I spent ten years working in large companies. Two were US owned multinationals and another was one of the British big four accountancy firms. Despite working in a number of different roles with some success I wasn’t happy. My value to my employer seemed to be only in terms of the time I billed each month.

Every time I contemplated change I panicked. What about the mortgage? And I told myself I had to get it right next time. It felt so scary that each time I stopped thinking about change and put it off again. I
hadn’t yet learned that moving out of comfort zones isn’t comfortable.  I lacked any strategy for making decisions about the future. I didn’t want to ‘waste’ the professional qualification  I’d gained and I feared there was nothing else I could do.

I was stuck.

As is so often the way, life stepped in. A divorce gave me freedom to consider my life afresh. At a Christian arts festival I realised I’d been a round peg who had tried to fit into a square mould for a long time and had been compressed. I needed a break to recover my roundpeggedness, to recover my own identity.

I gave in my notice 3 days later and in less than 6 months flew to Rio de Janeiro and the Rio carnival. This was the start of an eight month round the world trip, a glorious time of temples, cocktails, mountains
and a skydive.

Coming home was hard. Lots of anticlimax and adjustment. Yet I took a temporary Social Services job and found a peace in feeling that I was making a difference which I had never experienced amongst the glass
lifts and chrome coffee machines.

I rejected an early intuition about life coaching - I didn’t even know what that meant - and trained as a voluntary counsellor. After yet more fear and procrastination I employed a life coach Bruce Stanley
who helped to clarify that my twin desires to make a difference in the world and see people change would be used as a coach. I took the steps to train as a coach with the Coaching Training Institute.

As a coach, starting my own business and learning to be an entrepreneur has been another journey of discovery. I still feel fear as I step out of comfort zones. The big difference is that I have strategies to deal
with the stressful thoughts. I have learned tools for dealing with the negative thoughts. And I’m doing work that I love which uses my strengths and meets my values.

It’s great to work with others who are stuck, sometimes in different ways, and I really enjoy working as a career coach for Figuring Out. I work with a wide range of people from professionals to young people to help them change their life for the better now and love it.

If you’d like to explore how career coaching can help you, email me at rosalyn@stridingout.co.uk to arrange a chat.

We can access funding to provide free coaching to unemployed professionals  and young people aged 18-25 claiming JSA. Drop me a line to find out more.

What a change!

It is a reinforcing cycle because performing at a high level in itself is often rewarding.

Lets explore the different elements of what makes work rewarding and what enables high performance:

Your Values - What is important to you?

Your values represent what is important to you. Although you may think you know what is important to you, it can be useful spending sometime clarifying this and reminding yourself of the really important things.

Values are about who you are and when you are honouring your values you are being ‘true to yourself’. You are more likely to be happy, content and fulfilled if you are honouring your values.

The process of clarifying your values is not a choice or decision-making process. It is a discovery - to uncover the values that are already there and intrinsic to you and your life. Once you are clear what your values are, you can make decisions that are aligned to being ‘true to yourself’, rather than what you believe you should do.

Your Motivations to work

To be motivated is to feel inspired and excited, and to look forward to doing something. Each of us is motivated by different factors at work, including both the type of work and the environment in which we perform it.  We will not perform at our best unless these motivating factors are present.

While many people know the types of tasks they want to perform they are often unaware of what really motivates them. Motives are often unconscious, and as such become a driving force that must be fulfilled. They may appear as needs, wants or concerns and usually include a desire to reach a certain kind of goal.

Values often influence our choices about where to invest our energies, while motives - what motivates us  - reflect how much pleasure we get out of certain activities. What are your motivations to work?

Your Enablers. What enables rewarding work and high performance?

There are many things that can enable both rewarding work and high performance. Below are some possibilities and add more that are important to you.

Your Skills, Knowledge and Abilities

Jobs consist of a combination of functional or technical skill sets, with management required in many jobs/areas.  Rewarding performance is when your skill-set matches the requirements of the job, so you feel you are “good at it” and are “doing a good job”.

Think about the most important skills to your job and out of 10, rate your level of competency in them. Which ones can be improved upon and what difference would that make to enabling higher rewarding performance?

Stock Take

Do a stock take of each of these elements in relation to your current role. Use the elements to look at your job from a different perspective. Then reflect on each element to see how you can make your work more rewarding enabling higher performance.

Written by Fiona Biggins (Career Coach) and Suzanne Cleal (Business Coach) based on the workshop Rewarding Performance.

