"Achievement and personal satisfaction come from discovering the thing that you naturally
do well and that also ignites your passion – then you are ‘in your element’”.
(Ken Robinson, The Element, Penguin 2009)

​Career Change

I use resources that are career related to help you identify key strengths, as well as needs, wants and interests in:      

> Types of jobs and industries preferred from a wide ranging marketplace overview. 
​> Skills, work style and work culture preferences.
> How work should interrelate with the rest of your life

Together we look for themes, insights, matches around potential roles and industries.   Then we plan the next stage where typically you take a theme and conduct a process of research and reality testing until you identify your preferred direction.  Or if the direction is clear, we can plan a job search strategy.

Managing Your Career

Careers change over time. There is rarely a straight, steady path. Your capacity outweighs the challenges or the challenges outweigh your capacity. You get bored, you want to progress faster, you want to feel like you are actively and purposefully moving forward. We will reflect on your past journey and discover insights. We will look at where you are now. We will identify your next goals and action steps. We can plan your job search strategy and refresh your job search tools. We can consider how to seek a better balanced work life blend. We will identify what you need from this process and work to achieve that.
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It can feel overwhelming trying to decide what to do with the rest of your life when you are still studying and working out what you enjoy. I use a simple process to help students explore a wide range of market place industries and jobs and identify those they are most interested in. We also look at the talents they bring and the skills they most want to use to see where the best matches are. They are in control of this process.

We then create an action plan for the next stage where they conduct a process of research (gathering information) and reality testing (talking to people in the jobs and industries they have identified).  This enables them to ensure that generally the right subjects are being taken and the right direction is in mind for the last years at school or first years out of school – with the realisation that most young people will (and should) keep exploring over time until the path becomes clearer. It does not need to be a whole life plan, think of it as identifying the best first step. When the path is clear we can move on to the job search phase.

The process is individualised to you but often includes:

​Preparation:         Prior to us meeting I often suggest clients review past work and studies. What has been most enjoyable and of most interest?  What has been least appealing? Where were the highs and lows – why was that?

Session 1:           I need to get to know you and hear your story.  This often reveals useful patterns and insights. Then most clients work through three main exercises to help trigger and clarify: industries of choice; jobs of choice; and skills of choice.  There is a lot of information to take home and process, alongside further exercises to help you understand your interests, preferences and needs.  If you already know what you are looking for, we can go straight into job search strategy instead. 

Session 2:           After reflection on learnings to date, we look at what is important about how, where and with whom you work, as well as what is most important about job content.  Then we pull together a summary where you can see the key themes, needs and insights gained and which triggers a research and action plan for “what next from here”. 

Session 3: We usually have another shorter session once you have had about a month to begin the research on your top one or two preferred roles or organisations. This helps you to stay "on track" and supports you to objectively tease out the information you have gained, to be able to see where and how it matches with your career plan summary. It may also include development of job search skills.

Further sessions: As required, these could include:
​> A shorter session to review your research and use sound decision making processes to decide between options.
> Development of a CV and LinkedIn profile, or feedback on your current one, given your new learning.
> Planning your job search strategy.
> Interview training.

To support your decision making, I use learning gained from wide reading on how decisions are made.  We know that our subconscious knows a lot more about us than we often realise so we tend to start with “gut instinct”.  Then we challenge that to ensure that assumptions and biases are not pushing you away from your real preference.  Pros and cons are always useful but the WRAP method (Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Decisive, Crown Business, 2013) gives this greater value:  
W = Widen your choices (look outside the box of advertised jobs and organisations).
R = Reality check options (research organisations and roles)
A = Attain Distance (be supported by an objective process that challenges the desire to jump into decisions)
P = Prepare to be Wrong (have a plan B up your sleeve)

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Fees
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​CAREER PLANNING