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Transferable skills – where next? Part 4.

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This is part 4 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/

Read part 3: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/transferable-skills-where-next-part-3/

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 cooking for a family to cooking ready-made convenient meals for busy commuters
  • From factory assembly worker in a company to flat-pack furniture assembler in other people’s homes
  • From dog lover to dog walker

From cooking for a family to cooking ready-made convenient meals for busy commuters

If you love cooking or come from a large family so are used to cooking large quantities, you can use this talent to make a living. You could sell your products online, through food festivals and farmers’ markets or start with your own network. Not everyone has the time or passion for cooking, so what you do naturally is really useful for them – a win win.

The ideal is where you get paid for doing what you love and are good at; and your customers get more time from not having to cook and enjoy food that they might never have the time or imagination to create themselves.  You could also have a positive impact on their health by creating nutritionally balanced convenient meals for them when they might otherwise eat take-ways. Or specialise in a specific customer need such as gluten intolerance, creating a focused niche for yourself, with cookery workshops as an additional revenue stream.

From factory assembly worker in a company to flat-pack furniture assembler in other people’s homes

I hate buying flat-packs and assembling the bits into a piece of furniture – it makes me stressed and takes too long. I found a handyman who specialises in assembling flat-pack furniture in double quick time. He has made a career out of what he is excellent at and something that other people hate and are happy to pay him for. His specific skill, something he does naturally, is really useful to busy people who haven’t got the time, patience and interest to do it.

From dog lover to dog walker

If you love dogs and are happy to take them for walks, rain or shine, you can use this skill and passion to earn a living as a dog walker. A friend of mine loves dogs and has 8 horses so she is outside most of the day.

She looks after the dog of someone who commutes to London during the week and gets paid for it. An extra dog makes little difference to her as she has two dogs of her own.  She gets paid for what she already does, the dog’s owner has peace of mind that his dog is well cared for, and the dog has a fantastic time outside with other dogs, rather than being stuck inside by itself or taken out just once a day for a walk.  She is more than a dog walker she is a dog nanny!

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.”

Contact us to find out more: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Transferable skills – where next? Part 2.

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This is part 2 of a 4-part blog series about transferable skills.

This forms part of 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/

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 to fundraising
• From marketing products to marketing people
• From organising events to project management

We’ll take each one at a time and show how the skill in each case is transferable.

From sales to fundraising

If you are good at selling with the following skills: persuasion, listening, understanding needs, overcoming objections, understanding motivations, influencing and achieving a ‘win win’, then you can use these same skills in the area of fundraising. The skills it takes to persuade someone to buy something are equally relevant in fundraising – persuading them to part with cash for a good cause, whether as a one off or a regular donation via direct debit.

From marketing products to marketing people


In the past I worked in marketing in the food industry and spent time on chilled ready meals, sausages, pizzas etc.

Marketing is about understanding the needs of your customers, segmenting them into smaller groups with similar needs and creating things that are appealing to them. I now use those same skills to help people to market themselves as well as market my own business and services.

I help my clients to think about and research the needs of their target audience, whether it is an employer or customer, then define what makes themselves unique and work out how to appeal to their audience. Same skill, different context.

One of the reasons I created the Energise career e-course is because many people dislike marketing themselves. They avoid it so don’t realise their potential. I help them to understand their limiting beliefs about self-promotion, to feel more comfortable about it, define their personal brand and increase their chances of success.

I feel more passionate about the difference I can make helping people to market themselves rather than marketing food!

From organising events to project management


If you are good at organising events, creating a clear outcome, thinking about what’s involved, planning ahead, communicating tasks and deadlines clearly and effectively, and engaging the team involved under pressure, you could use these same skills as a project manager.

Project management is a role needed in many different industries and professions and it may be a question of reshaping your CV to emphasis certain aspects more.

More examples of transferable skills will be shared in parts 3 and 4 of this four part blog series about transferable skills.

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.

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

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.”

Contact us to find out more:https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

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

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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

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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/

Contact us to arrange your free 20 minute consultation: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

Why I love being a career coach Part 1 – Peter Wilford

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This is a 2 part blog by Peter Wilford. This is part 1.

Understanding people and what makes them tick.
I love meeting people for the first time and getting to know their unique story. I enjoy finding out what makes them tick and why they do the work that they have chosen to do. I like having these conversations outside work, at dinner parties, over a coffee or when meeting someone new.

My innate personality and interests underpin this. I have become very self-aware from doing many psychometric assessments during my HR and Training career and that has made me even more fascinated by other people and inquisitive about them. As well as this I have always had a genuine interest in others and I like to feel that I can quickly put people at ease with my warmth and openness – also with my humour!

