It’s Probable You’re In The Wrong Job

It’s a huge world we live in, with everything from densely populated urban areas to rural districts and places of relative isolation. There’s mountainous regions, prairies and wetlands, coasts, deserts, wastelands and watersheds. Out of the billions of places you might have entered the world, chance plopped you into it where it did. Where you entered this game of Life is one of the key determinants to what you’ll do job/career-wise.

Speaking of jobs and careers, there’s an abundance of these world-wide too. If you attempted to list all the jobs that exist in the world, how do you think you’d fare? My guess is you’d do poorly – and so too would I for that matter. There are those jobs we’d readily find in many populous areas world-wide like Servers, Teachers, Factory Workers, Drivers etc. and we’d likely have these pop to mind. However would you also have Dolly Grip, Actuarial Analyst, Pet Insurance Agent, Bung Hole Borer or Brand Evangelist on your list? No, not likely.

The thing is, there are more jobs we don’t know exist than those we do. So what are the odds that you’re in the single perfect job – I mean, THE one you were put on this planet to excel at? Doesn’t it appear rather unlikely that of all the places you could be in the world, somehow you occupy the one city block you were meant to occupy, and that the one job – that single, perfect role you were meant to aspire to and succeed at is within an easy commute? While we’re at it, if you believe soulmates and partners are a one in a million catch, what are the odds they live nearby too? You’re odds of having the perfect job, in the perfect community, living happily with the person you were put on this earth to love for all eternity is astronomical!

Hang on a moment, let’s not get carried away. As we look around, we do see people – and plenty of them – who are happily engaged in the work they do, they’re in healthy, loving relationships and they fit in with the environment they live in. So how did they beat such incredible odds? More importantly, if they did it, how can we duplicate that happiness and success?

It begins with discarding the notion that there is only a single job in existence that will bring us satisfaction. This notion that we have to find that one job we were meant to do is the delusion that keeps many from finding job satisfaction. You can travel to other cities, countries, continents even, and end up doing a job that had you looked, you’d have found nearby in your own community, or in dozens of communities around the globe. So if you’re born in the city but dig a mining career (hope you enjoyed that one), yes you might find yourself relocating to a mining town, but there are lots of those to choose from.

The truth in my opinion is that we’re a multi-talented creature we humans, and as such, there are many jobs that will stimulate our need for job satisfaction. If being around people and helping others is our thing, we can fulfill this desire in many professions; any one of which will bring us happiness and have us feel satisfied at the end of a day. If we’re more inclined to like work that we do in relative isolation, we don’t have to be a Forest Ranger in a lookout tower or even leave the cities we find ourselves in. There exist jobs right in the heart of densely populated cities that people do in isolating roles.

One thing I’d encourage you to do, and do with periodic regularity, is find a quiet space and listen to yourself. It sounds trite, it sounds corny, it might sound downright silly and a right eyerolling, “you’ve got to be kidding?” moment, but listen to your inner voice. If you don’t go to work happily on most days, if you don’t find satisfaction in your work and find yourself clock-watching every fifteen minutes, what are you doing there? You’ve got this one life and time is ticking. As time goes on, options you once had start disappearing. The prison you might find yourself in, chained to a job you come to loathe is one of your own design. Get out into the world and move on before you close the door on yourself. If you don’t, blame yourself, not the world.

If you don’t hear that inner voice pulling you in some other direction, excellent! However, if something keeps nagging at you that there has to be something better, something different, more fulfilling; shouldn’t you be paying attention to that pull? I mean at least explore the possibility of whatever it is that suggests there’s something else you could and probably should be doing? The price you pay to look around is cheaper than the fortune it’ll cost you to lock yourself into a job that brings you nothing but money.

Sure, there’s the usual snags to this thinking: “I have bills, responsibilities, people depend on me, I have to play it safe, my time has come and gone.” Seriously? That’s sad isn’t it? You’re hearts still beating right? Oh good, because it sounded like you were already dead.

A stimulating job or career is nearby; open your mind and your eyes to the possibilities and do something great!

Looking For Work?

Not long ago, I was watching this fellow staring at the jobs on a board. I watched him scan the jobs for about 3 or 4 minutes and then he took one down and made a photocopy of it. Curious, I asked him what job he had selected and why that one.

He had to look at the posting and read me the job title. His reason for choosing this one was – and I quote – “I dunno. Why not? It’s as good as any other; there’ll all the same.” He then took his résumé and sent it to the email as requested by the employer. The whole process was about 10 minutes from first finding the job to having applied.

If your own job search is similar to this fellow’s, my guess is you’ve had a hard time finding truly satisfying work; a job or career that’s a great fit.

