How do you discover a #career that makes you #happy?

Often people seek passion and happiness in their career. I do not feel that we should enter a career seeking happiness from the career. It is more about taking the time to pause from going through the motions in our hectic lives and identify:

·     what it is that you enjoy doing?

·     what could you do for hours on end?

·     where are your strengths lie?

·     what do you value?

Then connecting some of those to your potential career. The direction that you are taking is going to be more intentional and that you are going to have a more fulfilling career.

The effect is profound in feeling eager to start, gaining more flow and making a larger impact. Certainly there may be bills to pay and student loans to repay but if you could connect even one of your strengths to the job that you are doing it will feel more like a stepping stone towards getting even closer to what you really enjoy.

When do people seek happiness and true fulfilment in their jobs?

I believe that people who seek to lead fulfilling jobs have been experiencing stagnancy. Often people come to me saying that they are feeling stuck or feeling pressure to go towards a certain direction due to peer / family / society / network pressure. They feel like they are not doing what they are meant to be doing to realise their true potential.

When I ask them what have they done so far or how many people have you reached out to in organisations and in positions that you consider fulfilling? The answer is usually none, which is ok as our instinct is not to reach out to each other for how you g about to this career journey but to go to the Internet and visit job postings and to just search about what is available.

There are so many opportunities out there that are not listed. I believe that about 75% of posts are not even posted online. So why aren’t we spending 75% of our time networking and make connections?

#Makingconnections that matter

Time to make connections it is time to practice what you care about sharing your strengths sharing your past experiences and all that helps in building a stronger network of support that are more likely to think of you when an opportunity arises.

We often do not realise that there are people out there who want to help. So when you reach out to someone to say that you really like what they are doing and you would love to learn how did they get to this position; what did their career journey look like? People love to talk about their achievements and they will share know-how with you. In turn, you will have the chance to let them know what is that you like in this career and then they will be able to identify and see a bit of them in you and they are going to want to help you and connect you to other people

Often my clients say “I felt less alone and more inspired by reaching out to people than spending time on job postings and platforms and hide behind the technology”.

It’s all about experience and practice.

When people meet up with professionals at networking meetings and even visit the companies that are interested, the feedback is startling: some professionals realise that they love the job but it the toxic environment that puts them off; others, love the culture and the people and cannot wait for the right opportunity to arise whilst others discover that working in a cubicle is not what they were expecting.

Identifying opportunities where you could get involved with organisations in your area of interest joining for example a relevant meetup or a Wordpress forum can be valuable. You will have the chance to find out what these organisations are interested in, connect and flex your skill set while working for an organisation that aligns with what you care about.

Furthermore, reaching out to professionals that you aspire to, it gives you the chance to practice your very own pitch and why you might be the best fit for a career in this field and even for the organisation. Throughout this process you are telling your very own story. You have to explain the experiences that you have had in a way that is compelling so they can visually see what you did and where you are coming from and the kind of knowledge that you have. Many of us we tend to downplay our own experiences and sometime even bored with our own story so we do not do a very good job of telling our story and if you cannot tell your story very well, people are not going to be as interested and excited to want to connect you with opportunities because they want to be able to see that fire and excitement in you so they can say this is person that you want to hire, this is the person that can take your organisation to another level, this is the person that is going to grow in this position.

Key tips that will help you map out your career goal

·     Reach out to one person per week

·     Find out what a typical work day looks like for them

·     Deliver a compelling and authentic story of at least a couple of your experiences and how you could add value

·     Develop at least one opportunity for yourself to follow up with

It's not a solo process and you are not in this alone. There is a network of people that can help you. There are others that you can connect and form your network of support to help you move forward with your career goal.

If you’d like to discuss about mapping out your career plan and shift your focus to work that is fulfilling ,  just click HERE to book your call with me.