For more information please contact Fiona Biggins

Is it who you know, on-line networking or more traditional methods that are best to find out about vacancies?

Here are top ten tips that harness all three approaches.

Ten Top Tips

1. Work out what you can offer to employers and design your personal brand statement

Your personal brand statement needs to possess three qualities according to Career Distinction: Standing Out by Building Your Brand by William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson

a.     It consists of just one sentence

b.     It can be easily understood by a 12 year old

c.      You could recite it from memory at gunpoint

Following are two personal brand statement examples from Arruda and Dixson:

“Sitting at the intersection of technology and business, I use my passion for communication to help IT professionals in Fortune 100 companies express themselves in ways that are understood by business people”.

” I inspire and activate high achieving sales people in health care organisations through my focus on motivation, positivity, empathy and competition”

2. Keep positive, remember you only need one job

When job-hunting you only need to find one role and it is unlikely to be the first opportunity you go after.

3. Don’t box yourself in with a job title, keep it fluid and attractive across sectors

There has been a proliferation of job titles and levels and many people have jobs, which do not fit, easily into a box. Describe your work without a job title to grab the imagination of the employer.

4. Identify potential employers and check their corporate websites for vacancies

The latest CIPD Employer Outlook survey found the most popular way for employers to attract candidates is through the corporate website (78% employers)

5. Contact past colleagues and employers and let them know you are looking

They are the people that know your standard of work and who will refer you more readily and authentically

6. Use your professional organisations to find jobs and network

Build strong referral networks professionally and outside of work.  People can often feel embarrassed to exploit their networks. At the gym or sports club, talk to people about work and possible opportunities

7. Attend conferences or trade events to network and keep up with current trends

Where better than to meet the people in your industry and make strong face-to-face connections

8. Be prepared to ring the decision maker in the organisation but first think about what you can offer

This can reflect positively showing enthusiasm for the company and make you stand out above the competition.

9. Take a systematic approach to cold calling and see it as an opportunity to get ahead of the advertisement

Connect to your purpose for making these calls e.g. “I’m making useful connections and gathering information with each call,” rather than seeing them as a chore

10. Use business networking sites like Linked In to look for jobs and to let people know you are available.

Use Linked In Groups to build up your profile. HR Directors use their contacts on Linked In to see if someone knows a good candidate for hard to fill roles

To discuss careers and job search in more detail, please contact please contact Fiona Biggins (Career Coach and Career Preparation Expert)

As a leader it is important to establish personal power to achieve the success you want.

Power gives you the confidence and ability to make decisions, to influence, to negotiate, to lead a team, and to ultimately fulfil your potential. 

So how do you generate personal power as a leader in your field? Read on to find out more:-

Job-hunting

There are so many online job-hunting resources out there - too many it seems at times - that you could spend all your time just looking for jobs.  So you need to focus and be selective.

Find the sites that best suit your job hunt, then filter and customise them so they only give you useful information. Set up email / text alerts to make sure you get your selection of job ads as soon as they get posted.

Remember, recruiters and companies move fast: make sure once you find the right job you apply for it as soon as possible.  It might be filled tomorrow…

o   Online job boards - limit your time on these or you could waste days. Spend no more than an hour or so a day and be productive. Note the jobs you want to apply for and apply for them all in batches.

Sites like Monster , Totaljobs and Reed are very popular with employers and jobseekers but it does mean that you face lots of competition for every job. To enhance your chances and find as many advertised jobs as possible use a ’scraper’ like Simply Hired - these are sites that search (scrape) lots of job sites so you don’t have to.  Set and save your filters once and make your job search simple.

o   Niche groups - the digital revolution has improved the access to the hidden job market by making it easier to find out about jobs that are only advertised to their target market.  Join relevant groups and forums online and you’ll get to hear about relevant postings. LinkedIn Groups are particularly good for this - note: search and sign up for relevant groups and make sure you get the daily email digest.

o   Twitter - hot property Twitter is now the source for a surprising number of ‘exclusive’ jobs (that aren’t advertised elsewhere).  Searching Twitter for opportunities can be a bit hit and miss so try Work Digital’s excellent Twitter Job Search tool.

o   Recruiters online - recruiters are all over the digital space (posting on Twitter, on LinkedIn, and on their own sites) so find the ones that recruit in your area and ‘connect’ with them digitally.  It’s much easier than in ‘real’ life. Take a look at some UK recruiters’ blogs.

o   Companies’ websites - Lots of firms list job opportunities on their own website and nowhere else. So identify companies you’d like to work for and make their sites part of your regular search activity.

