What’s the secret of career success? Is it down to luck or just hard work? Is it about who you know rather than what you know? Is there a ‘career success’ formula?
These are questions that can run through people’s heads when they are thinking about their careers and what path or decisions they should take. It can make them procrastinate and over-think their career decisions, making them feel confused and diminishing their confidence levels. They come to me asking for direction, saying, “Tell me what I should do”. My answer? “Do something!”
That’s after a full guidance interview of course, where we journey together through the present and the past, before thinking about the future and the question of what action to take. I act as a mirror, reflecting back to my client, questioning their thoughts, their assertions, challenging their long-held beliefs and helping them to find connections and, ultimately, a way forward into the future.
This is what professional career guidance is all about – career professionals are not going to tell you what to do, but we can help you to find your own answers using recognised career theory and documented practitioner experience. It’s not rocket science and there is no magic formula. Compare your career decision with buying or renting a house. On what do you base your decision? Price, location, reputation of the area, how many rooms, position etc. – it may not be perfect but the one you choose is the one that is available at the time and ticks most of the boxes and you can always change it a bit to suit your needs. Alternatively, you can choose to build your own house, design it to your particular specifications and project-manage the whole process. Compare this with being employed and being a self-employed entrepreneur: the former is dependent on what the market is currently offering and your own career situation at that particular time; the latter is more likely to get the design that suits you best, but there is a greater risk involved.
So, what am I getting at here? Your career is in your hands. I can’t tell you what to do as you know yourself much better than I do. However, what I can help you with is sorting out and managing all those thoughts whizzing around in your head and possibly driving you mad: the number of options you have; your hopes and fears; your family’s hopes and fears; your supervisor’s opinion; your need for success but your sense of failure; your feeling of powerlessness in the face of political pressures; your frustrations; your personal potential and the over-riding optimism you have to push ahead and fulfil your career ambitions. I can also help you to find helpful networks, sources of information and connections.
So, in conclusion, if I had to give one piece of careers advice, I would encourage everyone to be proactive and positive. If you listen to most people’s career stories they will mention a ‘happenstance’ moment when an unexpected event or meeting put their career on a new and exciting footing. If you do stuff, get out and about, engage with social media, network, find a mentor, go to meetings, sign up for courses, volunteer for things, get yourself known and recognised, you will be surprised by the number of career opportunities that come your way.
Bon chance!