Here’s some factors to consider in the hunt for your next job:

1. Know the purpose of the work you’ll do. This is more than just reading what you’ll do in a job posting. Look into why you’ll be doing the job and how what you’ll be doing contributes to the overall organization. When you understand the purpose of your work, your own value rises; successful people always know the purpose of what they do.
2. Know your own work values. If you don’t even understand this one, get some guidance from an Employment Counsellor or Coach and define the things that you hold as highly valued. When you go looking for work, you can then ask questions to find the things an employer values and see how these will fit with respect to your own. Find a good fit and the probability of a good match increases significantly.
3. Find a job that plays to your strengths. You have to know yourself well enough to understand what your strengths are in the first place, and of all your strengths, know which ones you really want to use most in your next job. When you do more of the things you’re good at, the likelihood that you’ll do well increases.
4. Work with a boss or supervisor whose style you can thrive with. Most job seekers never even remotely consider the management style of the boss they’ll work under next, or if they do, they just hope it works out. Even when they’ve had a poor experience with a terrible supervisor, not many think to look into the leadership style of the next person they’ll report to. Make some inquiries, ask questions of people they supervise now.
5. Know your value. Sure we all would like to make a lot of money, but what’s your objective value in the marketplace? Your year’s of experience, level of education and how dated that education is are just some of the factors that will go into determining the level of salary you can reasonably expect.
6. While it might sound odd and a waste of your time, know your philosophy as it pertains to work. If you think you don’t have one, let me tell you that you really do, you just haven’t put it into words. The things you value are excellent clues about what guides you in the work you do, the decisions you make, the way you view the world around you. Find a job where your work philosophy is a natural fit and you’ll be so much more satisfied. Ever had a job you just couldn’t continue with because you didn’t agree with the way the employer went about things? That was really a conflict between your philosophy and theirs.
7. As for your weak areas – and it’s natural to have them – don’t choose to work in a job where your weaknesses will expose you to being fired. If you’re not a people person, don’t work in Customer Relations! While working on improving yourself in areas you know you’re not strong is good, you’ll do best if the job plays more to your strengths.
8. Know what motivates you. This next job is one you’ll be at presumably 7 or more hours a day and maybe 35 or more hours a week. The things that motivate you both personally and professionally should align in some way with this new job. Are you motivated by time with family? Then don’t choose a career or job that takes you away from them excessively such as on weekends and nights. You won’t last. If you’re motivated by money or security, look at the salary; the potential salary and is the length of your stay fixed at the start or in your own hands to determine based on your performance?
9. Look at the commute. How are you going to get to this job? If you rely on transit, don’t waste many people’s time applying for jobs you’ll turn down or quit after two days because of distance. This might sound obvious, but many people suddenly realize things are too hard to get to. Take a trip before applying and imagine it 5 days a week.
10. Find a fit with co-workers. Certain jobs, certain fields of work, attract people of similar beliefs, interests and personalities. Know what makes you tick, the things you like and don’t like in how you interact with co-workers. These are much more important than you might now believe.

Not a complete list for sure, but factors to think about. Comments?

 

Do You HAVE To Bring Passion?

Q. “As a condition of being hired, you have to bring passion to the job every day. Can you do that?”

A. “Absolutely. Never met her but give me her address and I’ll swing by on my way to work.”

Funny? Maybe. And if you want to go ahead and steal that from me, be my guest. It’s original; well as far as I know anyhow.

I ask you though, is it essential that you bring passion to work on a daily basis? Given that there are billions of people on the planet and a broad spectrum of jobs out there, it’s conceivable that some jobs demand it and others don’t. Look at a lot of job postings these days however and you see that word more often than not.

So this becomes problematic if you aren’t the demonstrative sort. You might in fact be the very kind of person who isn’t really passionate about anything in your life be it professional or personal. That by the way doesn’t make you negatively abnormal, nor does it mean you are disinterested in your work, or are you destined to be any less likely to succeed.

It does mean however that some employers are going to pass you over because you don’t exhibit that key quality which they’ve identified as essential in each of the members of their workforce. This isn’t the end of the world; it just means you’re not well-suited for that particular company and if you were hired, you’d undoubtedly not be a good fit with the others working there. In passing you over, the employer has done themselves and you a big favour by wisely hiring someone else who best exhibits that enthusiasm and passion so necessary to perform at the levels they expect.

So instead of lamenting the fact that you don’t bring passion to the job, or worse yet trying to fake it and be something other than your authentic self, turn your attention to your natural strengths and disposition. It is of course quite possible to be punctual, reliable, work hard and work to meet deadlines with a high degree of regularity without necessarily needing to add passion to the mix. These are also highly desirable qualities which employers value too.

