Thursday, January 13, 2011

3 Things To Know When Choosing Your Ideal Career

So you've gone through the process of finding your purpose and distilling it into a purpose statement.  You've brainstormed a list of careers that fit your purpose and prioritized them using your heart, not your head.  Now how do you begin evaluating and picking among all those choices?

There are several "head" (i.e. logistical) items that may sway you in one way or another, and it's important to get this information for each career you're considering.

  1. What are the educational requirements?  These may not be hard and fast, or they may be written in stone. For instance, if you want to be a doctor you have to graduate from medical school.  However if you want to be a doula or midwife there are many paths you can take.  Find out what the bottom line, absolutely must have is for education.
  2. How much money can you make?  This will typically be a range that based on a number of factors.  I believe that if we follow the right path to our ideal career we will make as much money as we need.  However you need to be realistic in paying attention hourly or salary ranges if you are going to be employed by someone else.  Can the top rate support you?
  3. Is this career primarily for the self-employed or those employed by others?  Or both?  Some people hate being an employee, while others can't imagine running their own business.  Again, being realisitic about how a particular career fits with your preferences will help you make a good choice.
These three items will start you down the path of choosing your career wisely and beginning to make it a reality.

For more career ideas, sign up for the FREE teleseminar (in the right column). 

Laura Allan Career Coaching: Facebook  Twitter
Laura Allan Counseling and Coaching:  Facebook  Twitter

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Why Do an Informational Interview?

When you're exploring various careers (ones you've brainstormed after coming up with your purpose statement), informational interviews with people who are already in those careers is a great way to start deciding if that career is a good fit for you.  Some of the things to ask might include:

  • What was your path to this job/career?
  • What are other paths that you know of?
  • What do you like best about your job?
  • What do you like least?
  • If there is one change that you could make to your current job, what would it be?
  • What do you think I should know that I haven't already asked?
  • If I decided to pursue this career, what would you recommend that I do first?
  • Who can you introduce to me who can give their personal experience with this career?
These questions will help you get a feel for what the job is really like, not just what the job description might say.  When you find a career that you keep at the top of your list, it is helpful to interview several people to get a balanced view.

For more career ideas, sign up for the FREE teleseminar (in the right column). 

Laura Allan Career Coaching: Facebook  Twitter
Laura Allan Counseling and Coaching:  Facebook  Twitter

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Getting Your List of Possible Ideal Careers

Once you've created your purpose statement (see post from 1/4/11), you need to find careers that fulfill that statement.  This is a blue sky exercise where you write down every single idea that comes to mind that fits your purpose.  Know evaluating beyond does it fulfill your purpose or not.

Hopefully you've ended up with a pretty long list.  If you haven't been censoring yourself, then that should be the case.

Now, start prioritizing.  No - don't evaluate on feasibility or money or other people's reactions.  Evaluate purely on your emotional reaction to that career.  Does it make you feel excited?  Do you feel warm and fuzzy when you think of that career?  Do you immediately tense up?  Are you scared? 

Use whatever feelings arise to prioritize your list.  The better you feel when thinking about being in that career, the higher on the list it goes.

Next up, "rational" evalaution.  :-)

For more career ideas, sign up for the FREE teleseminar (in the right column). 

Laura Allan Career Coaching: Facebook  Twitter
Laura Allan Counseling and Coaching:  Facebook  Twitter

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Your Purpose Statement and Your Ideal Career

When exploring to find your ideal career, it's helpful to come up with a "purpose statement."  This is a sentence that describes what your purpose (in career, in life) is.  You discover your purpose through doing some exercises designed to help you tap into your inner wisdom.

It might be pretty specific as in “I love to teach dance and share in my student’s passion for movement.”  It may be more general, such as “I enjoy teaching others and seeing them learn and grow.”  Or your purpose could be extremely general: “I feel passionate about physical movement in the company of others.”  Regardless of the specificity, you have discovered your purpose! 

Most people feel quite exhilarated when they discover their purpose.  Although there is still work that must be done to decide the exact direction you want to take in a career and embark on that journey, knowing your purpose and the passion it evokes within you will keep you moving in the right direction.

For more ideas, sign up for the FREE teleseminar (in the right column). 

Laura Allan Career Coaching: Facebook  Twitter
Laura Allan Counseling and Coaching:  Facebook  Twitter