Career Corner Tips for choosing a more fulfilling career path - Hallie Crawford

Career Corner â€" Tips for choosing a more fulfilling career path Choosing a career path that’s right for you is a process that takes time. Here’s a tip that can help you get started. Find a Mentor Having a mentor to help you navigate your new career path can provide enormous benefits. You can get valuable advice and insight from a seasoned professional, a “sounding board” for your career goals and ideas, and inspiration for pursuing your dream. In our ever-evolving work environment where people telecommute and aren’t in the office as much, developing an ongoing relationship with a mentor can be challenging, but you can make it happen. Once you have identified a potential mentor, perhaps someone in your desired field whose career path and accomplishments you admire and respect, find an opportunity to introduce yourself. Express your interest in learning more about what they do and how they’ve achieved their success. Remember, everyone is busy and time is valuable. Be flexible regarding how, and how often, you will meet consider meeting by telephone, if this is more convenient, or inviting them to lunch. Come prepared with questions and ideas. Listen and learn as much as you can, and return the favor by expressing your appreciation, respecting their time, and offering to help them with their goals and plans. Mentoring can be a rewarding experience for both you and your mentor. Make the most of it! If you’d like more support on finding a fulfilling career path, feel free to contact me at www.HallieCrawford.com. I can help you design a career that is aligned with your purpose and passion, and guide and support you as you transform your life. Career Corner â€" Tips for choosing a more fulfilling career path Choosing a career path that’s right for you is a process. Here’s a tip that can help you get started. The secret to finding the right job is this: take the first step In a previous post, I talked about how to identify your passion. Once youve started to do that heres the next thing to do: take a step in the right direction. Sounds simple, and it can be. This is something I always encourage my clients to do. (Interestingly enough, I read about this same idea in a recent article from the Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential (MAPP) e-zine I receive.) Here’s the gist: Many of us want to find the perfect job and we want to know every single step we need to take, in sequence, to land it. Often, we won’t even take the first step until we have the full path mapped out. Somehow it feels safer that way, right? Sound familiar? I think it’s human nature, and unfortunately it usually doesn’t work that neatly. So when my clients want to know all of the steps before getting started, I suggest that we first start putting the puzzle together piece by piece. Once an idea begins to form, we can start moving in that direction. For you, I suggest following your gut instinct, take a step in a direction that feels right, and allow yourself the freedom to explore options as you move forward. You’ll figure it out, I promise. The MAPP article states that you take a step in a direction and things become clearer, then you take another step and things become even clearer, and so on until you find your dream job. It is a process, a journey. For some it’s short, for others it may take a little longer. It just depends on your starting point and your willingness to keep stepping. So, I encourage you to start now: what one step can you take today that will move you forward towards your perfect job? Contact me if you need help. I’m here to help you find that perfect job, determine what steps to take, and help you make it happen. Have a great day, Hallie Career Corner â€" Tips for choosing a more fulfilling career path Choosing a career path that’s right for you is a process. Here’s a tip that can help you get started. In my October 2006 e-newsletter I talked about taking action and just getting started towards finding that ideal career path. (Feel free to read that article here: “The secret to finding the right job is this: take the first step”) If youre wondering what types of steps you might take to get started on a path to a different career, here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing… Depending on your personal goals and dreams, there are many possibilities. Learn more about what you might want to do: Visit the library, bookstore or Amazon.com for books and resources. Find someone who does what you think you might want to do and ask them to tell you about it: the preparation they needed to get a foot in the door, how they spend their days, and how they have achieved success. People are often generous with their time when asked to share their experience. Research and sign up for local classes to learn more. Dive in: Look for volunteer opportunities that will give you some experience in an area of interest. There’s no better way to find out what it’s really like. If you’re currently working, consider taking a sabbatical or hiatus from work to try something new. Talk to your supervisor about taking a short leave of absence. You’ll never know if they’ll say yes if you don’t ask! If approved, use the time to try out a possible new profession. A company called Vocation Vacations offers cool ways to test drive dream jobs. To read more about this idea in a previous blog entry click here. Remember it’s more important to just get started than to develop the perfectly-planned course of action. If you wait for things to be perfect you could be waiting a very long time! This excerpt from a Body and Soul magazine illustrates this point: “Most people labor over their journal entries trying to find where they’ll be the most successful. This is a complete waste of time. Perfection doesn’t exist when it comes to passion. Just choose one thing that gets your juices flowing and act on it, whether you think you’ll be good at it or not. The idea is to get started so you can see where this next phase leads you. Go for it, get started today! A great place to start is by listening to my “Love Your Job! Finding a Career that FITS” teleclass audio recording for only $12.99. Click here for more info. I hope this is helpful, Hallie Career Corner â€" Tips for choosing a more fulfilling career path This is an article from my June 2006 e-newsletter/ezine. Feel free to check out our full Creating Your Own Path newsletter. Don’t wait I recently read a quote by inspirational speaker Tony Robbins: Most of us do not change until we experience deep pain.” Sound familiar? It’s like going to the dentist few people like to go so they wait until they’re in pain before they take action. Don’t wait until you’re in pain to make the changes you need or want to make in your career or your life. If you are unsatisfied with something at work, do something about it: proactively look for opportunities to make desired changes to your responsibilities or work environment, or make a plan to change jobs or career paths if you need to. Don’t wait until you are so frustrated that you end up taking a drastic action out of desperation. Take charge of your destiny with concrete steps to change what you don’t like and create what you want. Start today! Want to use any of these articles in your newsletter or website? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it. Thanks! , certified Career Coach is changing the way people feel about work-from just a paycheck to a fulfilling endeavor that is an extension of their purpose and passion. If you want to have a career you love, learn more about Hallie at https://www.halliecrawford.com.