Take the assorted tools a Gardener would use. Whether it’s a shovel with a rounded head, an edger, a pick axe, a hoe or a rake, each tool is the right tool; the perfect tool, depending on the job you use it for. Likewise, each tool is not well designed for some jobs and no tool is the best tool for all jobs. The same can be said for any personal quality you have.

In fact, that analogy of the Gardener’s tools is a good one for you to think about and possibly even share with an interviewer if they are questioning your passion and you meet the job requirements in every facet except that one. You can have a solid work ethic without it for example and should you be able to extol this virtue, you might win over an employer who started out looking for passion in their employees but didn’t themselves really understand why.

Returning to the notion of faking it, is it possible to, ‘fake it until you make it’? Well I suppose anything is possible. The notion that you could fake being passionate about your job responsibilities until one day you wake up and realize you are genuinely passionate about it might occur; who am I to say? But I suspect that would be a rare thing. Far more likely is the idea that you could fake it and get hired only to find you can’t maintain the pretense of bringing passion to the job and then you are exposed. Besides, do you really want to start off this way and feel you have to keep up appearances instead of being your genuine authentic self?

To do the above, it would consume a tremendous amount of mental and physical energy; energy which you would be better advised to put into the very work you are being paid to do. You only have so much of it to start with and if your mind is split between the work to be done and trying to keep your body language and attitude attuned to what a passionate person would look like, you can’t be working at your best.

Now don’t get me wrong. Any employer has the right to establish the qualities they desire in the people who join their workforce and passion may be one of them.  Good questions to approach your research with when considering applying for such an employer are, “What do they mean by passion?” “What does passion translate into on a daily basis?” “Why is passion defined as critical?”

Keep in mind that the work you are looking for is likely out there with a variety of employers. So if passion is sought by one employer and not another for essentially the same work, choose your employer and pass the other by. The fit has to be right for you as well as them. If however you note that this single quality is sought be every employer in your line of work, that would be something to reflect strongly on.

All the very best to you this day and every day to come!

 

Define Yourself

Who are you? You are on one level I suppose a product of your past; everything from where you were born and brought up, the schools you attended, the people who surrounded you in your earliest formative years. Yet it’s more than this or people would be very much like their brothers and sisters, and very alike their neighbours and friends. But you, you’re unique.

No one knows you better than yourself or would you disagree with this premise? There are sometimes we might say to someone, “You know me better than I know myself”, but I suspect even when we say it we’re really indicating only a certain aspect of ourselves is known well by another rather than our complete make up.

Knowing ourselves; why is that so important? What’s that remotely have to do with employment, finding a job, landing a career? If that’s what we’re after shouldn’t we just run out and get a job; any job? Some people actually do make this critical mistake – but the number is very low. Even someone who says they are looking for and will do ‘anything’ usually draws the line at some point between what they’ll really do and what they won’t – and this is a good thing!

When you know yourself well you can identify and label the things you enjoy vs. those you don’t. You have an awareness of things you can do well, others you need help completing and yes other things you haven’t mastered and perform poorly at. Put together, you’ve got a pretty good idea of your skill set. To be successful and happy, it would seem logical then to perform work that gives you pleasure and that you perform well. The more you do this kind of work, you may increase your abilities from performing well to mastering.

The amazing thing about as humans however is that we grow. We grow and change over time. We take a job and at some point early on or at a later date we evolve and look for new challenges and new stimulation. While some of us could perform the same job for years or even decades, others opt to pursue different challenges that make use of some of our other skills. We may even choose to shift our employment into occupations where we haven’t mastered skills in order to develop skills we identify as needing and wanting to grow.

We are more than an accumulation of our skills though aren’t we? Sure we are. Our thoughts, needs, wants; things we see as beautiful, desirable. Let’s not forget too the things that limit us, impede us or just make the learning or living more of a challenge. We may have a physical or mental health issue that is part of our make up; and it may or may not be visible to the naked eye.

With respect to employment, is it the case that there is but a single job in this wide world that is meant for us and it is only that one single job that we were put on this earth to do? I certainly don’t think that for a second. However to listen to some speak, they are out searching endlessly for that perfect job, the one that will give their life meaning and define who they are and give them purpose. This belief can actually be a huge hindrance in landing employment because a person that believes there is but a single job they were meant to do often turns down many jobs fearing to choose wrong.

There is, is their not a certain prestige or value that we assign to jobs and employment too. If as some do we place a low value on a particular job vs. another, it might make us feel good to pursue a job of high common value feeling that is the job we were meant to do. But then what of the person who makes pipe cleaners for a living, bubble gum wrappers or toothpicks for a living. Is it likely that they identify there work as the one purpose they were put here on this earth and they do their work with passion, finding high value in it as meaningful and fulfilling. Who is to say, perhaps they do.