Networking

The Internet makes the world a smaller place - no matter what your industry it’s easy to connect with like-minded people who want to network and share knowledge. Networking is invaluable for job hunting.  See the Figuring Out post on social networking to access the hidden job market.

o   Blogs & forums - follow the ideas and discussions on the blogs of people in your industry that you admire. If you think you’ve got something to add then comment or even set up your own blog (easily done via Blogger or WordPress). Often online groups set up offline events and more informal meetings that can be great for networking - find out more about offline meetings using  Tweetups,Eventbrite

o   Facebook: it’s a social networking site for friends…not colleagues, clients or employers.  If your boss, a recruiter or anyone else involved in your professional life asks to be your Facebook friend, point them to your LinkedIn account instead.

A note of warning: don’t lie, don’t take liberties and don’t forget that what you put online lasts forever, somewhere…

Guest post by Lopez - digital content professional

For more more information on careers please contact Fiona Biggins (Career Preparation Expert and Career Coach)

Online job boards, recruiters on Twitter and professional social networking sites are just some of the changes that have taken place.  Overwhelming? Confusing? Well it doesn’t have to be - get to grips with digital and it can open up the job market.

Ways to use digital to help with your job hunt

Research

Gone are the days of trawling the library or waiting for information by post now, if you want to find out anything, it’s usually easily done online.  Word of caution though - always double-check your sources…Wikipedia isn’t always right.

o   Companies - look for information on companies you’d like to work at (size, location, the type of people they hire and who’s there now): a LinkedIn company search even shows the most recent hires.

o   People - find possible new contacts (no spamming or online stalking please), look up people who are doing a job you’d like to do and find out how they got there. Also get the inside track on your interviewer before you go to an interview: do a standard Google search on their name (use the filters at the top of the page to help you narrow down your search), LinkedIn people search (search by name, company and skills)

o   Industry moves and changes - it’s vital to keep informed with what’s going on in your area. That new product, start-up or company expansion might mean recruitment and you could be first in the queue.

- Try newspaper and trade magazine websites

- Search the blogosphere for blogs that are relevant to your interests

- Keep track of all the things you want to read regularly by subscribing to RSS feeds. An RSS reader like MyYahoo! , Google reader or NetNewsWire (for Macs) will automatically gather the information feeds you want to follow.

o   Skills - In this job market, it’s the candidates with the most relevant (current) skills that get hired so keep looking for ways to develop and improve your skills.  If you’re out of work it’s a great opportunity to spend some time on development - whatever your field of interest, with research, you’ll find plenty of websites with good quality, free information and training resources.

Useful sites:

- Free online learning portals: Open Learn (Open University), BBC Learning, Alison and Microsoft Office

- Free education and learning - Directgov has a whole load of information on adult learning (on and offline)

- ‘How-to’ guides for the web - Mashable

Free educational textbooks online - Wikibooks

o   Salaries - want to get an idea of what you should / could be earning? Try: MySalary.co.uk, the benchmark tool on Monster.com or glassdoor.com (US-based info but still useful)

So now you’ve done your research, the next step is the actual action of job-hunting.  Stay tuned for next weeks’ article on Job Hunting in the digital age.

Guest post by Lopez - digital content professional

For more more information on careers please contact Fiona Biggins (Career Preparation Expert and Career Coach)

We’ve been approached by the Vodafone Foundation’s World of Difference UK to tell you about a fantastic opportunity for you to boost your CV and get great experience within the third sector.

World of Difference UK is giving over 500 people the opportunity to undertake two month paid placements with a UK charity of their choice; funded by the Vodafone Foundation. The deadline for applications is fast approaching (3rd November) and is a great opportunity for anyone who has the passion, drive and commitment to donate themselves to charity.

See further information on the program below:

VODAFONE FOUNDATION GIVES 500 PEOPLE THE POWER TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TODAY

The World of Difference UK programme, delivered by the Vodafone Foundation, has launched to give 500 people the power to make a difference by putting something back into the community. The two month programme gives people the opportunity to take a paid placement with a UK charity of their choice. World of Difference UK is open to anyone over 18 in the UK who has the passion, drive and commitment to donate themselves to a charity. Taking part involves finding the right charity to suit interests, skills and experience and completing an online application form at vodafone.co.uk/worldofdifference by 3 November 2009.

