Find Your Passion
As Career Strategists and Coaches, we’re hearing from many of you that you want a new job, something with meaning and purpose…but it’s an overwhelming process and you’re not sure where to start.
We’re here to help!
Heather created 5 short videos to walk you through an abbreviated version of our Career Strategy process. Take a look and see if these can get you started in thinking about the unique set of skills and strengths that you’d like to offer to the world.
If these videos were helpful and you’ve figured out what you’d like to do next for your career and are off and running, good for you! We’re thrilled!
If, you’re feeling like it would be supportive to have a thought partner to discuss possibilities, brainstorm, and help you clarify how you talk about yourself to the world, contact us today. We’d love to support you in identifying the type of work that would bring you a sense of meaning and purpose!
Career Strategy:
Intro Video
These 5 videos are designed to help you think about things like:
- what matters most to you
- what your skills and strengths are (i.e. your gifts)
- what work environment is best for you
- creating a core criteria list
- steps to help you get the word out about your awesomeness!
Career Strategy:
Your Life Priorities
This video is all about your Life Priorities.
- Answer this question: What are the top 5-10 things that matter most to you in this life?
- Think about it, then write them down. Hang this list where you’ll see it often. Let it sink in.
- Then, answer this question, What do you need from work in order to live your Life Priorities?
- Use your priority list and the answer to this question as a foundation throughout the next steps.
Career Strategy:
Your Skills and Strengths
This video is to help you think about your unique set of skills and strengths that you love using.
- List 3-5 activities or experiences that inspire you, bring you joy, and leave you feeling proud.
- Write down the various stages of each one.
- List all the skills you used in these activities.
- Circle the top 5-7 skills that are the most satisfying, meaningful, and rewarding.
These are the strengths and skills you’ll want to think about using in your career! You’ll want to make sure to find work where you’re using a combination of these skills the majority of the time.
Career Strategy:
Your Working Environment
This video is about the work environment where you’re most likely to thrive.
- How social do you like work to be?
- Would you prefer a professional or informal setting?
- Small or large company?
- Would you like to be doing vs thinking vs leading or a combination?
- Do you prefer a variety of tasks in your routine or diving deep into one at a time?
- What level of pressure and pace is good for you?
- What type of physical setting feels best to you?
- What level of responsibility do you want?
- What else is important to you: salary, benefits, commute, travel?
- Once you’ve compiled your list, then go back and circle the top 5-7 working environments that mean the most to you.
These are the environment where you’re most likely to thrive and you’ll want to make sure to keep these handy when looking for new work.
Career Strategy:
Your Core Criteria
This video is all about creating your Core Criteria for the perfect job for YOU.
- Write down your top 5 Life Priorities, Skills/strengths, and Working Environments.
- Use this as a launchpad to brainstorm the type of work you could do that would fit with this list.
Keep in mind:
- You don’t have to do it all at once. Keep a running list.
- Phone a trusted friend or colleague (or two) and talk with them about this list.
- Practice sentences that start with, “I’m really passionate about…” or “I really love doing…”
- Record conversations of you talking about these passions – there will inevitably be some great nuggets that you’ll want to repeat when you get to the next phase!
Career Strategy:
Building Your Network
Let’s get the word out!
- Make a list of friends, family, connections on LinkedIn, colleagues from professional organizations, past jobs, or even groups you’ve been a part of.
- Who on this list does work that’s interesting or works for a company you’d like to learn more about or could introduce you to someone?
- Ask if they’d like to meet and say something like, “I’m exploring some opportunities where I could more fully use my top skills and strengths, and would love to know more about the work you do.”
- Throughout this process, you’ll find that you’re not only getting more comfortable talking about the work you’d like to do but are also starting to see new opportunities.
We hope these Career Coaching nuggets were helpful for you in thinking about where you’d like to go next! If you’d like to work together and dig into the full versions of these exercises, email us at: career@carpentersmith.com.