I knew Leonardo Da Vinci was a great painter and a brilliant inventor, but I really had no idea of how curious and brilliant he was until I read this book. Walter Isaacson does a great job of taking you through Leonardo’s life and gives an insight into this amazing man who was curious beyond belief and possibly a little ADD or ADHD. He never finished a book. He often did not finish paintings. He carried the Mona Lisa around with him for 13 years…adding a touch here…a brush stroke there until his death. His list of unfinished paintings and projects is extensive.
[Read more…] about Leonardo Da Vinci. By Walter IsaacsonBlog
Why Is A Career Transition So Difficult?
Whether you planned for the career transition or it was
unplanned…it is still often difficult.
While an unplanned career transition may be more challenging, any change involves adjustment. Most of us live as if our lives will stay the same every day. I was listening to the podcast ‘Hidden Brain’ where people were asked to look ahead 10 years. How much change do they expect to happen? Then people were asked to look back 10 years at how much change had actually happened. There was a huge disconnect! People looking forward predicted there would be little. People looking back saw quite a bit.
How do we prepare those we work with for the inevitable change that will occur in their lives and a career transition?
Our goal as career coaches and practitioners is to help our clients understand that change is inevitable and there is a process that people will go through. Sometimes starting with anger or confusion and eventually on to making a plan. As William Bridges says, you have to begin with the end (put closure to what you were), then move to the neutral zone (often confusing and uncomfortable) and then to the beginning (starting that new job). Our job is to help them through this process and help them make that plan.
There are three deer that walk behind my house every night, around the neighbor’s house, and over to a small grove of apple trees. Every night. We are also creatures of habit and that consistency is what makes us comfortable on a daily basis. When we change jobs that career transition shifts our lives. Our roles, routines, relationships all are shifted.
When I left the community college six years ago to go full-time with Peak-Careers, I was in charge of that career transition. I choose to leave. But I was surprised at how much my day changed and the adjustment I went through!
- My role was different, I was no longer the director of the Advising & Career Center.
- My relationships changed. I no longer chatted with fellow employees at the copy machine I worked solo now. Much less collaboration or team projects.
- My routines changed. My commute was from the kitchen to my office.
So what can we do to help our clients / students with their career transition? Whether it is from college to work or from one job to another?
- Help them create new routines. If they are currently out of work, get them to “create a work day”. Get up at the same time they did for work. Set goals to accomplish daily.
- Get them to talk about a past career transition (or any other transition) that they “survived” and maybe even improved on. How did they navigate that transition? What supports did they have? What strategies did they engage in?
- Try to normalize the change by seeking support from others, practicing healthy mindfulness or exercise, to calm themselves.
- Help them create goals to move on.
They will get through this career transition. It may not happen in a week. It may take several months even. But help them see the career transition for what it is, something they are going through and will get through.
How do you help your clients through their career transition?
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Explore this topic with other career service providers and practitioners further…
– – > Check out my 5 – week, discussion-based, online seminar approved for 15 hours of continuing education by CCE. Transitions Seminar
Read more of my blogs on transitions and my interview with Dr. Nancy Schlossberg
Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.
Sign up here to receive my TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON. You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more.
Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life. By Gregg Levoy
Wow. This is a very thought-provoking book about the various aspects of finding your passion in the world.
From paying attention to the voice in our heads, to having the courage to act upon that voice, and the journey that it often takes to get there. Gregg is a bright guy that has so much to say about this topic and how hard it was for him to find his passion that ultimately led to his life writing this book, doing passion retreats, and speaking around the world. As I try to summarize this book I am skimming the 100’s of sentences and paragraphs that I have highlighted looking for nuggets to share here.
If you have read my blogs you’ll see how serendipity and trusting hunches is important to me and in Callings, he devotes a chapter to synchronicity, another way to create luck in your search for your new career path. Synchronicity is a coincidence…a meaningful coincidence that can inform us, primarily through intuition. A few times Gregg was on one of his journey’s looking for a change in work (to find that passion), he would find a Queen of Hearts playing card. One of his friends said it was telling him he was on the right path. I love those stories.
