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Infographic lean startup social proof incubator. Prototype scrum project learning curve strategy social media funding business model canvas direct mailing facebook ecosystem sales.…
A Note to Graduates and Everyone ElseIf your job doesn’t feel like “you” but you can’t put your finger on why – pay attention. It is a clue. You may not know what it means until you string many clues together, but when you have enough experiences and combine the clues, it can lead you to what feels EXACTLY like you. ~Barbara Berger, CPC, CCC
The above is a comment I made on a LinkedIn post from Sarah Johnston asking what career advice you would give your 19-year old self. She was looking for comments, but somehow it turned into a post overnight in my head.
Do you know what geocaching is? It is like a scavenger hunt using navigation skills to find “caches” hidden all over the world. You find the hidden container, sign a log book with all the others who discovered it, take and leave a small token item, and put it back for the next treasure hunter.
Every job is a cache full of clues to your strengths, the type of environment you prefer, how you handle established workplace processes, if providing service is your thing or if designing products makes you happy, whether you like to work behind the scenes or be in front of clients, and more.
When we are propelled into the real world most of us aren’t advised to be clue collectors. We are usually:
Who has time to think about clues? You are busy producing, fitting in, learning about office politics, going to meetings, and networking. Before our young people launch, we should be teaching them how to gather career clues from the start.
Every job is a “careercache” site. There is something of value even in a location that doesn’t feel right. If you leave the site before you find the clue, you’ve missed the point.
In an article on the Geocache.com blog, readers contributed their top 15 reasons for geocaching. Here are three that relate to careercaching as well:
When students are taught the art of careercaching they have a new tool to navigate challenging terrain and help them remember why they started this adventure in the first place.
My advice to the graduating class of 2018: Sign your name on the offer, stay long enough to navigate the environment and discover new gems about yourself, take a few clues with you, and leave something good for others when you go.
Image: https://pixabay.com/en/geocaching-mountain-alps-italy-540336/
Your employees need career help. So much so that LinkedIn is testing a new feature that matches professionals seeking career advice with mentors at the ready.
There is no arguing the value of a fantastic mentor. Suzi Owens, group manager of Consumer Products, Corporate Communications at LinkedIn, is quoted in a FastCompany article about the new service as saying, “[The service] is not meant to be a replacement for long-term mentorship. It’s meant to tackle those ‘quick question’ requests such as whether you are taking the right approach in different scenarios.”
The article explains that the program was launched in part due to the changing workplace and the shorter amount of time employees are spending with one employer. Both issues make it difficult to establish solid mentor-mentee relationships and this new service, Owens says, is “a new form of mentorship that’s virtual, lightweight, and that fits today’s changing workplace.”
Agreed, times have changed and old strategies no longer work. And yes, mentoring and coaching are different things but your employees need career advice. Period. It’s time you rethink how you want them to get it.
Companies who want to differentiate themselves, and demonstrate commitment to employees’ individual career development goals can do so by finding a way to offer this benefit in house. A few ideas:
Companies fear that if an employee talks with a career coach, they will be coached to leave. Good coaches do not offer advice like this. Companies that support the individual’s’ overall career growth are likely to see positive effects on the organization in terms of loyalty and engagement.
The job market is hot, and the war for talent even hotter. With shorter stints of employment making it harder to establish mentoring relationships and fueling the need for on-demand career support, it makes sense for forward-thinking businesses to do all they can to not only retain but inspire their workforce. The good news is that technology makes offering mentoring and career counseling immeasurably easier, and affordable.
If you want to know more about how outsourced career coaching works or how to incorporate a career wellness component into your company wellness program, contact me at Barbara@CareerWellnessPartners.com.
Image source: stocksnap.io
If this is not just an aftermath of the Super Bowl, but a recurring weekly dread, then you owe it to yourself to figure out why your career is not well.
Is it your boss? The environment? Your co-workers? The strengths you’re not using? The lack of freedom? All of the above? Maybe you know there is something else you should be doing with your life, yet you can’t seem to break the comfortable routine. Do you feel stress the night before and are you drained when you leave your office for the day, so the only energy you have is to be a blob on the couch for the rest of the evening?
Investigate my program on the Mindsail app and figure out how to get your career on track.
Find more of Career Wellness on Mindsail.
You may be one of the really lucky people who can say you work for a company that offers all kinds of employee engagement opportunities and flexible work schedules. Maybe you can say that your company has worked hard to create a culture where you are invited to explore different aspects of your strengths and skills. However, it’s probably more likely that you are rolling your eyes, thinking, “My company doesn’t even get it; they’re still in the dark ages.”
It doesn’t matter which of those categories your current work situation falls into, or if it falls somewhere in between, what matters is that you become aware that nobody is in charge of your career wellness but you.
