myambition.com Career Advice Blog

Career Coaching is a partnership between two people:

The coachee (you) and the Coach (me)

A lot of people wonder why they would work with a Career Coach or would like to understand more about what they would get out of the partnership.

From time to time in your career you may need to seek some guidance or assistance with a career dilemma or situation that you would like an external opinion on.  Talking to a Career Coach enables you to present the situation in an environment where all the facts are taken into account and more questions asked about what you think you could do.  This new thinking will enable you to connect to an option that feels like the right thing to do.  You will also discuss what would happen if you took other routes. 

You may need some assistance with your job search, resume or interview skills.  One-off sessions are a great way to refine your skills and ensure you can prepare and practice with someone who has extensive recruitment and coaching experience.

Career Coaching Programs are also available to people who are looking for a new career and have no idea where to start.    Maybe you would like a promotion and need to work on certain areas of your skill set.  By meeting a Career Coach on a regular basis you benefit from a sounding board, someone who has a defined structure to get you closer to your goals.  You will have access to new thinking and various tools that support your plan.

We have helped a number of clients achieve their career goals.  Find out more how myambition can help you by sending an enquiry.  You never know what we may achieve together!

Looking for a new job can be hard.  As time passes and you miss out on roles or do not get calls returned it can be hard to make sure you approach every day and every job application with a positive attitude.

So how do you maintain a spring in your step when there seem to be so many hurdles to leap?

1 – Stick to your plan – keep in mind the kind of role you are looking for and remember to tailor each application accordingly

2 – Spend time researching recruiters – identify which recruiters advertise the roles you are looking for on a regular basis and then contact them – they may be a specialist in the area.  Seek advice and feedback.

3 – Be proactive – identify your network, people who work in the areas you want to get into.  Go along to networking events or lunches and proactively mingle with this crowd.  You never know who may know someone who is recruiting.

4 – Reflect and review – when you get feedback from interviews think about what went well and what you could have done better.  Think about what has worked to get you this interview.  What area of your experience sparked an interest at interview.

It can be hard to keep a positive outlook if you keep getting knock backs but what is the alternative option?

Good Luck.

Telephone interviews can be quite the ‘norm’ for some businesses or recruiters.  Some use them as a sounding board for whether they should meet you.  Others may want to verify a particular area in your skill set that was not clear in your resume.  Whatever the reason it is important that you take this interview just as seriously as a face to face meeting.  Your communication skills will be tested!

Some helpful hints if you have a telephone interview:

Background noise – make sure you are not caught on the hop and that you are in an environment where you will not be distracted.  If need be ask if you can walk to somewhere quiet or call them straight back.  You want to be able to actively listen to the questions and respond clearly.

Speak clearly – Being able to communicate over the telephone is far harder than face to face.  The listener is not able to watch you speak and observe your body language.  If you have an accent you may speak really fast and the caller may not be able to catch certain important words or comments.  So be mindful to slow down, speak clearly and seek confirmation that they have understood what you have said.

Be prepared – A recruiter or employer may call to find out a bit more about your skill set or may schedule a time to telephone interview you as they are short of time or have the luxury of multiple relevant candidates.  Be prepared to answer interview questions in just the same structured, thought out way as if you were face to face.  Be succinct and confirm that the listener has the information they were looking for.

The process – Ask what happens next.  After the telephone interview find out when you might hear from them just as you would if you were meeting face to face.

You may be reading this wondering if telephone interviews really differ from face to face interviews.  Well they do not really. 

The only key difference by not being present is that you are not able to show off how well presented you are, your manner, your handshake, the walk to the room where you get to build rapport with the interviewer. The upside of a telephone interview is that when you do perform and are called in for a meeting you already know they are keen on your experience; the rest should be easy, right!

What are your experiences?

Everyone is talking about networking online. 

Whether it is twitter, facebook or linkedin, it seems you need to be spending some time online in your personal or professional life.