The fact that I can do this professionally is a fantastic bonus and that is why when I first became a career coach at age 42, I realised that I was doing something that I really enjoy.

Making a difference.
There is no doubt that I have helped to change people’s lives, both directly and indirectly, through the work that I do and that this is very rewarding and a driver for me. It can be in many ways. It may be by helping them to secure a new position against the odds, encouraging them to go it alone and set up a new business or just to give them a focus and new sense of self-worth when their confidence and self-esteem has been at a low point.

I have seen visible changes in people for example when they see what they have really achieved at work captured effectively in their CV, learnt some fresh insights into their personality which make them realise what is unique about them and why then can change direction in their careers or just by helping them nail a job interview and convert it into an offer. I enjoy every new success and this has spurred me on to the next challenge.

Variety.
No two clients are the same and no two days are identical. I enjoy that. At any one point I can be working with 15 or more clients from across the whole of life and society. I used to have a saying that my clients varied from “Bankers to Ballerinas, Lawyers to Florists” and that is true.

Recently, I have been working with a CEO of a Mid-sized Pharma company, a recruitment consultant who wants to move into Risk Management, a fresh graduate who is rudderless, A change management consultant in Financial Services, a Criminal Lawyer who is developing a portfolio career, a Senior Payments executive, an Insurance Underwriter who is the other side of the world, a publishing specialist who is looking to work freelance, a Chief of Staff in the Retail sector, and a virtual PA. As well as this I have 10-15 outplacement clients all moving on from recent or pending redundancy.

I have learned to switch quickly from client to client during the day and provide a seamless level of support to each one. All of this is motivational and enjoyable. I also do some other work as well as Career Coaching and that gives me fresh focus when I return to my real passion.

Read Why I love career coaching by Rachel Brushfield: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/why-i-love-career-coaching-rachel-brushfield/

7 tips for healthy career capital in 2021

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What are your career capital goals for 2021?

Building career capital

Career capital is the combined value of competencies, knowledge and individual personality attributes and other career assets that you have to produce economic value.

Your career assets combined = your career capital; the sum total of your time, talent and potential. You need to consider career capital in terms of its present and future value when thinking about your long-term career prospects. If the internet is an ocean full of ‘fish’ i.e. opportunities, you need the right bait to catch the fish you want. Career capital helps you to do this. What ‘fish’ do you want to catch e.g. a future employer or amazing clients? What is the best bait to catch the fish you want to catch?

Why is career capital important?

In future, in less than 5 years, employers will have reduced permanent headcount and resource up on an as needed basis with individuals and employers rated transparently on-line.

Are you ready for the new world of work? Do you have clear differentiation from your competitors and are you visible on-line?

Career assets

Your career capital is made up of multi-faceted career assets which accrue over time. Career assets include; accolades, academic achievements, endorsements, published works, talent, networks, events, charitable activities, career credibility etc. Here are some examples of each career asset category.

Accolades

  • Patents
  • Awards
  • League table rankings e.g. Chambers
  • Who’s who listing 

Academic 

  • Higher qualifications e.g. MBA, PHD, MSc/MA
  • Links with academia or prestigious universities e.g. guest lecturer 

Endorsements

  • Client testimonials
  • Accreditations
  • Employer references
  • Peer testimonials/endorsements

Published works

  • Articles
  • Chapters
  • Books
  • White papers
  • Videos
  • Podcasts

Talent

  • Multiple mastery areas
  • In-demand skills e.g. creativity, big data management 
  • Languages
  • Good emotional intelligence e.g. empathy 

Networks

  • Professional association involvement
  • Membership of elite clubs
  • Size & diversity of network
  • Quality of network e.g. senior decision makers, high net worths

Events

  • Hosting an event 
  • Speaking at an event 
  • Conference speaking
  • Conference chairing

Charitable

  • Pro bono
  • Trustee post 

Career credibility 

  • Prestige/trophy employers & clients e.g. FTSE 100
  • Senior leadership positions e.g. C-Suite

Miscellaneous

  • Personal brand

What would you add? How would you rate your career capital?

  1. Create a career strategy and ensure your career capital is aligned with it
  1. Define your ‘fish’ – i.e. target employers or clients
  2. Audit your career capital quarterly and define career asset S.M.A.R.T. goals
  3. Ensure you have insights about what is important to and valued by your target audience e.g. who are their heroes/heroines?
  4. Measure stats for your career capital so you can monitor progress
  5. Monitor your reputation – set up Google alerts & track your name/brand on Twitter
  6. Use/monitor LinkedIn stats to evaluate the quality and profile of your network

Get in touch for a no-obligation meeting to discuss your needs: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

7 tips to think about your career KPIs in 2021

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Career KPIs – what are they and do they matter?

