Currently, colleges and universities are preparing students to take on jobs that don’t even exist yet! Who had heard of social media managers, or app developers 10 years ago? Now these roles are commonplace. On the other hand, we also still have engineers, doctors, pharmacists and many other roles and professions that have been around for a long time. In today’s times, we need to be flexible and also pragmatic in our approach to our careers, as we deal with increasing globalisation and technology changes, and the challenges and opportunities that these changes bring with them.
An important question to ask ourselves is “How do we define career success?” One way to define career success is the positive psychological or work-related outcomes or achievements one has accumulated as a result of one’s work experiences. I like this definition because it is holistic. It includes both psychological, or subjective measures, as well as outcomes or objectives measures. So, part of success is how we feel about our careers, and the other part is what we’ve achieved through our careers.
Traditionally, organisations took on much of the responsibility for managing their employees’ career paths, but more recently there has been a swing towards individuals being expected to take on more of the responsibility themselves. Career coaches or career counsellors can play a vital role in bridging the gap. And for those of you contemplating starting your own business or going into freelancing, some objective assessment and sound-boarding can go a long way to help you to make practical decisions.
What do career coaches do?
Career coaches support individuals, or groups, to make informed decisions about their careers. They do this through the use of various assessment tools and structured career conversations intended to help the client to gain information, confidence, direction, and encouragement on their journey. Coaches will also look for any behavioural or emotional aspects that might be getting in the way of career success, and work with the client to address these issues.
Here are some questions to get you started:
- Reflect back on your career to date. How successful do you feel it has been?
- Would you like to feel differently about your career this time next year?
- How would others describe your career?
- How would they arrive at this conclusion?
- What achievements are you most proud of?
If you would like a partner to assist you on your career journey, please get in touch with Carol : carol.mould@camberdale.com