One of my coaching clients was working on re-branding herself at work and one of the first things I asked was whether she had a Linkedin profile.  Consider this an online version of your resume if you like, except a bit less detail and a bit more oomph!  She had a profile as she knew she ‘needed to be on there ‘ but was not sure why.

Linkedin is a great career tool.  Here are my reasons why you absolutely must have a profile and how you can get the most from it.

Profile - consider this a less wordy and far more interesting version of your Resume/CV.  Here you get the chance to say what you are interested in not what you have just experienced.

Connections – Think of everyone you know in business, old colleagues, referees, contacts, friends and connect to them and then see who they are connected to and connect to them to expand your network.  My profile is made up people I have met briefly, people I work with, people I would love to collaborate with in the future.

Content – You can use Linkedin for research through the use of the Q&A section and also the Polls.  If you are an expert in an area start to answer questions for other users and create interesting polls for people to support your blog or research.

Get a new job – or let a job get you -  By far the most interesting and exciting part of Linkedin is the fact that it can be used as a recruitment tool by employers and recruitment companies alike.  There are many stories of people securing their new role as ex-colleagues ‘found’ them on Linkedin.

Still concerned?  Some of my clients think that their employers will ’see’ them on Linkedin and think they are looking for a new job.  It is not the case.  Being part of this online community of professionals is merely keeping your professional footprint up to date.  Being able to have access to many resources has to benefit your current job and future career. 

Still stuck? -  Linkedin has a learning centre that is packed with hints and tips to support you.

So become one of my links,develop your profile, check out my profile and connect!

I dropped my iPhone.  Again.

Now the first time I did this I was lucky – the awesome piece of machinery survived the fall and responded immediately to my furious CPR of the on/off button.

The ninth time I dropped it, there was nothing that would help.  My phone had flatlined.  I very suddenly felt disconnected from my life, my work emails, my social media (tweet tweet!)

Now some say the Law of Attraction is a powerful thing.  You put out there what you want – and you get it.  So I had been addicted to my iPhone for a while.  Checking my emails too often, being accessible when I should have been otherwise engaged.  My wall paper should have read “Open all hours”.  I was saying to my friends how I had a love/hate thing going on with the iPhone.  “I wish I could just text and talk like the old days…”

Well my wish was granted.

I am now getting acquainted with a mate’s old phone while waiting for the new iPhone to be released. I am in iRehab!

Thou shalt not to be dependant on iPhone…. 

I am realising that the world is not going to fall down if I do not update my twitter, linked in or facebook account everyday! Check my emails 40,000 times.

It is quite refreshing.  By the time I get my hands on the new phone I will have a different relationship with it.  They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Question is though…does the new phone come with a bubble wrap cover?

Career Management means different things to different people.  To some it could be just being in a job, to others being paid well or learning new skills.

I took part in a poll recently on linked in The poll asked as business women what did we want developing or supporting most.  At this moment in time the poll’s results are fairly evenly split with 27% of respondents wanting career management developing or supporting.  (Love that 6% of the respondents were male.)

So how do we all actively manage our careers?  Can we look to our managers, expect to learn new skills with our training and development teams and as mentors or coaches can we coach this skill?

My take is career management is YOUR responsibility.  Your employer owns your contract and you own your career.  Yes… you can seek support but unless YOU have a plan how are you expected to manage it?

One of my clients I am coaching at the moment is doing just that.  Having floated from role to role, positively I should add, her path or responsibilities being laid out and presented to her by her employer she is now at the point where she feels like she should be in control of the next stage.

So here are a few tips to get you in control of your career.

The big picture:

1 – Draw your career as a map – when did it start, where are you now, when have you excelled and where did you feel like you were cruising. Expect zig zags!

2 – What patterns in your personal life may have shaped your professional life – take a look back at your map and see if there is anything that influences your career highs or lows.  More zig zags?

Analysis & Feedback

3 -Assess your skills – what do you think you are good at?  Where are your skill gaps? include both hard and soft skills

4 -  Tap into your network and ask people what they think you are good at?  What could you do better?  Where are the gaps?

