The eight-step process
The career coaching industry has found that planning a career involves a predictable pattern. Whether you are planning a career on your own or with the support of a career coaching company, here are eight discreet steps you must take. Read on to find out more.
Discover who you are
If you don’t know who you really are, how can you tell a potential employer about yourself? How do you even know what kind of job suits you? Answer: You can’t. As a result, 47% of new hires leave within 12 to 18 months of starting, even though they were highly qualified for the position; having won the position against strong competition. That’s why you often have the feeling during an interview that the interviewer has no idea who you really are.
To find out who you are, you need to do some psychological tests on yourself; AND THEN CONFIRM THAT IT IS CORRECT. Armed like this, you’ll know if you need a job where activity and urgency are paramount, or where patience and people’s concerns are paramount, or where detail and diligence are essential, or where ideas and creativity are the driving forces. Some of them are you. Some aren’t. You must choose the jobs that match those personal characteristics and steer clear of jobs that don’t. Note that we haven’t even talked about your skills yet. Once you’ve figured out who you are, or at least articulated who you are, how can you tell others about it without bragging?
Creating a life story that conveys the full picture of who you are
Next, you need to throw that traditional resume out the window as soon as possible. It’s a boring laundry list that exhausts resume readers as much as it pains you to write it. Bring the resume to life so that it shows the personality traits and strengths of yours that you discovered in step one above using facts, evidence, understatement and yet excitement.
Keep this part to one side and attach the laundry list as side two. That’s it: a two-page resume that should take about 15 hours to prepare if you want to get to the root of who you really are. Such a resume will serve you forever. Future job changes will only affect a small part of the side two laundry list.
Briefly describe who you are
With the hard work of the resume now in place and your own understanding of your personal drivers, summarize the picture of yourself with a one paragraph biography describing what you want and who you are. Done right, it will attract anyone who would be interested in you and drive away anyone who shouldn’t be (thank goodness).
Matching the bio, create a single sentence that captures the essence of you, like the slogan for Coke: “The break that refreshes” or Nike: “Just do it.” The simple phrase speaks volumes for the reader or listener, allowing you to paint a brief picture of the essence of who you are on this 3-story elevator ride with a stranger.
Define what you want, what makes you happy
With an understanding of who you are and what you can do, define the ideal position for you. Focus on that now. Be so clear that any potential employer knows exactly what you are looking for. Avoid being everything to everyone. It will leave readers confused and skeptical of you. Avoid compromises. If you are finding such a definition difficult at this stage, take the time to create a personal mission statement that outlines your purpose in life, your vision of where and what you ultimately want out of life, and the values that you believe in Articulate what you care about (such as honesty, directness, integrity – whatever speaks to you personally).
Learn how to find the job you want
Job hunting is NOT about submitting your resume to an advertised position where dozens of others are equally qualified. This is the losing lottery game. Only the casinos win (read Employers) and you lose. Avoid this at all costs. Job hunting isn’t aimless networking either. It’s about targeted, non-offensive networking; It’s about having a clear method with proven statistical probability that you will get in touch with your dream job. Sign up for a proven program to learn these steps anyone can use, or learn them from a friend who has been (successfully) there. With this handy feature in your back pocket, your chances of getting a job will increase 200-fold.
Creating a plan or marketing campaign
Take the five steps above and put them on paper. Then develop a checklist to guide you as you embark on a well-defined job search program and delve into the statistical probability of the invisible job market, with your success assured by Chaos Theory and your own confidence in your newly defined self.
Find what you want
Start organizing meetings with people from all walks of life, interview them (and not the other way around), discover what’s out there in the world that interests you. Do not openly look for a job. This connection process often leads to an unexpected and unpredictable opportunity—although you never know in advance where or when. The success of this finding process is governed by chaos theory (like the “chance” of meeting someone you know when traveling to another part of the world) and is often manifested by the phrase “six degrees of separation.” That means there are only six links between where you are today and the ideal job you want. (Test: Look at a previous successful job search. How many different people did you have to chain together to find them?)
Negotiating the best deal for you
Step 7 above often leads you to not one, but two to four great opportunities, all of which appear almost simultaneously. (Chaos theory again: it explains why sometimes when you hail a cab, no cab comes, and sometimes four or five cabs arrive within the same minutes.) Finding someone who loves your natural talents means finding an employer who you really want it. You will never be in a better negotiating position. This is the time to carefully negotiate the salary and benefits you want and the employer has in store for you (secretly kept away from your prying inquiries, mind you). Simple methods that can be used by ordinary people are at your fingertips as you turn the tables to see what benefits are truly available to you. Most people who use these techniques end up making $5,000 to $10,000 more than they otherwise expected.
All the best with your job search!
Thanks to Bill Caswell | #Plan #Career