This book is a journey and one that I encourage you to take if you find yourself searching for something better. My book is filled with highlights and notes and my morning journal has even more thoughts from this book scattered throughout.
How to help your clients / students create luck. (Yes you can create luck!)
So… Can you create luck?
In Gregg Levoy’s book Callings, he devotes a chapter to synchronicity, another way to create luck in your search for your new career path. Synchronicity is a coincidence…a meaningful coincidence that can inform us, primarily through intuition.
Chemist Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind.”
Yes, you can create luck and Dr Richard Wiseman proves it in his book, The Luck Factor. (Read my book review here). Two things you need are to be open to opportunities (Pasteur’s quote above) and trust your instincts (Levoy’s chapter).
In order to create luck, I talk to my clients about embracing “intentional serendipity” taking action and then being open to discovering something by accident. In order to do this, you have to trust your intuition and instincts.
Our instincts have gotten us to this point in humankind after 10,000 years of trying to survive. Computers and assessments are not the only way to move forward in your career search. Trusting your hunches, those instincts that help us navigate our daily lives are useful in career searching. When you create luck, through action, then you have to trust your hunches on what that action might tell you.
So how do I help my clients create luck?
First thing I do is help them determine what their “value” is in the workplace. What makes them unique? What skills, interests, passions, character traits can help organizations to solve problems. Then I have them take action…even a small action step can create results.
My “go to” action recommendations are:
1. Informational interviews: These are not just an interview to learn about a specific occupation, but an interview to discover what else is out there. I encourage my clients to interview a person about an occupation but to ask questions like: What other jobs have you thought about doing that are similar to this? If you were to do it all over again, would you do something different? Who else in your company needs these skill sets to be successful? So they are not just looking at that specific job, but any and all other jobs that person can think of. Create luck by trusting your instincts to discover what else is out there.
2 Volunteer in an area that is related to what you are exploring. When you get there, do a good job, ask lots of questions, and seek to learn what other people do for work and get their ideas on how to your skill sets might be useful. Ask if they could introduce you to someone doing work that interests you.
3. Part time job / internships. (see above advice in #2 Volunteer)
4. Research online in sites like ONET, LinkedIn, and any other site, letting your curiosity take you anywhere that looks interesting to create luck and discover something new. I like to have my clients / students play what I call a “related occupation” game. Go to ONET or Occupational Outlook Handbook and search for an occupation of interest. Click on it, and then immediately click on the “related occupations” link without reading anything else first. What do you see there that looks interesting? Just let serendipity take its course.
What are the themes? What types of jobs did you find? What do they have in common?
Trust your instincts and go where ever you want to go. Let that serendipity help you create luck in finding a potential new job.
5. Read — just about anything from blogs, newspapers, magazines, LinkedIn posts — and pay attention to what grabs your attention. Is it “heart-felt stories?” Science? Psychology?
Case in point. A client I was working with has a 20 year background in paralegal work and had moved recently to central Maine. I sensed she was not really interested in continuing to work in the legal world and we discussed a number of options. One piece of advice I gave was to follow your instincts and do something you love to do. She was offered three jobs, two in the legal field and one was an entry level position at the Humane Society as a ‘cat tech’. She took that one because she was “excited about it”. After a very short period of time, she was offered the Program Director position.
So, was this luck? I say yes and she created it.
She created it by trusting her instincts, trying a job that she was excited about, and she was open to opportunities that were presented to her.
What stories do you have that “created luck?”
*Read more about intentional serendipity, luck, and happenstance here.
Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.
Sign up here to receive my TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON. You can also receive the career practitioners newsletter which includes a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more.
INTERVIEW: Career Journaling
Career Journaling
As a career coach / counselor have you ever asked clients to journal? Check out this 12 minute Peak-Careers Consulting interview with Patty Corrigan, Scott Woodard, and Hope Lanza to learn how they use journaling with their career clients / students.