Craft & Design

5 – Craft and design your plan – what do you want to get more exposure too?  What would you like to excel in?  Perhaps you want a complete change?  Draw the map of the future.  What does it look like if you are able to make decisions consciously? What personal events may be on the horizon? Wedding? Master degree planned? Overseas trip?

I have done this exercise for myself many times over and enjoy sharing the experience with my clients I coach.

Interestingly with this poll, the least important thing wanting to be developed was communication skills.  So hopefully you know how to communicate so go get what you want by asking for it!

Take hold of your career, plan your journey and enjoy the ride.

Even if it is a bit bumpy from time to time.

PS – My title is Career Manager - is yours?

The World Cup is upon us.  People are locking in the games they absolutely have to watch.  We are fiercely territorial and passionate when referring to our country’s team.

Backing your team, whoever your team is, is so important for the players in the World Cup series.  Wearing your colours with pride.  Cheering the players on.  Encouragement at its best!

Thinking about this in a business sense got me thinking about my own team at work.  Now I am part of a small team in my workplace but also a very important part of a bigger team.  We are all aiming for success in our own way to achieve the goals (pardon the pun) our business has set.  We need to champion each other on – support each other when the going gets tough and above all run round the pitch like crazy when we have scored a goal! 

Come on England! 

(you can take the girl out of England but not the England out of the girl!)

being mentored can be a rich experience

I was at a networking event yesterday where a panel of successful women were interviewed about their achievements.  A common thread to their success was having mentors.  Whether this was during school, uni or the work place, having someone who could support their career decisions definitely helped them get to where they are today. 

So while it is important to get one – how do you get one?  Who should they be?

My previous article on choosing a mentor covers it well.  Take a look.

During my career I have been mentored, and also offered my services as a mentor and both experiences were rich in rewards from a personal and career perspective.

Some people still have no idea that they are my mentors – it does not always have to be someone who is senior to you – it can sometimes be someone who you respect, admire, who motivates and inspires you.

Enjoy looking for yours!

I often get requests for resume templates.  People are keen to have an idea of how their resume should be presented.  Make it pretty!

It is not the template that is important it is the content.  What you put into the template.

Sure we can put our name in orange and font 76.   Yes you can add a picture of yourself and add logos of the companies you have worked for.  But….and here’s the but….is it really going to get you the interview?

What I am encouraging you to do is to think about what you need to write in the resume.  You need to sell your skills in your career summary, you need to document your responsibilities and achievements in such a way that leaves the employer wanting to know more.  You need to create an impact in a short space of time – I refer to this in my tutorial as the 10 second test. 

So get a template that is easy on the eye, makes maximum use of the page in terms of formatting and then spend even more time populating it with the right information!

Good Luck.

We do not all resign from our jobs because we hate what we are doing or dislike the people we work with.  Sometimes…perhaps rarely for some…it can be like splitting up a relationship.

It can feel like a weight on your shoulders.  You know you need to move on to develop your career.  You know how vital your role is to the overall business outputs.  You know that the news will not go down well.  You have a great relationship with your Manager but dread that pre-resignation chat request of ‘do you have a minute – I need to talk to you’.   The nerves are there and then BANG you said it.   Those three little words are ‘I am resigning’.  Phew.

So how did you get to this in the first place?

An opportunity just comes along that you simply cannot refuse to look at. Maybe you had a bad day.  The job plays on your mind….tempts you into updating your resume.   You flirt with the idea of applying over a few days and before you can say ’send’ you have applied.  The love affair with your new employer starts.  You go for interviews and meet new and exciting people.   And then here you are.  You have a new job and need to end your relationship in now ‘old’ job.

Resigning from your job is a simply a conversation between you and your Manager – it is communication about the end of your working relationship.  It is one you could have many times in your career.  It is an opportunity to thank people for their role in shaping your career to date.  Tying up loose ends and leaving with your head held high.  Maintaining relationships with your old colleagues and Manager adds to your network of contacts that will continue to champion and accelerate your career.

So off you go - good luck in your new role and sometimes people really do mean it when they say ‘Keep in touch’.