Finding the right charity is easy as the website has a unique online Charity Matchmaker tool, developed in consultation with the UK’s leading volunteering charity, WorldWide Volunteering. If you’re successful, the Vodafone Foundation will pay the charity you choose a total of £2,500 and you’ll get the balance when tax and National Insurance have been paid.

In addition, Vodafone UK will donate a new mobile phone and pre-paid credit to each of the 500 successful applicants so they can share their experiences with friends and family and inspire others to make a difference. The deadline for applications for World of Difference UK is 3 November, with the first placements beginning in January 2010.

“For people who feel passionate about a charity or cause, or for those who simply have time on their hands, Vodafone’s World of Difference programme offers an ideal opportunity to help others whilst gaining valuable life and work experience,” said Andrew Dunnett, Director of the Vodafone Foundation. ”We’ve seen a huge surge of interest in UK-based charity placements, with over 127,000 Facebook fans following us on facebook.com/worldofdifference when we launched our International programme earlier this year. World of Difference UK gives people who want to donate themselves, and get paid, the chance to put that passion into practice.”

Eight UK winners from the Vodafone Foundation’s World of Difference International programme have been confirmed today.The winners (Nick Eastcott from Dorset, Kathryn Becher from Devon, Lucy Buck from East Sussex, Max Griffiths from London, Naomi Pendle from Bath, Zoe Vowles from London, Rebecca Webb from Southampton and Jain Reid from London) beat 1,000 applicants to work for their chosen charities overseas for 12 months, with salary and expenses paid up to £45,000.

For further information on the World of Difference programmes visit vodafone.co.uk/worldofdifference or join the World of Difference Facebook fan page facebook.com/worldofdifference

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Its tough out there on the open job market, so accessing the unpublished or hidden job market is all the more important!

Social networking using Linked In and Twitter can be a pivotal strategy for tapping into the unpublished market.

According to UK Recruiter , recruiters and potential employers are using both Linked In and Twitter as a vital and free resource to source candidates.

Because of the recent massive influx of users Linked In provides a potentially extensive network for recruitment purposes. It has an estimated 35 million registered users worldwide of which more than 2 million are based in the UK. This figure is growing at around 5% per month as more candidates find themselves on the market.

Twitter is fast becoming one of the most talked about social networks available on the net. It has huge potential for recruiters; and is without doubt an essential resource for all types of recruiter in all sectors of the industry. Those using it astutely realise that it is quickly becoming a major addition to the likes of Linked In as a must-have in the modern day successful recruiter’s armoury.

So how can you make the most of social networking?

Networking can be defined as the process of meeting with appropriate people in a specific industry or career focus area to find out about what they do and what their current needs are – thereby developing strategic relationships. Social networking is doing this virtually.

It is not telling everyone that you are out of work and need a new job, which is how many uninformed job seekers approach networking – and then bemoan the fact that it does not work for them.

To maximize the value of your social networking, make sure you adhere to the following key principles:

• Remember the objective of “social networking”. The goal of networking is to gain information, connections and referrals, not jobs – at least initially. Your profile on Linked In/Twitter/Facebook should attract prospective employers or recruitment consultants by stating the problem you help with. This acts as a mirror so that the prospective employers or recruitment consultants feel confident they have come to the right place.

Example profiles on Linked In: Digital Content Professional, Human Resources Professional, Management Consultant Operations Six Sigma

Example profiles on Twitter: Disciple of Southwell, wordsmith, writer & creative creator — available for hire, Helping Women who are fed up of wasting their lives and yearning to make a real difference.

• Apply the “1:50 Principle”.  Everybody knows at least fifty other people from various parts of their life. School, work, church, volunteer activities, sports groups, trade associations, neighbours, friends, family – all of these can become relevant when considering social networking. List as many people as you can from these and any other categories, Expand your list by using Linked In and Twitter. Then realize that each of these people knows at least 50 other people. The likelihood that several of these individuals will know someone who works in one of your target industries is very high.

With Twitter, follow people who inspire and energise you as possible collaborators, groups you want to keep up to date with and support, business mentors, friends, recruitment consultants and prospective employers.

With Linked In, build a network of everyone you know or who could be useful in a business sense : invite everyone you know, become an OpenNetworker and join TopLinked.com, join relevant industry groups and connect with members.

So think of todays’ social networking sites as virtual villages, where networking is based on a foundation of interdependence and win-win and where fun, discovery and connection are the keys to success.