BIOS:
SCOTT WOODARD is an executive and career coach working with leaders who want to raise the bar in their careers. Scott customizes a framework of Purpose, Clarity, Focus and Strategy to help leaders identify and articulate their unique value — their Leadership Narrative. He assists clients to develop clear, concise, crisp (not canned) stories that convey their value; how they achieve that value; and examples of those achievements. He collaborates with clients to develop strategies that get them where they want to be.
HOPE LANZA is a career advisor for the Job Connection Team at Goodwill Industries New England and has about 10 years experience working with participants with diverse backgrounds.
PATRICIA CORRIGAN is a high energy career enthusiast who thrives on discovering what makes people tick. She loves coaching clients at all stages of their careers but am partial to college students in the process of career discernment. She has worked at colleges and universities in the Boston area for over 25 years and currently serves as the co-op coordinator for the graduate programs in applied math and operations research at Northeastern University.
Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a weekly email for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for CCSP, GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.
He is the author of A Field Guide for Career Practitioners: Helping Your Clients Create Their Next Move and the recipient of the 2020 Kenneth C. Hoyt Award from the National Career Development Association.
Sign up here to receive my TOP 10 TIPS WHEN WORKING WITH AN UNDECIDED PERSON. You will also receive the career practitioner’s weekly email on a variety of career topics, industry news, interesting events, and more.
INTERVIEW: Career Credentials
Career Credentials
Today’s interview focuses on career credentials and why you might want one. We will talk about some of the new credentials offered by NCDA. This is a follow up to my blog / newsletter last week on the same topic. I am on the National Career Development CCSP Advisory Council but my blog and this interview are not in any official capacity and are my personal opinions.
Learn more about this topic at:
https://ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/crede…
https://ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/facil…
INTERVIEW
– Why do you think it is important to have career credentials?
– How did you decide on choosing your credential?
BIOS:
JOHN LONG John is a professional coach, university instructor and career transition survivor (serving almost two decades in healthcare management roles). His private coaching practice has offices in Atlanta, GA and Jacksonville, FL. He specializes in career and life coaching, as well as the administration and interpretation of career and personality assessments. He also teaches undergraduate courses in education, student success and psychology. John has completed an educational specialist (Ed.S.) degree with a major in counseling and educational psychology and a master of science (M.S.) with a concentration in career development. His professional credentials include: Board Certified Coach, Certified Master of Career Services, Global Career Development Facilitator, Certified MBTI Practitioner, and qualified Strong Interest Inventory Practitioner. John’s work with students and clients takes a strengths-based approach blended with elements of positive psychology and solution focused change. John currently serves on the NCDA Credentialing Commission and the NCDA Committee on Diversity Initiatives and Cultural Inclusion. www.exploretworoads.com
MARY COTTER Recently retired after a 30 year career as a school counselor, school administrator, vocational educator. Now developing a private practice as a career counselor focused on students and young adults with chronic illness and learning disabilities, ADHD, etc. I help young people who currently or previously had a 504 plan or an individualized education plan, IEP, develop meaningful and appropriate school to work transition plans. For students with IEPs this is the Individualized Transition Plan, ITP, in their special education documents. My practice is devoted to helping young people who are ‘wired differently’ find their vocational path. I am married to my husband, Brian, of 25 years. I have 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren. My passion is training my 2 golden retrievers for the competitive sport of agility. I also provide patient support and write occasional stories for the MPNforum, an online publication for caregivers and patients with the rare blood diseases Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPN) of essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV), and myelofibrosis (MF). Learn more at her Facebook page – Cotter Careers
JIM PEACOCK Jim Peacock is the Principal at Peak-Careers Consulting and writes a monthly newsletter for career practitioners. Peak-Careers offers discussion-based online seminars for career practitioners focused on meeting continuing education needs for GCDF and BCC certified professionals as well as workshops for career practitioners and individual career coaching.