When you assess yourself; likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, etc. you still don’t have the complete picture of what defines you. It’s elusive, and just when you think you’ve got it, you realize what you used to find great joy in has become somewhat stale and less than completely satisfactory; well sometimes. We evolve, grow, regress, alter, morph and every so often we note the changes. We overcome tragedies and tests of our endurance.

It is the sum of all we experience and how we interact with those experiences that defines who we are and who we become. We can shift and make different choices in life intentionally and of course much in life happens to us unexpectedly for good or bad. We get hurt, we find elation, we crawl, we fly. We are the sum of all our experiences and truly unique.

There are many kinds of work in this world that you will perform well and enjoy. With every thing you do, take stock of what you do well and what you find both enjoyable and would rather avoid in the future.

When you define yourself, you find yourself.

 

Career Undecided? What To ‘Be’…

“So, what do you want to be ?”

“I don’t know.”

Does this sound familiar? Many of us live in developed countries where our occupational choices seem boundless. In fact many people will tell us we can be anything we put our minds to. The people who say this mean only the best for us, hoping to inspire in us the possibility of becoming whatever it is that would make us happy. I wonder though if these kinds of statements don’t somehow handicap many of the very people they are designed to help.

Think about it… if you can be anything you put your mind to, is being a Cashier in a grocery store, a Roofer or a Bell Hop in a hotel going to be enough? Furthermore, if you can be anything in the world you put your mind to, how many occupations do you even know about, and do you know enough about them to make such a momentous decision?

For many of us, it’s during high school when we are about 14 or 15 years old that we start getting asked to seriously think about our long-term careers. We’re told we’ve got to choose between college and university level courses, and getting into one or the other is dependent on the marks we get, and our career choices will largely be determined on which of the two we choose to pursue. The third option of course is to go to neither college nor university and get out into the world and start working at 18 without that post-secondary education.

Two thoughts I have; do young teenagers have the wisdom and knowledge to even make intelligent choices given their limited exposure to occupations, and do high school faculty know enough of the individual student to really know how to best advise them?

I think it would be interesting to sit down with a class of teens and have them individually write down all the careers they have both heard of and believe they have a good understanding of what it is those people actually do in those jobs. How many – or how few would the jobs be that they could intelligently write down and therefore know enough about in order to decide if that job was a potential career choice for themselves?

One big advantage that young people have today over young people back in the 1980’s is the development of technology. The internet has done wonders for bringing young people into contact with a much broader exposure to jobs and the people who hold them both locally and around the world. So without knowing it, many teens may be lying on their beds surfing the net and without intending it, learning about various occupations around the globe when they check out their social media pages, read posts from others or browse items of interests. So you might envision some grandfather asking his teenaged daughter what she wants to do in life and get the reply, “I’m thinking a Marketing Specialist in the Experimental Film Industry sounds interesting.”

Of course, many middle-aged adults who are dissatisfied with their current occupations or whom are unemployed still haven’t figured it out. While a young teen may not know what they want to do in life, they have the great gift of time in order to do so. The older we get, the less time we have, and the biggest barrier to pursuing what we come to see as our dream jobs is the diminished time to get the education we’d need to compete for the job upon graduation. What a pity!

It’s true though isn’t it? I know if I met a 54 year-old who told me they finally figured out what would make them the happiest so they are heading back to school for 3 years, I’d be skeptical that an employer would hire a 57 year old applicant as their first choice in a field they have no direct experience in. Ah, but we can be whatever we want to be can’t we? Or is this sage advice reserved for the young or everyone else excluding ourselves? Is there some cut-off age where the advice changes to, “you can’t be anything you want anymore; you’re too old?”

One thing is absolutely true for young and old alike; if your dream job requires specialized education and training, the longer you delay getting that education and training, the less likely you will realize that dream. Or rather, the longer that dream will remain only a dream. If you want it bad enough, get out of your own way and go for it. The last thing you want to do is sit there in your rocker at 62 lamenting the dream you kept putting off that can no longer come true and spend the next 25 years living a regretful life.

If you’re not sure what you want to do, don’t sit on the sidelines and watch your life play out. Try some jobs, talk with people, browse the internet, read some biographies of people you admire open up a College or University website and check out careers. Take control of your life wherever you are in it and move from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat; adjust the mirrors and focus on the road ahead.

By the way, you’ll likely do a number of things over your lifetime, so give yourself a break and don’t worry about having a 45 year plan when you’re only 18!

Playing It Safe Or Taking Risks?

