Want to Get Clear About Your Career?
Bio information: Coach Joan McMahon is President of Career Solutions – Unleashing the Excellence Within!, a one stop shop for career services. A trained Career Coach, Trainer and Speaker, Coach Joan helps people gain greater career satisfaction through identifying values, personality preferences and interests and by helping them through the difficult job search process. She runs Get Hired NOW! Job Clubs each month and a free weekly job seeker’s networking group at the Delectable Egg at 200 Quebec on Wednesday mornings at 9am. Her website is www.coachjoan.com and her email is coachjoan@coachjoan.com.

In my daily interactions with job seekers and career changers, I am often asked for the question: How can I find a satisfying career that will suit me over the long haul? My question to them is: What amount of Career Discovery work have you done?

I ask this question because most people never give themselves the opportunity to do the systematic work necessary to find a career that suits them – their lifestyle, skills, preferences and interests. Granted, some people are lucky in that they just happen to have “fallen into” the job or career that satisfies them. It suits them, they enjoy the work and they are good at the work.

Most people do not have this kind of luck! While it’s true that most people fall into their careers through chance, a lot of times they are not necessarily happy with the work itself. They may be good at the work but they don’t necessarily enjoy it. It would be difference between having ability to do something and having an interest in it. For example, I am able to balance my checkbook and have done this in the past, but I am not interested in doing that task. On the other hand, I have an ability to speak and write AND I have an interest in those things. Knowing this makes a world of difference in my career satisfaction because what I do intentionally includes speaking and writing.

So, what are tasks you would need to complete in the Career Discovery Process? How do I get clear about my career?

First, check with reality. If you are very focused, due to necessity, on finding a job right now to pay the bills, it might not be the right time to do this kind of work. If you are primarily a job seeker who wants a better job but not necessarily interested in changing careers or learning about yourself and how you tick, your interests, personality and abilities, then it is best that you focus on job seeking. Check in with your motivation. Are you motivated to spend the time, energy and resources on doing this work? Generally, it takes a few months to go through this process thoroughly. Like any big goal that has a big reward or large impact, you have to be ready for it.

Second, get the professional help you need. I recommend talking to a career professional about this kind of thing. The career clarity program is an online system that may be a good place to start: http://www.careerclarityprogram.com/CoachJoan.html

Fourth, know the benefits of a satisfying career for yourself. It could be feeling fulfilled, excited and engaged in your work over the long haul. It could be having a career that allows you to use your talents and passions in a positive way. It could be the satisfaction that comes with being in a career where you can express who you are in your work. It could be being a career that supports the lifestyle you want.

Fifth, generate a listing of occupations that may suit you by learning about yourself! Knowing your personality, skills, interests and lifestyle needs are surefire way to create direction in your discovery process. You are unique person and knowing these facts about yourself can be a great starting point. Some of the assessments worth doing are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Strong Interest Inventory and the Kerwin Values Survey. From there, brainstorm a listing of possible career options for yourself using your personality profile, your skills, interests and lifestyle.

Finally, get real through research. It’s a good idea to use online sources, like HYPERLINK "http://www.onetcenter.org" www.onetcenter.org, to look up occupational job descriptions to see if they interest you. However, your research should not just be in front of a computer or at the library. You need to talk to people actually in the field of your interest. Find out how they got into it and what would be a pathway for you to get into the field.

Knowing thyself is the universal path to career satisfaction. Good luck!