Tag Archives: career goals

February 27, 2012 · 11:44 am

It All Starts With That First . . . Step

Know What You Want

I used to be in charge of Executive Development for a large corporation.  One day a middle manager came to talk to me about her career dreams.  Within the organization, she had been designated a “hi po”–a high potential with the ability and likelihood to progress several steps higher.  She was a good performer at her management job.  She was quiet and soft spoken, and well respected among her peers.

She told me that she wanted to work internationally.  She became quite animated as she discussed the kind of opportunity she wanted.  Our company provided, at that time, international opportunity for the very top leadership, but not for others.  Best case, she would have to wait years and have many other assignments before she got an international assignment.  Worst case, it wouldn’t happen at our company.  I didn’t share that explicitly with her, but we both knew it.  Instead, we talked about the kinds of skills she would need to be good at such an assignment and how she  could acquire those skills while she was working at her current job.  She went away with some lists and lots to think about.

Get Ready

She took a couple of different assignments within the company that broadened her skills.  Her desire for an international assignment didn’t abate, though, and she began to research opportunities.  She investigated recruiters and companies that could provide her with the kinds of opportunities she wanted.  She read about being an expatriate and came back to talk to me about the risks associated with that.   She discovered that failure rates are high and can vary between 10% and 50% depending on the country.  The reasons for failure range from cultural adjustments, language differences, assignment overburden, physical breakdown, and family stress to organizational issues such as a change of strategic direction, or failure to provide sufficient support.  Some organizations do a very good job at preparing employees for international job change, as well as helping them repatriate when the assignment is complete.

Doing it on your own is a completely different.  You have to teach yourself the things that the company would want you to know.  This preparation process took several years for her.  She was successfully employed during this time, but at the same time, she was focused on her goal–finding an international assignment where she could be successful.

Go

She found a job opportunity.  Luckily, there were people she knew connected to the company (this is highly recommended) and they were able to provide some
support.   She took a job in a country far from home–on the other side of the world.  She was lonely and overwhelmed and she turned all that into a blog-like communication to her friends and colleagues.  She told us about her new experiences–her challenges with different cultural norms at work, living in a building with an elevator but erratic electricity, travel, food, and expectations.  She worked several years for that company, landed another job at another company-same country, and then with another company, different country.  She continues to learn and grow and be a valuable asset to her employer.  And she is living her dream!

That First Step

All of us who received her communications were absolutely awestruck by her bravery.  She was actually doing it!  We were jealous.  What experiences she was having!

She did it for herself.  She didn’t wait for the organization to do it for her.  She didn’t let the reported failure rates, or the things she didn’t know how to do, or the fact that her current organization didn’t have the opportunities, or the thought of selling her stuff, moving and being completely out of her comfort zone stop her.  She took one step at a time, with a clear eye on what she wanted and where she was going.

What’s Stopping You From Taking That First Step Toward Your Dream?

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February 23, 2012 · 8:35 pm

How Can I Know What I Want To Do (When I Grow Up)?

It’s OK to have changing career goals.  It is normal, in fact.  Many people either fell into their current career by happenstance, or they selected one that is no longer (or never was) satisfying.  They struggle to figure out the “right” career for themselves.  What is not OK, though,  is to continue in a career that doesn’t fit without a plan to change it.

There are some questions that help you figure out what’s best for you:

First the Practical Questions:

  1.  How much money do you need to make?
  2. What skills do you have/can you get?
  3. How much time do you have to reach your goals?
  4. What do you believe are the  real constraints that exist in deciding what you want to do? (Things like you probably can’t take your three year old into the rainforest while you do eco-research.)

Now the Passion Questions:

  1. What rewards are most important to you to get from a job? Money? Learning? Creative outlet? Status?
  2. What are you doing when you forget what time it is?
  3. What would you do if you won the lottery and money was no object?
  4. What energizes you?
  5. What are your favorite activities?

Now What?

Martin Yate, who writes lots of career books, http://www.knockemdead.com, suggests in his book, Knock ’em Dead Secrets & Strategies for Success in an Uncertain World, that you should actually have three careers .  He advises that you have a core career (the one that pays your bills), an entrepreneurial career (the one where you venture into ways of making money and growing a business beyond your core career) and your dream career (the one that you really want to do, all other things being neutralized).

When I applied this idea, I found it easier to succeed at my core career.  I was focused on growing skills in my core career that would benefit my other two careers.  Working toward my dream career, even though I was living with my core career, energized me.  I found myself able to be more effective at all of them because the passion was back in my work life.  I saw the benefits of my “day” job for my dream job and had a completely different attitude.  My different attitude and increased effectiveness led to more rewards in my core career, and that in turn sped up the process of moving toward my other two careers.

So . . . What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

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February 17, 2012 · 7:43 pm

Get Ready to Lose Your Job

I hope you never need this advice. Chances are good, though, that you will–even if you are a high potential, can’t-do-anything-wrong super dooper employee. Most of us end up out on the job hunt street in our career.

The number one thing that you can work on right now to prepare for that day is to build your network. When clients end up on my coaching doorstep after a recent job loss, their number one regret is that they didn’t keep their network current. Ask yourself: if you lost your job next Monday, how many people in your network are familiar enough with what you do to be able to start referring you for job leads immediately? How many of them would want to? How many of them have you had contact with in the last month? year? five years? How many of them do you have current contact info on? When someone starts a job search, it usually takes months to rebuild a network. Months! How can I get your attention about this?

Yeah, I know. You don’t have time. You have to do (keep) your current job, take the kids to soccer, re-do the house.
If you lost your job, you would find the time. And you would wish you had done it sooner.

So what do you do? Start with two things:

1) Join, attend and volunteer for the appropriate professional groups. The people who do jobs like yours belong to these groups. They are also the first to know of the job openings in their own companies. There is a reason that the leadership of these professional groups (PMI, SHRM, ASTD) move easily from company to company. They know people.

2) Join/update/participate in LinkedIn. LinkedIn is becoming the largest recruiting tool in many professions. Join groups that interest you. Post answers/questions when appropriate (but don’t spam people with it).  Set your LinkedIn account up so that you get an email update of changes in your network.  Reach out to those who have had a change.  It doesn’t take much time, but it keeps that contact warm.  Post things of interest periodically.

Approximately 75% of jobs are landed through knowing someone who has some connection to the job (in the same company, referral, etc). 75%!  Make sure you are ready if you ever need it.

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