Are you the kind of person who minimizes change, only takes calculated risks with high degrees of success? If this is a fair description of you, it logically follows then that you are going to have to be happy with the  conservative choices you’ve made when you look back and take stock of your life.

On the other hand, if you live a low-risk, conservative life at the present but plan on taking greater chances later in life, you’re actually taking a great risk just by putting off taking those higher gambles. The reason of course is that the length of time each of us has is the great unknown. Make sure you’re okay with putting off change and taking risks so you don’t later regret it.

Now when it comes to employment, what does taking risks mean? Certainly it applies to the older adult who opts to return to school at some point to improve their education, get their high school diploma, or gain the necessary qualifications for a job they want but haven’t done before. Taking on added debt while improving your education is a risk; you add the debt of school and simultaneously lose the income you could have had if you were working instead.

You might also be said to be taking a chance if you decide at some point to give up your job and start-up a business. There will be start-up costs and a lot of energy needed to establish yourself in a competitive market – just to survive beyond the first year. Once you launch that new business, you need to be entirely invested in its success, and that could mean working during the day there and returning home at night continuing to work from home. That certainly puts financial security at risk, not to mention the impact on your family if you are spending time on your business you previously spent with them.

Even when you move from one job to another, there is some inherent risk in leaving what you know for what you imagine will be better. The new job might not turn out to be exactly as advertised in the interview and sometimes people regret the moves they’ve made. Sometimes the grass is greener and sometimes once you get there you realize it’s just the thriving weeds!

Risk-takers may be divided into those who are reckless and those who make their moves only after having done some homework to improve the likelihood of being happy with the results of their choice. I know of a fellow for example who was so psychologically frustrated he just quit his job one day and two days later had relocated a few hundred kilometers away with no job, no home; just got off the bus and started from scratch. That kind of risk-taking behaviour isn’t for many people. In his case it didn’t work out. He was back in two month’s time saying things were no better there than here.

Now compare that to a friend I know in his late 20’s. This fellow had a good paying  engineering job, lived at home with his parents, but gave up the job security as he felt he’d better take a risk now before he lacked the courage to try in the future. He drove 2000 kilometers and took a job on a research ship, where he is using his education in the Canadian Arctic. That’s a huge risk, but he did his research and landed the job in advance, making the change for what he hopes is the better. So far so good.

Playing it safe isn’t a bad thing or a good thing; it’s just a choice. It’s important to realize what kind of person you are and your values in order that you don’t impose those values on others. If you are a risk-taker by nature, it is no more appropriate for you to judge those who are not, anymore than the conservative, safe types should expect you to avoid risk. What’s right for me might be the wrong choice for you and vice versa.

Of course it complicates things somewhat when you have other people to factor into your values and choices. Your spouse might be a risk-taker, an adventure seeker, who wants to step out of his or her comfort zone and reach for the stars. You might have once felt that way yourself but are now making less of those choices. If by chance it’s you who wants to move to the other side of the globe and immerse yourself in some other culture full-time, you might feel constrained if your partner wants to remain 4 blocks away from their parents. Something and someone, has to give.

If you were expecting some advice one way or the other, sorry to disappoint. Some people believe that even planning a risky move removes the very element of risk! Yes deciding to play things safe or take risks, (calculated and researched or not) is an individual choice. Even when things don’t work out, the choice itself to risk or play things safe might still be the right choice at the time.

Are you playing things safe with respect to your career choices? I would love to hear stories from people – those who took chances and those who played it safe. Has it worked out? Do you have regrets one way or the other? Are you happy?

Adding Debt When Unemployed

Recently I’ve had several conversations with unemployed people, each of whom are trying to find some direction in their lives when it comes to their future employment. Now the people I’m speaking of are all on social assistance with few financial resources if any, and most are already in debt with credit cards or existing school loans.

In recognizing that just as each person presents with their own unique unemployment dilemma, I recognize the logic then that the solution for each person must also be arrived at in recognition of their own circumstances. No one option therefore is necessarily the right one for all of them.

My approach in each situation, has been to present myself as a sounding board, then take what I hear and objectively present some options before them on paper, talking of the pros and cons of each, and then letting those choices sink in. Once the two of us have the options before us, I frame some questions for the person which are designed to elicit an emotional or rational response, which might prove valuable in either removing an item or strengthening the likelihood of one option being selected as the preferred one.

Now the thing about identifying pros and cons when faced with any tough choice, is that even when you’ve exhausted all your pros and cons that come to mind, you may still find that what would appear to be the ‘right’ choice doesn’t sit well with your emotional compass. This state is usually reflected when the client is heard to say things like, “Well I know I should choose option 3, but I still don’t know…it doesn’t feel right.”

