Seven Steps to Finding a Job You Love
by Deirdre
McEachern
Published on this site: February 5th, 2004
Today
is a great day to begin the journey toward finding a job you will love. Since
you are attempting to create a brand new future for yourself, I suggest you give
this process some time.
Work your way through the steps below over a few
weeks. It's a good idea to approach this program like taking a class. Set aside
a specific time each week, such as Monday evenings at 7 p.m. Each week, read one
step and work on it. Over the course of the week, be sure to let each step percolate
in your mind during your daily activities. The following Monday, note any new
thoughts you have had and then begin the next step. If you get stuck or need help,
you can contact Deirdre at 207-439-4280 for assistance.
Step #1: Identify
Why You Are Changing Careers
The first step in any career change is
to identify why you are looking for a change. It is important to know whether
you are trying to move away from something or if you are trying to move toward
something. Ultimately, it is much more empowering to move toward something as
opposed to trying to escape from something.
It is much more difficult to
identify your ideal job if your personal vision is limited to overcoming the negatives
of your current situation.
This is your time to dare to dream. Why not
dream big? If you are going to make a career change, keep all of your options
open to give yourself the best chance of making a fresh start. This is your time
to find a job you will love for years to come.
Step # 2: Create a Personal
Vision & Specify Your Goals
The next step in finding work you love
involves creating a very clear vision of your future work situation. You need
to be able to definitively answer the following questions:
- What is your ideal work day schedule?
- What is your required salary to live comfortably?
(For more information on salary and work you love, I highly
recommend the book Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez
and Vicki Robin) --What is your preferred commute time?
- What are your ideal positions and tasks?
- To what managerial level do you want to be reporting?
- Are you an entrepreneur at heart?
- Would you consider self-employment?
- Are there any other logistical aspects you need to consider
– such as travel required or on-site day care provisions?
Try to think through every aspect of a normal
day. Don't be afraid to outline what might feel like unrealistic or pie-in-the-sky
options. The purpose here is to get very clear on what it is you want. Not what
you think you can get.
Creating this vision and specifying your goals is
an integral step toward finding your ideal job. I recommend that my clients spend
plenty of time on these questions and write out their answers in a notebook or
journal.
Step #3: Re-Connect With Your Interests
So many of
my clients have lost touch with their interests. It is not easy for them to identify
the things that capture their attention. To help get your self-knowledge flowing,
answer the following questions over the course of a typical week:
- What is your favorite bookstore section?
- Which sections of the newspaper do you turn to first?
- What magazine subscriptions do you have?
- What were your favorite classes in college?
- What are your hobbies?
- What categories of books do you keep on your bookshelf?
- What great conversations do you remember from parties
and social events?
- What was the topic? What made it a great conversation?
After keeping track of these things for a
week you should be able to identify some trends. Did you notice some of your interests
emerging on a consistent basis? Are you able to narrow it down to two or three
top interests?
Do not worry at this point whether the interests you have
identified have any possibilities as careers. You are just beginning the self-exploration
process. In order to have any hope of finding work you love, you have to start
by identifying what is truly interesting to you!
Step #4: Re-Connect
With Your Values
Interests and values go together like a lock and a
key. Once you have identified some of your favorite interests, the next step is
to explore your values. Your values are your deeply held convictions that compel
you into action. Many people become unsatisfied in their careers because one or
more of their personal values are not being met. To uncover some of your strongest
inner values try to answer some or all of the following questions:
- Who is your favorite famous person? What is it that you
admire about them?
- If you never had to work again, what would you spend your
time doing? Why?
- If you could solve one world problem what would it be?
- What personal accomplishment are you most proud of?
- What are your top three movies of all time? What theme
do they share?
- What makes you mad?
- What would you want said about you at your funeral?
These questions are likely to take you longer to answer than
any of the others so far. That is because your values are
at the core of what motivates you in life. When you find work
that is in sync with one or more of your values, you will
feel a great desire to do that work. It will feel more like
your "calling" rather than merely a job.
You
will gain a sense of importance about the work you are doing. You will feel that
your time is being spent wisely and that your work makes a difference. When you
can combine these values-based feelings with working in an area of your interest,
you will be well on your way to finding work you love. Try to sum up your answers
from the questions in this step and then identify your top three values.
Step
#5: Know Your Abilities!
Now you know why you are looking to change careers (better
pay? more fulfillment?), what you would like your future work
day to look like (nine to five? three weeks vacation? On-site
gym?), your areas of interest (history? biology? human development?)
and your values (education? tenacity? helping others?). The
next step in the process is to connect these emotional components
with what you are actually hard-wired to do. You can find
this out by taking a natural abilities test.
