where and why they should have it in their ‘marketing tool kit’. All of them quickly saw its benefit, especially when approaching the unadvertised job market.

The beginning of the career coaching journey

Because of the above factors, the starting point of career coaching therefore, is ‘starting from scratch’ and having a conversation about their career and what they had accomplished.

Pitching themselves

Many FD’s were not used to or skilled at pitching, and many were poor at networking or rusty at it.

This was because they had not needed to do it in their corporate careers, or because they just didn’t have the natural personality and / or the skills to identify and grow their network.

We had to work together on this as we did on giving them a proactive LinkedIn profile.

Part 2 of this 2 part blog ‘Ready to be ‘put out to grass’? Or not! Part 1 of 2.’

More

‘The 100 year life’ by Lynda Gratton and Andrew J Scott: http://www.100yearlife.com/

‘The new long life’ by Lynda Gratton and Andrew J Scott: https://thenewlonglife.com/

Peter Wilford’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwilford/

Client testimonials: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/testimonials/

Why choose us? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/talent-liberation/

Blog – How does career coaching work? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/how-does-career-coaching-work/

How does career coaching work?

November 28, 2020 By // by Rachel Brushfield

This blog post shares a detailed example of how career coaching works in practice.

This case study is one of Peter Wilford’s clients, Mark P.

Objective

To provide a tailored programme of 1:1 career and executive coaching for a senior employee in his 50’s who was leaving his employer after over 30 years’ service.

To explore alternative options including securing employment with another organisation, moving into consultancy or starting up a new business.

To build rapport with the client over a period of time and deliver a tailored programme of sessions.

Background

From my experience of working with many people facing similar situations, I was able to spend some initial time with Mark in a “Review and Explore (Taking Stock)” phase during which he completed several documents including a series of profiling tools (personality and psychometrics).

These allowed me to clarify in some detail specifically what he, uniquely, could bring to his next role or work.

From here we discussed the different work and job options open to him.

There were four alternatives and each one required a full analysis and discussion.

Four career options:

Setting up his own business

2. Marketing himself as a specialist consultant

3. Developing a portfolio career

4. Targeting the not for profit / public sector or SME organisations in the private sector.

Each option and strategy needed careful thought and positioning.

Mark was keen to keep all options open and I coached him in how to do so whilst not losing momentum.

I helped him understand what he would need to do to move forward in each of the agreed options.

How the programme evolved.

During our sessions, it became clear that Mark needed to draw up a formal marketing plan for each option, and a structure to help him keep on track.

We agreed that we would need to test out the necessary marketing actions and approach required for each option to establish a priority order.

It was important that Mark was comfortable with and could own and drive forward this plan and the actions confidently in the months ahead.

My coaching also revolved around building Mark’s confidence and giving him the tools to use on his own both with, and without my support, once his coaching was complete and we stopped working together.

He needed to have a good CV, to develop a good ‘talk’ about his career and work, and to be able to position himself in the market professionally both on paper and face to face at interview.

He had to believe in himself and his career strategy.

How did we achieve this?

By agreeing a plan of action at the end of each coaching session, by following up on agreed actions and by reviewing these and revising them both at the start of and during our next session.
By maintaining momentum so that Mark was able to see progress moving forward.
I needed to challenge Mark and he wanted to see me do so in order to build up his confidence in me as his coach.
By narrowing down the options as time progressed so that Mark was able to focus his attention on the options that were likely to reap the most benefit.
By helping Mark come to terms with his situation and to move forward confidently from employment to a new life and a fresh career, after being made redundant and 30 years working with one employer.

Building confidence and momentum

Mark favoured a structured approach and we needed to develop a good relationship so that he trusted me and knew that my advice and coaching would benefit him.

We worked in a way that suited him, but I needed to take him out of his comfort zone on several occasions.

He valued this and it helped to strengthen our working relationship.

I ensured that Mark saw real progress through regular reviews and email / telephone conversations in between our sessions

Challenges that we faced

A challenging jobs market. Slowness in the job market. I coached Mark to learn how to persevere and overcome the slowness of the market with confidence.

Networking. Mark was not a natural networker and had been cautious about the value of networking and using LinkedIn.

Social media. Like many clients initially, social media was quite alien to him. We had a session on this so that he bought into its value as part of his marketing activity.

Developing progress on his career journey

Gaining quick momentum gave Mark greater confidence in his marketability and him as a person.

He started to see things in a different light to what he had experienced in corporate life.

We measured success by delivery against actions and making progress towards the agreed plan.

We also measured it by the number of new conversations that he started to have, both through new network contacts and from more established routes.

I saw Mark’s confidence grow in how he viewed and progressed the option to set up his own business and develop a portfolio career as opposed to going into another PAYE role.

What were the results?

Mark has set up his own business and picked up some initial retained consultancy work and this has been very motivational for him.

He now has a portfolio career in place.

It has also helped him to recognise that this was the best way forward for him and that he has an offering that people want to buy.

Also that he is able to make the transition to self-employment and run his own business.

Mark has become confident in managing his career by himself with me as a mentor as well as a coach.

He has driven his own career being self-employed with myself as more of a ‘back stop’. A career coach is like a pair of armbands, essential but then not needed anymore, as the client has learned to swim.

Phase two has worked well and he is now developing a successful business.

He is also developing, with a partner, an interesting and potentially lucrative project for regional businesses.

He is working through the business plan and financials.

He is also in contact with a multinational retailer who is interested in the programme.

Client testimonial

“Following my redundancy last year, Peter worked with me to assess my situation and help me consider the options open to me. Throughout this process he was unflagging in his enthusiasm, support, and encouragement. His approach was excellent – he listened sensitively to me as well as challenged and motivated me to make progress. He helped at a practical level too by, for example, drafting of a new C.V. for me. Peter’s professionalism backed up by his extensive knowledge, sources of information and a range of practical tools enabled me to explore options that I would never have thought of and ultimately helped me to decide on my new career path. Peter has been both a mentor and ‘critical friend’ and I have greatly valued his support. He was also fun to work with at a time that was fairly testing for me, which was a real bonus. I hope we can keep in touch!” Mark W.

What next?

Why choose a portfolio career? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/why-portfolio-career/

Who is a portfolio career for? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/who-has-portfolio-careers/

What is a portfolio career? https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/what-is-a-portfolio-career/

When is it time for a portfolio career?https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/when/

Curious about how career coaching could help you at your career crossroads?

Get in touch to arrange your free 20 minute meeting: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

New – Energise podcast

August 18, 2020 By // by Rachel Brushfield

This podcast is about future – proofing your career.

It is approx 40 minutes long.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dhzkknh6vjepf2i/AADDpuP-9P8GWwF75s0MxXeHa?dl=0

There are 5 sections:

Section 1: How You Start To Create A Future-Proof Career

Section 2: Why People Need a Future-Proof Career and Who They Are For

Section 3: Examples Of Future-Proof Careers

Section 4: Asking Rachel About Her Own Career

Section 5: Benefits And Drawbacks of A Future-Proof Career

Hope you find it useful. Thanks!

Energise future-proof your career summer school

July 20, 2020 By // by Rachel Brushfield

Energise Future-Proof Your Career Summer School.

6-week Summer School to create peace of mind in an uncertain world. Starts 12-1pm Tuesday 29 July 2020. Book now – limited places.

See EventBrite link for details:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-energise-future-proof-your-career-summer-school-2020-tickets-113878228848