A healthy career has no room for victims.
Some of you may not be employed at the moment for many different reasons. Some of you may be employed, but miserable. Regardless of your situation, the first step is always the same step. Awareness. Self-awareness plus career awareness equals career wellness. It is the truth about how career fulfillment works.
What we’re really talking about here is an awareness that your career happiness is up to you – all of it. Awareness and ownership are the first steps to career fulfillment. The good things that happen, the not-so-good things that happen, the victories and the setbacks. When I talk with clients about awareness as step number one, I definitely mean awareness of values, of interests, of natural behavioral style, skills, and strengths. I also mean awareness that you can’t be a bystander and hope that it all works out like you want.
If you want to be aware, you’re going to need to get down-and-dirty honest about all of it. You will need to take responsibility, be bold, brave, decide to take risks (or not) and get very clear with yourself about whether you want to participate in this constantly evolving thing which is your career. You will need to pay attention to the signals your body is giving you and to the things you are curious about. You will need to tune in to what your intuition is telling you.
One of the biggest challenges employees and employers face when trying to transform their careers, or supporting the career development of their employees, is dealing with the reality of awareness. The language itself can border on therapy-like words. You’ll need to deal with that, or find your own words that make you less squeamish. Part of the courage needed to self-actualize your career is moving past your own judgment about how you get to awareness.
If you don’t, you’ll be handing that power over. You’ll be allowing some company or whatever current circumstances you’re in, decide for you.
Awareness means never giving your power away.
Want more great insights championing the employee side of employee engagement? Want to spark your own career fulfillment fire? Sign up to get career wellness posts delivered directly to your email.
Image courtesy of Pexels.com.
SHIFT HAPPENS!
It may not happen as fast as you want it to happen. It may not be easy. But it does happen.
Take a look at the following examples:
Recent Grad: Executed shift from retail to professional role in logistics/distribution
(Networking & Recruiter)
Early Career: PhD transitioned to new field and landed industry dream job
(Networking & Job Board)
Middle Career: Finance professional successfully re-entered workforce (Networking)
Late Career: Seasoned sales professional refused to take company restructure as an off-ramp to retirement – landed major sales position in high-volume market (Networking)
What do they have in common?
1. Yes, they are all recent clients, but the next two points are where I want you to pay attention.
2. They all incorporated some form of networking, some way of making new connections, into their job search strategy. (Note that only one in four landed their new gig by applying on a job board – supporting the popular job search statistic that 80% of positions are filled though networking.) Use job boards. Definitely. But not as your only approach.
3. All of these shifters took ownership of their career wellness. They created their next steps. They didn’t lead with fear. They worked hard. They didn’t listen to the naysayers. They had the guts to take action and the stamina to keep going when they felt like quitting.
From creating a strong brand on LinkedIn to attract the attention of recruiters, to learning the art of the informational interview, these shifters made it happen.
Kudos to them for showing the rest of us how to do it right.
The award is given annually to professionals who have received great reviews from Thumbtack customers.
The Thumbtack platform is one of the most successful and fastest growing job-sourcing sites in the country. Thumbtack has grown through a unique bidding system that allows only 5 bids from US-based providers per job posted by clients of the site.
Career Wellness is a big supporter of Thumbtack’s approach and is enjoys a significant portion of business from the platform.
Thanks to my clients for the positive reviews. I’m so excited to share new offerings in the 2016!
Originally published for Switch and Shift.
Most of us struggle when we need to ask for help, and those issues are compounded when help is needed in the workplace. For introverts, it’s even more difficult.
How do we get past our fears and ask for what we need to have the career we want?
In the second video of our Just Ask series by career wellness strategist, Barbara Berger, she shares a case study that demonstrates how getting more comfortable with feeling vulnerable and embracing the idea of asking questions helps you take ownership of your career.
And, just as importantly, how can an optimistic and human workplace’s response to those questions make all the difference.
I had a great opportunity with Switch & Shift for a new blog series that explores our secret superpower (and fear) and the role it plays in individual career wellness and workplace optimism.
We are thrilled to introduce a new blog series, Just Ask, by career wellness consultant Barbara Berger. In this first episode Barbara covers a topic dear to our hearts – workplace optimism. You’ll hear from Barbara how to begin your journey to career wellness, and how by JUST ASKING you can move past the fear and take the path you choose, instead of one created for you.
Short read, big impact in this article written by Dr. F. Emelia Sam for Huffington Post’s Third Metric.
These three myths that hold us back from taking action:
Myth #1. Purpose must be “passionate.”
Myth #2. Purpose must be grand.
Myth #3. Purpose is singular.
Adjust how you think about your purpose, and you’ll be on your way to career wellness.
Read more here:
Nastia11 via Getty Images