What Next? What to Do When There’s No Clear Career Path Forward
Posted on November 28, 2015 by Cougar Brenneman, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
How to look outside of the box to find the career that you will really love.
Who knows why that once-fulfilling job that you now have is no longer fulfilling? Is it you that’s changed? Or maybe your current position has simply shown you what you do enjoy and what you don’t. Perhaps you’ve suddenly realized that you’ve never really liked your job. Or maybe you’ve discovered a glass ceiling that you didn’t know was there.
Whatever the cause, you already know the standard path for finding a new career. That standard strategy is to look for something similar, but one that’s a little more suited to you today, something that’s more fulfilling and that supports you for who you really are. Is that so much to ask?
What Is that Standard Strategy that’s Not Working?
The first step in this very logical strategy is to define your goals—but you don’t want to be too picky. You want the best position that you’re suited for, based on your education, experience, strengths, priorities, and life goals. You want to enjoy it, and you also know how much money you want.
Second, inventory your assets, including work history, degrees, certifications, other training, and references. Add your soft skills: you’re personable, you like helping others; maybe you’re good at managing, being a great team member, or teaching. Perhaps you’re creative, good at seeing the big picture, or good with details.
There’s nothing wrong with this standard strategy, except that it misses something very important and very big. You cannot find that exact job which fits your personality and needs like a glove if you use a cookie cutter approach.
Yes, you have to use the standard strategy. But your ultimate success will come when you treat yourself as the unique individual that you are. You are the only person just like you, and your best career will be one that respects and honors what’s different about you.
And you can’t really harness that special information that you alone have about yourself by focusing only on the standard strategy.
And What’s Outside the Box?
Looking for work is always a negotiation with what’s possible. But I invite you to change your perspective. If you’re only being practical, you’ll choose jobs from what’s available. Yet people with great careers start with what they love. And we deny ourselves what we love when we focus only on what’s obviously possible.
If you were an employer, and you interviewed two qualified applicants, the first with a great resume and the second with merely a good resume, but a much higher level of enthusiasm, who would you hire? Authentic, honest passion makes a cover letter stand out, drives successful interviews, and makes your new boss enthusiastic about hiring you.
Premature practicality can be a limiting box that prevents you from finding what you really love and all too quickly makes your new job just seem like the old one. You owe it to yourself to start by first exploring what you truly feel passionate about.
My Job as Your Coach
As your coach, I’ll help you uncover your true passion. Then we’ll create a concrete plan to move step-by-step onto a path that may not yet exist. You can be thrilled about your next career if you decide right now that you won’t settle for less.