This inner conflict voiced by the client could be explained a couple of ways. First, it may not feel right because for that client, the choice is the wrong one even though the pros and cons on paper state otherwise. The client’s uneasiness is a warning that to choose that option would later prove to be a poor choice made when looking back. The other possibility is that it doesn’t feel right because that choice is actually the smart one to make and it’s the first of many good choices to come when the client has had a history of making poor choices. It doesn’t feel right to them because their internal decision-making processes up to this point have largely been poorly thought out, and for the first time they are going at decision-making a better way.

One example to help explain this is a situation where a client is already carrying a $35,000.00 debt. It worries them, the stress of that debt hangs over them and yet being on social assistance, there is no way they are in a position to pay down any part of that loan. Now, being unemployed, one option is to return to school and add a university degree to their college diploma. Why take on another $15,000.00 and up the total to $50,000.00 in debt? Wouldn’t that be just more stress, and more to pay back eventually?

To answer this question correctly, you’d need more information, and whether this option is the right one or not for this one client, you’d have to know their circumstances such as the job they eventually want and the barriers to employment they’ve been facing. In this case, the client has a diploma but the job they want keeps requiring a university degree in all the job postings. The combination of both a degree and a diploma in the same field would conceivably give her a unique advantage over others with only the degree.

In speaking with another client also with accumulated debt from previous school loans, they too are considering a return to school to upgrade their education. However, in this situation, the client voiced the opinion that going back to school was in their mind a gamble that when they graduated, there would be a change in the job market and more employment opportunities would exist. This opinion isn’t based on anything more than a hope and a  hunch; a,  ‘things can’t get any worse’ statement. Going to school is more of an evasion  from the real world.

One way to look at things is that investing in yourself by improving your education is the best thing you could actually invest in. You’ll carry that knowledge and those increased skills and general awareness your entire life, giving you more perspective than you currently have. And whether you owe $35,000.00 or $50,000.00, your payments can be identical, you just pay one longer than the other. Debt is debt in other words. Homeowners would see $50,000.00 as a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of thousands they’d invest in a new home. So debt becomes relative.

Another option could be to pass on returning to higher education and change their career goals to something they are currently qualified to do, which may or may not make them happiest, or put them in a position to pay off their existing debts anytime soon.

In all cases, I presented 6 options to move forward, and in zero cases did I force them to choose their decision in front of me or make it for them. That decision is theirs to make, with or without further consultation from me. Once decided, direction is laid, action plans can be developed, and forward movement initiated.

Taking on more debt may or may not be the right move.

 

 

 

 

Stuck In A Rut Of A Job?

Hey how are you? No, I mean how ARE you? You…yes you the person reading this! Yeah you! Ah finally got your attention. How’s the job going eh? Not as rosy and perfect as it was some time ago then? Sorry to hear about that; no really I am. You were so sure this was THE one. Ah, well things change – we change.

So, ah, what are you’re plans today? “Going to work”? That’s it? I mean yes we both have to head on out soon to work yeah, but what are you DOING today to either make work better or find a better gig? You know, “take a sad song and make it better”?

No mate, I’m sorry but if you’re JUST going to work today, how are things going to get any better? I mean it’s not like you really expect somebody to ring you up and offer you the perfect job if you aren’t even out there looking for it. Yeah, yeah, I know the odd lucky one gets a call from out of the blue when some Recruiter calls them up after reading their LinkedIn profile and such, but listen mate really? I mean I’ve seen your rather pathetic excuse of a profile and you haven’t done much to really make it stand out now have you. What you’re needing is some motivation friend.

I hear you. I mean sure you’ve got to focus on work when you’re actually at work and then when you get home you can’t find the energy to job search after dinner. But uh, well, you know then as well as I do that things are almost never going to change. This is it then isn’t it? This life you’ve got, this excuse of a job that you once thought was downright smashing and all the rage. How much longer do you think you can go on? I mean you’re only in your 30’s now and you’ve got roughly 30 more years to go. It’s like you’re in the lockup!

Look, anything worth having is worth the work it takes to get it isn’t it? The old man told you that years ago but turns out the old guy knew a thing or two didn’t he? You’re floating along and can do that job with your eyes closed at this point right? I mean no more challenge, no more growing and stretching yourself? The only stretching your getting mate is on the couch at the end of the day. Don’t think we all haven’t noticed either even if you haven’t. You’re mentally exhausted and your brain is sending the message to slow down when your body isn’t even working up a sweat!

Oh so you DO want to do something about it then? Good! Well then DO something don’t just WANT to do something! Well for starters do you want to stay with the company or get a fresh start somewhere else? I mean, aside from your job, is there any other position in the company you know of that you think you’d be interested in? Yeah that’s the question then isn’t it? You’d best find out then what options you’ve got there.

