Making a Career Change: Step 4 Looking Inside

Previously: Step 3: Looking at the Now

Phew! In a lot of ways it helps to get all the frustration about your current job out on paper and see it sitting there doesn't it? Now the real work begins. You're no longer holding on to that negativity so you are free to focus on you and what makes you awesome! Take a deep and cleansing breath.

Tip #2: For this next step it may help to use Google or another preferred search engine. Look at question #4 regarding your core values. Start by making your own list of the ones you can think of but then try looking at a long list of values that you find online and pick the ones from it that apply. This will make the end result more robust and thorough since you won't have to think of all of them off the top of your head. So feel free to use the Internet to search for pre-made lists. Just make sure you are being honest when you start picking from them.

Tip #3: I believe there is a difference between your dream job and your ideal job. Some may argue this, which is fine. But to me, a dream job is what you would do if you could literally do anything in the world regardless of time, talent, skill and money. Like, say, own a stable of elite thoroughbred raceshorse for example. An ideal job, is the perfect job for you taking into consideration the realities of your life such as your education, skills, talents, geograghy and other factors that very much have a bearing on your life. The ideal job may be quite far off like a CEO, CIO, or CFO position which is totally fine because it gives you a realistic direction in which you can head.

Tip #4: Notice questions #2 & #3. Classic interview questions. Think long and hard about them now. Knowing the answers to these questions at this stage will serve you well in your self-assessment. Then remember that they are in your notebook so that when you are interview prepping you can refer back to them. You'll never have to struggle with these as interview questions again!

Step 4: Looking Inside
In your notebook, answer the following:

1. What are your personal interests? What are you passionate about?
2. What are your strengths?
3. What are your weaknesses?
4. What are your core values?
5. Rank your core values in order from most important to least important.
6. What do you do better than anyone you know?
7. What is your dream job? Why?
8. What is your idea job? Why?
9. Do you prefer working alone? As a member of team? Why? 
10. Do you prefer a supervisor who watches you closely or relies on you to keep him/her updated periodically?
11. List your "Must Haves" for your next job. (i.e. I must have a flexible schedule...I must have a boss who trusts me...) Don't hold back. List as many as you can think of.
12. Rank your answers to question #11 in order of most important to least important.
13. Using your answers from Step 2 Question #7, list the top 2-3 accomplishments from your most recent job.

If you would like to continue along this path of discovery there is no shortage of assessment tools you can use. For starters, look at: Strength Finder 2.0, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and CareerLeader. If you do turn to those resoures be sure to record the results in your notebook so that you have them handy where and when you need them. Many of them will give you a print out of the results which you can then (literally) cut and paste into your notebook (yes, using actual scissors and glue).

Up Next: Step 5: Looking in the Mirror

Making a Career Change: Step 2 Looking Back

Previously: Step 1: Get a Handy Dandy Notebook

Wasn't step 1 easy?! Now that you have your notebook it's time to fill it by embarking on a journey of self-exploration to fully assess where you have been, where you are, where you are going and most importantly where you WANT to go in your professional life. I used to think careers were not about what we wanted but I have since learned otherwise. It's all about what we want and what will make us happy. You know the old Confucius saying "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

Because this process is intensely personal with no wrong answers, it is what you make of it. You will get back what you put in. It is important that you uncensor yourself as much as possible. To help you get started I will lay down some ground rules:

• Don't worry about anyone ever reading what you are writing, unless you want them to of course.
• Be honest. The more brutally honest the better.
• Write now and think later. Tap into your stream of consciousness and let your pen do all the work. Don't think too hard about what you are writing and just write. Often your initial response is the best one so write it down before you can censor yourself.
• Complete each step in full to the best of your ability.

If you can do those things you're going to get through this just fine! I'm so psyched you're doing this. Let's get started!