“A key performance indicator (KPI) is a metric used by business to evaluate factors that are crucial to the success of the business.”

How do you measure career performance specifically? If you are employed, your employer may use very different measures to what is important to you and if this is the case, it may be a good time for a job or career rethink.

If you are self-employed, is it the rate per day, how many paid days you work a year, enjoyable work, prestigious projects, number of referrals, client testimonials, repeat business, value per transaction/project or number of new clients?

Here is our definition of career KPIs for individuals:

“Career key performance indicators” (KPIs) are metrics used by an individual to evaluate and measure factors that are crucial to their own perceived career success and progress.”

Types of career KPI

Here are types of KPI with examples of each.

  • Financial; salary, rate/day, rewards, bonus etc.
  • Progress; speed of promotion, increases in responsibility.
  • Work life balance; flexible working hours, sabbaticals taken, no of days holiday/year.
  • Fulfillment; feeling satisfied and enjoying your working hours and career, and having a sense of well-being with low stress.
  • Reputation/career capital; being seen as an expert, testimonials, being sought after, e.g. headhunted and needing to do less marketing over time.
  • Fit; a role that plays to your strengths and in which you feel ‘in flow’.
  • Purpose; giving back, making a difference to the world, involvement in corporate social responsibility (CSR), working for an employer with clients in the charity sector or social enterprise.
  • Academic; membership level e.g. fellow in professional organisation, grade for further qualification attained.

What are your top 3 career KPIs?

KPIs may change with life stage e.g. needing to fund children through school or university can make salary or a pay rise very important even if you are not that motivated by money, whilst flexible working is essential if you have young children and work for example.

7 tips to think about your career KPIs.

  1. Define your own unique career KPIs – don’t feel obliged to use standard measures – what is important to YOU?
  2. Track your progress; measure and monitor at least every 3 months.
  3. Know your industry averages so that you can bench mark/negotiate armed with facts and examples.
  4. Build self-awareness; know what motivates you and your personal values; what is important to you.
  5. Get a career coach to protect time to focus on your career and help you to see your full potential, something people often can’t do as they are too close themselves.
  6. Give yourself an annual performance review, or ideally diarise a career review and planning meeting four times a year.
  7. Grade your KPIs; primary and secondary or ‘must do’ and ‘nice to have’.

Get in touch for a no obligation 20 minute meeting:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

How to create clarity in your career

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“How do I decide what career I want?”

A big and important question, is it not?

Clarity is one of the 6 C’s you need when deciding what career you want.

It is especially important to successfully create, market, manage and evolve a portfolio career, because a portfolio career has multiple components, and therefore more options and decisions to make.

  • Confidence
  • Clarity
  • Community
  • Conviction
  • Competence
  • Courage

This blog post shares some useful resources – articles and podcasts, about how to create career clarity.

Why is career clarity so important?

As career coaches, helping our clients to get really clear about who they are, what they want and how to get it, is an important part of our job.

Investing time in creating clarity saves you a lot of wasted time, money and stress going down the wrong road.

In the digital age, there are millions of career options, resources to read, people to talk with.

A big decision like what career option to choose is a massive decision to make.

Especially in the uncertain times in which we live, with Covid-19 and Brexit.

How do we help our clients gain career clarity?

  • Self-completion questionnaires
  • Self-reflective questions
  • Personality and psychometric tests
  • Exercises – values, motivations, career drivers and many more
  • Creating unique exercises for them

Every client is different and so we tailor our approach to each client.

Career clarity is especially important when creating a portfolio career.

It is also important to review your career strategy regularly, as you change e.g. at different life stages, and as markets change.

Rachel, Energise founder, takes regular away days and career retreats to think, reflect, plan and create. House sits provide a brilliant way to do this, explore new places, meet new people, and some gorgeous pets! Newness is one of Rachel’s values.

How clear are you on what you want from your career next?

What’s your career goal, strategy and plan?

Useful resources about gaining career clarity

Blog. What is lack of clarity costing you?

https://www.juliehyde.com.au/what-is-lack-of-clarity-costing-you/

Podcast. Journey to clarity – This episode is all about getting clear and building a new path to evolve your life. This is what clarity can do for you!

https://www.disruptnowprogram.com/blog/disrupt-now-podcast-episode-40-journey-to-clarity

What next?

Get in touch to arrange your free 20 minute meeting to explore how we can help you to gain career clarity:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

New – Energise podcast

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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!