So what is it then? I mean is it this company or the job itself? Could you be happier doing something the same as you’re doing now but somewhere else? You know, a new boss, new digs, corner office this time ’round?

All right, all right keep your shirt on! Sure enough then it’s to be something completely different then Well at least that little emotional outburst shows you’re alive and kicking! I thought you’d turned into one of those working zombies without a pulse but clearly you’re not too far gone and saveable!

Look, you best make a list of what you’re good at and the skills you’ve got. Yeah I know it sounds hokey but it’s the thing to do. Look do you want to go on like this or not? Then you’ve got to change something up man! Just do it. While you’re at it, write down what you like and don’t like in your present job. What’s that third thing there? Gloria? Who’s Gloria? Listen you can’t write down, ‘Gloria’ under things you like in your present job! Do behave!

Okay good start then. So you know your skills, you know what you like and don’t like. What are the things you’ve got going in your life now that you don’t want to change? This is where you write down my name mate! No really, what’s up for changing and what’s non-negotiable. Willing to get a new address or not? Big office? Small firm? What are you thinking is best?

Look here’s the thing. What you’re after is a gig that matches up with your skills and qualifications but is a good fit for your personality too. Might mean heading back to school you know. Can you handle the day job and night classes? What if GLORIA was there? Ha thought so!

Yeah you’re on track for a starter. What you’re needing then is someone with more smarts than I’ve got. It’s a Counsellor you’re wanting. You know, down at the Centre? They’re the experts in finding a good match. Set something up on your day off or lunchtime. Hey it’s your life mate. 30 years more…remember? Thought you’d forgotten.

So what are YOU DOING today?

 

 

 

 

 

What You’ll Grow Up To Be

Older. That’s pretty much it as far as a guarantee goes. It’s also a great answer when all those well-meaning people ask you what it is you want to be when you grow up. Other than older, which barring your untimely death is going to happen with great certainty, little else can be guaranteed; certainly not the occupation you end up with.

Did you catch the error in the concluding sentence of that previous paragraph? Read it again and now that you know there’s one there, see how easy or difficult you find locating it. Go ahead, I’ll wait a minute for you to catch up.

The error in the first paragraph is in the singular version of the 5th last word; occupation. You see it really should be pluralized to read, “..the occupations you end up with.” By the time your life is winding down, you will no doubt look back on a working life that has a combination of jobs and careers rather than a single occupation to fill out your adult life. So it’s interesting that adults who themselves have had many different jobs and careers would still ask of those just entering the world of employment, what they want to be when they grow up.

Doesn’t the question itself beg a singular title? “When I grow up I want to be a Teacher.” Surely that is the kind of response most people are expecting when the young person they ask is answering. What would happen however if you overheard a different answer; an answer that actually reflected the reality the person was going to experience? “At this point I think I’ll be a Journalist, but I’ll tire of that in 6 years and turn to conducting market research. After a period of disillusionment, I’ll work in retail sales for a year, return to school and complete a program in Heavy Equipment Operations, work my way up to a site Foreman’s position, then I expect my spouse will accept a job in another part of the country necessitating a relocation and I’ll open a consulting business.”

I think the eyebrows might rise on the listener, the mouth gape a little waiting for the brain to catch up and figure out what to say next. And that’s when the irony of the situation becomes funny; most young people don’t know how to answer the ‘what do you want to be when you grow up’ question, and most who ask the question wouldn’t know how to respond to the answer.

Truth of the matter of course is that the future is so unknown, the options so wide open, the possibilities are limitless. The only limits really are the ones we place upon ourselves. Of course our finances, family encouragement, geography, education all play significant roles in how we develop and the opportunities we might have. The single biggest hurdle or source of  motivation however comes from within ourselves.

In addition to being older, I think you’ll grow up to be whatever you want bad enough. If you don’t think about occupations seriously enough and what will likely make you happy, you may just move from job to job – some of them quite good fits, and some poor ones. You can be very successful and earn a living or living to earn.

If in another perspective, you give considerable thought to your long-term happiness and fulfillment, you might either alone or with the help of someone else, come to settle on a longer-term career goal that based on what you have found out, would appear to offer you the job satisfaction that you personally would find fulfilling.

Either way, I would suggest you give yourself permission to change your mind down the road. Sure it would be great to have such conviction that you get it right the first time and you have a very linear path to your ultimate goal and it’s exactly like you imagined it would be. However, it is also the case that some people find that what they imagined at 17 or 18 was good then, but at 26 and 27 they have had a change in perspective, learned about jobs and occupations they hadn’t ever known in their teens, and what was a good fit then is not right now.