Step 2: Looking Back
In your notebook, answer the following questions:

1. When you were younger what did you want to do for a living? What did you dream of being?
2. What activities interested you when you were a child? Teenager?
3. Where did you go to school and what was your major? Why did you pick that as a major?
4. Who are the major influential figures in your past?  What characteristics about those people appealed to you?
5. How did you get where you are now? Who helped you get here? What interested you initially about getting to this particular place? Did you get here by accident or on purpose? What skills helped you get here?
6. List all of the jobs you have ever had in your life.
7. For each job in question #6, list your most significant accomplishments noting the ones of which you are most proud.

As you can see, this is just a quick check-in to make sure you keep sight of from whence you came. You need to know where you were in order to understand where you are going and how to get there.

Up Next: Step 3: Looking Inside

Career Management Is a Personal Journey

No one is going to just hand us what we need to succeed on a silver platter so it is up to us to seek out those things. I am very much interested in the personal career journey we are all on and providing thoughts, resources and inspiration to support that journey and thus the needs that arise from it. 

Shortly (probably when my power is restored and I can take the time to think about it instead of worrying about staying warm) I will turn my attention towards finding our niche, which can be the impetus for turning everything around.  Until then, I've summed up the topics I've addressed thus far to give you a one stop shop for finding the spark you need to get through the day, week and month. 

5:15 Is The Crack of Dawn
Getting it all started.

7 Career Obstacles and How to Overcome Them
Advice to keep you and your career on track.

Get In the Game
Career Changes can be hard and are a great starting point for a discussion. I went through a very difficult one.

Road Map for the Blog
Laying out some future topics.

My Left Brain vs. My Right Brain: An Epic Battle
Our internal dialogue is often the single most important factor in our personal and professional lives. Learn to listen to yours..

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?
The career and professional landscape has changed dramatically and you don't want to be left behind because you've failed to find your niche.

To Be or Not To Be...Motivated During a Career Change
Having the proper support network underneath you makes all the difference.

Hitting the Wall
Just when you think you can't go any further, have faith that something or someone will intervene.

Responsibility to Yourself and Your Employer
Being unhappy on the job can leave you in a bad place. Don't let it happen to you.

It's Been a Week
What I've learned in the social media universe.

When Your Responsibilities Conflict
An example of how to tell when you or someone else is unhappy on the job.

Failure
Failure is not something that is often talked about yet is is something that is constantly thought about. I decided to talk about it!

Yesterday Failure...Today Risk
If I'm talking about failure I'd be doing a disservice to not address risk.

Avoiding Social Media Errors
Putting yourself out there requires an awareness. Don't be the one who makes mistakes.

Failure and Risk
Doesn't success play a role in there somewhere? See how.

7 Steps For Dealing With Crisis On The Job
Whether you are playing it safe or taking risks it is important to be prepared when problems arise.

Still no power...still reflecting on adversity...
Inspirational words from others regarding adversity.

Failure and Risk

If you don't fail now and again, it's a sign you're playing it safe.

Woody Allen

I've enjoyed contemplating failure and risk over the last 48 hours. Not my favorite subjects for sure. But they happen to fit nicely into my life right now so why not reflect on them to really understand their influence on what we do. Life certainly would be a lot easier if we never had to take risks or risk failure. With one comes the possibility of the other but to not risk is to never succeed. So really what choice do we have right?

I'd love to hear from you regarding failure and risk. Maybe I will drum up a tale or two from my past where I've taken risks. Have you taken recent risks? Was it hard to do? Did you not take a risk because you were afraid of failing? Is anyone out there contemplating a career risk right now?

It's easy to focus on the failure part of the equation isn't it? I've been doing it for two days now. But guess what...you might actually succeed (GASP! BLASPHEMY!)...In fact, you probably will. A lot of the fear we have is actually fear of the unknown outcome more than it is fear of the actual repercussions of the failure itself. The failure probably won't be that bad anyway. What, you don't get the job? The client chooses another company? The lime green in the kitchen looks terrible and you have to paint over it? So why not? Take the risk. Embrace it. Live it. In the end, as the few quotes I've posted suggest along with the thousands out there I haven't posted, you'll be a better person for it regardless of your success or failure.