Whether you are just starting or you are taking a break from your current role and are looking to make a comeback, a career coach can be an invaluable resource. They will help you identify what kind of work environment is right for you and how to find it. They will also teach you how to sustain your career growth.
Catherine, a Fuzu career coach, helps professionals find their passion, create a career plan, and stay motivated. She has extensive experience stretching over 8 years, working with clients from all walks of profession - from entry-level to managerial level. In this interview, she talked about the common reasons you may experience career stagnation, how you can overcome those challenges, and how you can start growing right now. She also shared career planning strategies that you could use to grow your career.
The most common challenge professionals approach career coaches with
1. Contradicting information on the CV
Often, many people looking for jobs have a well-written CV but the information is in contradiction to the jobs they apply to. Catherine mentioned that the most critical document HR uses for shortlisting is the CV, whereas others are just supporting documents. A CV shows your achievements and qualifications over time.
Your CV should be a detailed document entailing your acquired skills and qualifications. Through your CV, a recruiter should be able to identify that your skills and qualifications listed match the job requirements.
2. Identifying what you want
"Majority of candidates who fail to plan their careers are not sure of what they want to do," said Catherine.
The risk of not planning your career is that you will never know what you want to do. You will wake up one day and realize that you have no idea what your passion is or what makes you happy. And then you will be stuck with all these options when in reality, none of them are right for you.
If you don't plan, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle and end up doing something you don't even want to do, or worse—something that isn't fulfilling.
The risks of not planning your career
“The first mistake I see is that people think they know what they want to do with their lives before they even start looking into it. They just assume that they know what kind of job would be best for them and then latch onto any job that happens to come along. Most people don't take the time to explore different career paths and find out what makes them happy - and that's why they end up stuck doing something that doesn't interest them anymore.
Secondly, taking action without planning and having a clear idea of what you want to achieve is detrimental. You need to figure out where you want to go in life before setting off on your journey. Otherwise, the path will just be filled with obstacles and confusion along the way. How can you expect to move forward if you don't have a clear vision for your future? ” Said Catherine.
You also risk becoming outdated on job market trends. As a career coach, Catherine constantly tries to help professionals understand what is happening in the work world. While it's common for people to say there are no jobs and that we're all doomed, there are plenty of jobs out there, and they're just waiting for you to apply.
5 effective strategies to keep in mind while planning your career
1. Self-assessment
When planning your career, it's important to assess the skills and interests you have that are transferable to different careers. That's where a career coach comes in handy. to help you figure out how those skills and interests can translate into the specific jobs that interest you most.
2. Self-exploration
Once you have this information, it's time to start thinking about self-exploration. What parts of your personality or background might be useful in the workplace? Who could be your mentors or guides as you work towards your goals? What nature of work would complement your personality and which ones may not? Here, you explore and research different career possibilities and narrow the job options you qualify for.
3. The career search
Career search is where most people get stuck. They don't know where to start, and they don't know what questions to ask. But once we can get past those barriers, we can start taking action steps towards our goals. This is where you plan your documents, and create an effective CV and cover letter matching the job description.
While tailoring your CV, avoid fluff or unnecessary details. You do not have to include personal data that does not relate to the job description.
4. An action plan
A career action plan is an important step in any strategy, but it can also be intimidating. The action plan provides a roadmap of where you want to go. The better you can predict the future, the easier it will be to navigate your way through it. You can achieve this by:
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Joining a professional body. Becoming a member of a professional body acts as a guide to help keep track of skills that are important for your career and how your industry is evolving.
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Update your skills based on where you want to get in your career path. As part of your plan of action, think about what skills would be relevant at each stage of your journey toward whatever goal(s) you have set for yourself. For example, if you're looking at a career in marketing, maybe consider taking some classes on social media management and digital marketing so that when you're ready for those jobs after college, they'll already be part way down your list of qualifications.
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Request recommendations letters from people who you have worked with before. The recommendation letter proves your experience, whether volunteering or in an intern position.
5. Practice your elevator pitch…
How you tell your story is the most important part of your job search. It's the first impression that reveals who you are as a person and sets the stage for everything that follows.
An elevator pitch is a short summary of your skills and experience that can quickly communicate what kind of job you'd be good at and help impress the right people. It should be no longer than five minutes and can be used as a tool to find out more about your career options - or even to get hired.
To practice an elevator pitch, think about the kinds of jobs that interest you and what skills they require. Then think about how your skills relate to those jobs in one sentence or less. You can use examples from your past or other people's careers as well. The idea is simply to condense all the different things about yourself into something concise that makes sense when someone asks: "So…what do you do?"
In conclusion...
If you are having trouble growing in your career, it may be time to take a step back and figure out where the problem lies. The five effective career planning strategies outlined here should help you start making smart decisions about your career that will lead to growth and advancement. Are there any other strategies that have helped you in your career journey? Share them with us in a comment below!