Identifying what you enjoy and what you are good at
I know that for many of us it’s a very uncertain time. What that does is when we’re looking at a job search, or our career path we bring that confusion with us. I’d like us all to take a couple of minutes, take a step back, take a deep breath and really get clear about what we want to do. Because a lot of times we tell ourselves, it’s confusing. I don’t know what to do. there’s so many options, but we really do know inside what that is and we have that instinct. We have been thinking about things, and we know what we’re really good at. So, start making a list, and think about your last two years, if you’ve worked before if you haven’t worked before. Take your work experience, project experience, education, anything that you’ve done and think about all the things that you really loved to do that you love to do and maybe that you are good at. Do you love writing? Do you love talking to other people and making a difference, or are you really one of those people who loves numbers and you’re super analytical and you like to be behind a computer and you know, figure out data patterns, and I know for every one of you that’s going to be different. And I want you to be a little bit deeper with this. Don’t just say, I like to communicate. What it is that you love, why do you love it, does it make you feel a certain way. Does it make you feel empowered? There’s a reason behind it so I want you to really take a couple of minutes to write out three to five things that you really enjoy doing. In a work capacity, in a project capacity and that you’re good at. I bet as you start writing it out, a lot of things will come to mind. So, you know, from a practical standpoint, that’s one exercise. The second thing that I want to talk about is you know so much of our success in things that we do, it’s all about our thoughts and our mindset.
Being Open
I would love for you to be super open in the next four weeks, and really think about everything that you’re capable of.
I know that every single person reading this is amazing because they took so much initiative to read this article and do something for themselves. That means that you are action oriented, smart and amazing, I just want to help you all realize that about yourself. Because that’s all it is, it’s a mind shift about who you are, about the fantastic experiences that you have. And then let’s be really open about it. So I see this if you’re seeking a job now. I think this is such a good opportunity for us to, maybe, align with something new and different that we’ve never thought of before because we were maybe stuck in the same patterns, or you did a really good time for us to think about. You know what else based on my strengths and what I like to do. What else could I be doing? Where else can I bring value? And when you’re going about your job search, being really open, let’s not get fixated in the same title that you had in the same jobs that you had. Let’s be super open about the job search. And in terms of what it could look like. But we want to be clear about maybe the impact we can make and the kinds of things that we’re doing. So be open about the title, but really clear about what you want to do and how we want to make an impact. The title doesn’t matter, that company doesn’t matter, none of those things matter and we’re going to figure out what matters. The other thing that I want to talk to you about is not getting caught up in overwhelm. So overwhelmed again is this thing that our brain does to us and tells us hey there’s too much going on. You know I’m not gonna be able to do it. It’s a terrible environment. People are not hiring. There’s all these kinds of thoughts and feelings that are out there that are not the truth. The truth is that the economy is changing and things are different. However, there are still a lot of companies that are hiring. There are many jobs available right now, they just look different. They may not be the same kinds of jobs that you’re used to. And the way that we work is different, so keep that in mind.
When we talk about career, it doesn’t have to be somebody else paying you for a job. There are so many ways to look at a career. For example, the gig economy, where you can really work for yourself but you’re associated with the company(Uber, upwork, etc.) A client of mine was very interested in working in social impact and so she was only looking at nonprofit organizations. This really limited her job search. If you’re looking to make social impact or nonprofit impact, there’s a million ways to do it. You could work for a big corporation that has a corporate social area. You can also work with a company that consults for nonprofit organizations. You could work for a company that has a non-profit division. A great example is a company such as Microsoft. So are many ways to look at it, but a lot of times we pigeonhole ourselves and we narrow ourselves into things. The other way that we really limit ourselves is that we let other people tell us what is working and what doesn’t work for us. So our friend will say, you don’t have enough experience or the job description might list 10 years of work experience. Don’t let these things limit you. Be open, take a risk. It takes nothing for you to have your resume ready to go. You click on a button online and send your resume off. I encourage you to get super clear about the impacts that you want, the types of responsibilities that you want, and the kinds of things you’ll be doing. Be less attached to titles, companies, and things that seem like they’re so important because they’re really not at the end of the day.
Shaking things up
The last piece of advice is making small tweaks to the way that you are already taking action. So let’s say you’ve been doing the same things, even going into the same job board, applying with the same resume; let’s shake things up a bit. Obviously, it’s not giving you the best results so let’s try something a little bit different. Try looking in different areas online, perhaps join a community group. The other thing is to connect with people organically. Let your friends or family know that this is what you’re up to and if you’re clear about what kinds of things you like it’ll be easier for them. So for example, I’m really looking for a job where I can make a big social impact, working with underprivileged students and helping them learn basic language skills. This kind of clarity helps the person you are connecting with actually help you in an impactful way. You never know who in your network is going to come back to you with that opportunity. So let your friends and family know about your job search, whether that’s picking up the phone, sending a text message or putting it out on social media. Do whatever you need to to get out there and then take a look at other job search opportunities. There are many recruiters and placement agencies out there, so many ways to go about doing it. Take a look at things that you’ve already been doing, and try to figure out some areas of improvement and what you can do differently. Is your LinkedIn resume really up to par? Have you turned on the setting that says that you’re available and looking for opportunities? When you send your resume out, ensure that it is written for the job you are applying for, and it showcases the experience you have that is most relevant and applicable to the job. Resumes should also be written to highlight impact, not roles and responsibilities. What were the results of the work you did?
Just be a little bit different and a little bit more open in your search. Small changes like this can yield big, big results. Once you start getting confident and you’re having some results, having some conversations, you will start feeling more neutral about the situation.