It takes courage of course to change your course. It could mean the tuition you’ve paid has left you with debt and you incur more debt to change your field of education. It could mean too that sharing your change of heart means potentially upsetting others; your parents, family and spouse. But courage to change might be far better if done sooner rather than letting what was expected of you have you end up living someone else’s plan for you instead of your own.

So what will you be when you grow up? Difficult to answer whether you are 14, 34 or 55. If there is something stirring inside that says you are due for a change, it’s a good idea to listen and identify what is driving that inner voice. You may be all grown up at 55, but that voice pulling you to look at other things that would make you ultimately happier is a voice worth listening to.

It may be safe to do the usual; what is expected of you. Safe isn’t bad nor good, it’s just – safe. Doing what really motivates you and enriches your life – that’s living.

Maybe You’re A Young Person With An Old Problem?

Last Friday, I had a chance encounter with a young woman who had an appointment with one of my Employment Counsellor peers. She had just finished a 3 week Life Skills class, and so it is our practice to schedule a 1:1 meeting afterwards and talk about the next steps.

Our meeting happened just because as she arrive and signed in at the reception counter I myself was walking through going from one room to another. I could have said hello and kept walking and that would have been perfectly acceptable, but I wasn’t busy at the moment, and I thought I’d chat for a moment if she was open to it.

Turns out she was quite receptive to a talk as well, and having been in a class of my own in the past, and having talked briefly in passing over those same last three weeks, we quickly got on. When I asked her where she was going at this point as a next step, she told me she didn’t really know.

At 22 years old, her career path wasn’t clear, and she was feeling pressure. What kind of pressure and from whom? Two sources actually; herself first and foremost and from her family. Yes at 22, she felt that by now she should know exactly what she wanted to do for the next 40 years of her life and people where wondering what was wrong with her.

Doesn’t this sound like a common problem for many people? You know, if we really break 22 years down, it’s not like she’s had 22 years to choose a career and been wasting her time. At infancy, no baby I’ve ever read about looked out through their eyes and mused, “I’m on my way to becoming an Arborist.” Infants take milk in and empty themselves, sleep, cuddle and cry. Well done. At this point, all the babies of the world have figure out just about the same things in life.

Then there are pre-school years where the biggest life objectives are to play and have fun. Oh sure there are little lessons to be learned like how to tie your shoes, what you can play with and what you can’t, where you can toddle off to and where you shouldn’t go. Then comes kindergarten and public school and children are exposes to some adults with careers and jobs. The simple first books children read have adults with jobs but again no 7-year-old is seriously asked to choose their career path yet.

It’s only with the arrival of high school then that most of the teens who are morphing out of childhood are asked to think seriously about jobs and careers to pursue. Teens though are more concerned with things like acne, puberty, their first kiss, will they ever be kissed?, making friends, fitting in, school marks, wearing the right clothes, not saying anything that will ruin their desired image, saying the right things that will please everyone and maybe score them a boyfriend or girlfriend. That job and career stuff can wait.

So, although the school Guidance Counsellor is impressing upon young people to take the right classes so they are ready for college or university – the choice of which could well determine if they get a certain career or not – many young people haven’t really got a clue. So there she could be at 18, being hurled out into the big bad world and only really thinking about a career or job seriously for the first time. That was 4 years ago.

Now while she didn’t go to college or university, many who do head off to those schools of higher education often choose to change their majors, opt for different careers they get exposed to. In short, changing your mind about what you want to do is normal. When I was young I remember being told that the average person changes their career about 3 or 4 times, and has about 9 different jobs over their lifetime. So where’s the pressure coming from to get it right on the first try?

I blame Aunt Ethel and Aunt Lois really. Oh you might have Aunts and Uncles with different names, but they are to blame just the same. Why? Well it’s them that started asking every time you saw them that standard question you never had an answer to, “So, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

Here’s one thing to think about; some advice really. Stop over-thinking. If you have a clear idea what it is you want to do, that’s wonderful. All the best and if you later change your mind, that’s okay, you’re not a failure. If on the other hand, you don’t know what you’d like to do, just do something. Sell shoes or clothes, bag groceries in a store, flip burgers for a while, work on a factory assembly line, when your Employment Counsellor is talking with you, imagine yourself in their job.

To prevent stalling and growing anxiety, just work or volunteer. Do many things and find out what you like and don’t. Those jobs will give you experience, references and build your fragile self-esteem. Don’t put pressure on yourself to have it all figured out at 22. At an unemployed 22, you may not be the envy of every other working adult, but many of those adults do envy one thing you do have at 22;  the gift of time to figure it out.

There isn’t only 1 perfect job for you. There are dozen’s of jobs you’ll enjoy so try them out!