I highly recommend abilities testing
to all of my clients. There are several sources of abilities testing available.
I use The Highlands Ability Battery. I have heard of other people using the Johnson-O'Connor
test. You can find these tests via personal coaches, college career centers, state-run
career centers, etc. Be sure to ask for an abilities test and not a personality
or communication-style assessment (such as the Myers-Briggs or Strong Interest
Inventory).
Abilities tests define your natural abilities based on timed
work samples. This allows for an objective way of discovering (or affirming) the
kind of work to which you are best suited.
These tests also tell you about
your preference for introversion or extroversion, your time frame orientation,
your preference for abstract or tangible work, and other work style information.
It
is important to know and confirm the type of abilities that come quickly and easily
to you. When you find work that calls upon these abilities, it will not only be
easier for you to succeed, but you will also gain a greater sense of satisfaction
from your work.
Step #6: Inventory Your Skills
The sixth step
in the process of discovering work you will love is to take stock of your skills.
Your skills augment your natural abilities. They are things you have picked up
along the way in your career journey (public speaking, computer programming, project
management, etc.). These are the areas that you have experience in, courses you
have taken, on-the-job training you may have received or any other areas where
you feel you have gained competence.
You may find it helpful to look at past resumes, project
notes and performance reviews to create a thorough list of
skills you have acquired and would like to continue to use
in the future. From this comprehensive list, narrow it down
to three to five skill areas that you feel are your strongest.
Step #7: Create A Road Map to Actual Positions
Finally, you have made it to the last step! By now you should know
a lot more about yourself than you did at the beginning of this process. Now is
the time to put all of the pieces together and start to define positions. So often
when clients first come to me, their natural inclination is to start the career
change process by immediately trying to identify new job titles.
They come to me saying things like, "maybe I should
be a nurse" or, "I heard that photography is a good
career." I always tell them the same thing: it is best
not to look at job titles until you have explored your inner
desires, passions, abilities, interests and values. It is
best to keep all your options open during the first six steps.
You have a better chance of finding work you will truly love
when you fully unleash the creativity of this process. You
may be surprised about what you uncover!
To complete Step #7, use the information
you have collected from Steps 1 through 6 and put them on a note card in this
format:
- Top three personal interests
- Top three core values
- Top three natural ability areas
- Top three to five acquired skills
Once
you have created this card, you can start to show it to friends, relatives and
anyone else you might consult. Ask them what kind of job this list describes to
them. Do they know anyone who has a job like this? If so, perhaps they can help
you line up informational interviews to confirm that this type of work would indeed
be of interest to you.
I had a client who took this card to a trade show
and discovered two new job titles that neither of us had ever heard of before.
After two informational interviews with people in those positions, it was clear
that she had found a whole new career opportunity for herself that neither of
us would have ever known existed!
A few final notes about undertaking a career change:
- Be thorough, be persistent and be true to yourself
and you will find the job of your dreams. It's important to be patient with yourself
during the career change exploration process. It is like filling a large funnel
at the top. You are putting in new information day-by-day – your reasons
for changing, your logistical requirements, your interests, your values, your
abilities, your skills, etc. What will happen eventually is that one or two job
titles will fall through the narrow opening at the bottom of the funnel.
The
payoff you will receive for investing in getting to know yourself through this
seven-step process is that the jobs you uncover will be the most exciting opportunities
of your life.
You will have finally found work you can truly love.
-
Be sure your financial situation is stable while you go through the career change
process. It is much easier to explore freely when you don't have to worry about
how your bills are going to be paid. Remember, this seven-step process is about
finding your passion and figuring out how you can make your unique contribution
to the world. It will need your attention for a little while.
-
If you are currently unemployed and looking for immediate work, watch out for
this trap: just being good at something doesn't mean you should be doing it! This
is a valid and possibly the quickest road to a renewed paycheck, but don't confuse
this with engaging in a real career change process to find work you love.
-
It is normal to be frightened and to worry about being unrealistic about career
choices. After all, we all need to make a living. Regardless of whether you are
currently working, these thoughts will naturally arise if you are considering
making a major change from the status quo. Let these feelings rise and fall. It's
okay. Talk it out with your friends, your career coach or write about them in
your journal. Making a career change can be stressful but don't let that stop
you from finding work you love!
Deirdre McEachern's passion is helping her clients achieve their dreams.
She believes strongly that you can find a career you enjoy, express your natural
talents and have a life!
Contact Deirdre at [email protected]
for a free career-coaching consultation or sign up for her free e-newsletter
at
www.vip-coaching.com/news.
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