Written by Fiona Biggins - Career Preparation Expert and Coach

For more information on this topic or for an informal chat please contact Fiona Biggins

And  of course follow us on  Twitter and connect to us on Linked In

Nine out of 10 organisations are now using coaching to help boost staff performance, despite a cut in budgets for training according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development ’s annual survey Taking the Temperature of Coaching, which found a sharp increase in the use of coaching as a training tool. Previous surveys found that only seven in 10 firms were using coaching.

Commenting on whether employers were turning to coaching as an alternative to class room based training, the CIPD’S John McGurk says:

“There are lots of good reasons to question the value of classroom-based training because there is the issue that its high profile and expensive in difficult economic times. Coaching can be costly, but once you have got coaching resources in place, it is relatively cheap to keep it going”.

Download the CIPD report Taking the Temperature of Coaching [pdf document]

What do internal career coaches do?

• Increase employees’ awareness of career paths and enhance fit to achieve “right person/right job”
• Improve the capability of both employees and the client orgnaisation to manage constant change and transition
• Provide and model communication styles that enhance internal problem solving skills, appreciate differences and lead to long-term progress, rather than create dependency on the coach
• Promote a win-win balance of work/life priorities, using the desired states of both employees and organisation as benchmarks
• Guide organisational systems to evolve their culture by increasingly valuing their employees, implementing career development as a priority and optimising human capital
• Blend training, organisational development, career/employee development and coaching at every level in the organisation.

Could you benefit from having a career development programme in your organisation?

The following guidelines should help you get the programme established:

1. Identify apparent needs

2. Establish task force to confirm needs and strategize approach -

3. Initiate preliminary/pilot programme

4. Ensure confidentiality and clear standards for execution

5. Encourage participation company-wide

6. Evaluate results and continue to improve the programme.

(Taken from Career Coaching “An Insiders Guide” by Marcia Bench)

So if you feel this is the time to kick-start a career coaching initiative in your organisation contact Fiona Biggins with specific or more detailed questions.

• Keep your vision clearly in mind - Successful people know exactly what they want. Visualise what your success will look like. Where will you be? What will you be doing? Who will you be with? Use pictures, quotations and any other prompts to remind yourself constantly of what you’re aiming for. Imagine yourself succeeding and telling someone else how you did it - make it real in your minds eye, then go out there and make it happen!
• Believe in yourself. Henry Ford famously said: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re usually right” Successful people believe that they can - and prove themselves right! Remind yourself regularly that you are gifted, talented and capable of anything. Write down your achievements and celebrate reaching targets and goals. If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else? You need to have a strong Personal Brand.  
• Prioritise - As you progress through your career or job searching you’ll learn where to concentrate your efforts for best effect. Successful people put first things first. Make sure that you know what your core priorities are, and don’t allow anyone to distract you from them. Don’t allow urgent but trivial tasks to get in the way of the important stuff - the tasks that will make a difference. It will be worth the effort.
• Challenge yourself - Push yourself beyond your comfort zone on a regular basis. Try something new or do something differently whether it’s learning a new skill, taking up a voluntary work, or striking up conversation with a stranger. Keep finding ways to stretch yourself intellectually and this will be reflected in your career success.
• Keep an open mind - People achieve great things because they are open to all possibilities. In contrast, when our mindset is narrow, we limit our chance of success. Teach yourself to think ‘outside the box’. Question your assumptions. Don’t take anything for granted. Ask questions and think about things from other people’s perspectives. Be alert to what’s happening and to what’s new. Keep learning all the time and be open to learning - always. Be flexible and open to new ideas and embrace them.
• Manage your time - Create a daily framework for your job search or job role activities. Make a list of what you need to achieve that day and schedule when you’re going to do each task. At the end of the day, take 10 minutes to plan the next days activities. Review your diary regularly and make sure that the way you spend your time at home or work reflects your priorities: What’s important rather than urgent.  

How Are You Doing? Review Your Progress

It is essential to take this time out too:

• Renew and adjust - Successful people also review and adjust their plans. You need to be flexible enough to work your way around obstacles that arise, to spot new opportunities and find better ways of doing things Keep focusing on your dream and your goals, but review and revise your plans on a regular basis.

Remember, never, ever give up. Successful people are people who get up one more time than they fall down. They achieve their success because they simply refuse to give up. They persevere. Perseverance isn’t about pursuing the impossible, it’s about refusing to quit until you’ve achieved your goal. You know what you want, you know how to get there, so just keep going!

Need Help?

If you’d like some help to regain focus, restart your motivation or refresh your vision and action plan please email enquiries@figuringout.co.uk to chat to one of our coaches about our support services.