According to the Office for National Statistics, almost a million people made a career change in the three months at the end of 2021.

Have you considered that a shift in your career could be a positive move?

Are you concerned about an apparent lack of career progression on your CV?

Are you asking yourself – what next?

 

Instead of worrying if there’s a role out there for you, if you’re even qualified for the role and fearing the possibility of not actually getting the role, what if in making a conscious shift in career not only presented opportunities, but enabled you to explore your passions in tandem with your experience and skills?

This is exactly the focus of the coaching work I do – working with clients to explore their passions and interests alongside what’s important to them, with their professional skills and experience sprinkled on top for good measure.

 

How do I know this is an approach that works? Because this is my story too.

Over the course of 15+ years, I’d had ten jobs in four different countries. That’s a significant number of twists and turns to account for in any career! And for some time, I could only see this as a negative when it came to applying for jobs and in interviews.

Working with a coach gave me the opportunity to look at this belief from a very different angle.

If this scenario resonates with you, then start by asking yourself these five questions, taken from a selection of those I use with my coaching clients:

 

  1. What do you love doing in your current role/ what did you love in your last role?
  2. In life, what are you passionate about?
  3. As a child, how did you love spending your time?
  4. If you knew the answer to this question ‘what do you want to do next?’, what would it be?
  5. What’s holding you back?

 

Piecing together your answers to these questions, you can begin to see where your natural focus lies and where your next steps might lead you. Alternatively, you might consider working with a coach to support you in this next step.

 

You can find out more about how we can work together by listening to the podcast I recently recorded with Jane – which airs on 14 April. You can also find me in the Careering into Motherhood Facebook Group or contact me via my profile page: www.careeringintomotherhood.com/sara-smalley

April 5, 2022