How familiar does this sound?
You did a degree, one that wasn’t particularly vocational. You applied for a load of jobs before landing something in one of the big cities. You worked stupid hours and had to do a fair amount of travelling. Then the next stage of your life began, you had a child or two, or three and suddenly that career you’ve been doing for the past 10/15 years just isn’t feasible any more. But where do you go from here?
Or you fell into a job a while ago, it was only supposed to be short term, but X number of years later and you’re still there! You’ve risen up the ranks, but you’re bored and unfulfilled.
But added to the frustration that you’re already feeling is the fact that you just don’t know which way to turn. It can feel daunting being in this position and you’re at a crossroads with no sat-nav to tell you which way to go.
However, the good news is, you can work out the way. Or at least, work out a couple of possible directions. Yet, the first part of the journey should be assessing who you are, right now!
When you made your initial career decisions, you were probably in your early 20’s and life looked a whole lot different then than it does now. You were a completely different person. You had different priorities, skills, values as well as a fair amount of naivety.
Yet, what people don’t always appreciate is the amount of change that has occurred to you as a person. Therefore, you should be basing your next career move on who you are now! But when was the last time you took a moment to actually assess who you are? There are hundreds of demands on our time, and that normally means that the need to think about who we are now, doesn’t even register. I talk a lot about doing a self-audit….really drilling down and finding out what’s important to you at your current stage of life, realising and (very importantly!) appreciating the skills and attributes you have. We’re not very good at congratulating ourselves at what amazing people we are, but now is the time to put self-consciousness to one side! After all, if we can’t convince ourselves of our awesomeness….how are we going to convince anyone else??
To get the most out of it and to have the highest chance of success, preparation is key. This is not something to just flub. By finding out who you are, you’ll find out what you want and perhaps more importantly, what you don’t want. You’ll gain focus and you’ll gain clarity. It means you won’t waste time applying for jobs that either don’t match your values right now, or just aren’t feasible. It means you won’t get disheartened and frustrated at a fruitless job search.
You’ll be able to put a clear plan together of what you need to do to get where you’re going. You’ll know who you’ll need to speak to gain wisdom or experience and whether you need any additional training.
Unfortunately, this means work and thought is needed from your side and don’t expect everything to happen overnight. It can take months to come up with new career options. But don’t let that put you off! What is 6 months in the grand scheme of things? This is why now, given the current state of affairs, is the perfect time to get your ducks in a row….when you’re not doing the daily commute or have a boss breathing down your neck.
So if you’re at the crossroads, take the time to delve deep into who you are now – not who you were ten years ago, not who you think you SHOULD be but who you actually are. It might not be easy, it might even be emotional and there will undoubtedly be surprises along the way. But, I assure you it will be worth it!
“Knowing others is intelligence, knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power.” Lao Tzu