JUNE 8, 2020 | BY YVONNE AKINMODUN

When we want to lose weight, we might work with a personal trainer. Equally, we’ll spend money on getting our hair or nails done or pay a relationship counsellor to help with our personal relationships without thinking twice. Yet when it comes to our careers; the thing that provides us with the income needed to pay for all these things it very often doesn’t cross our mind.

However, if we need help in our careers, we hardly ever think to hire a career coach – but why? Read on to find out why having a career coach on your side can make all the difference in your career.

For many of us, we take the view that if we need a job, we’ll just search job boards and find our next move. This might be true in many cases but what happens if you don’t know what your next move will be?

What Is Career Coaching? A more formal definition of career coaching from the International Federation of Coaching (ICF) states that a career coach partners with you in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires you to maximize your personal and professional potential. Coaches honor you as the expert in your life and work and believe you are creative, resourceful and whole.

Who Needs Career Coaching?

Hiring a career coach may not be cheap, but for professionals who feel stuck or just confused about what the next step should be, a coach can be an invaluable resource.

This is especially true the older we get as we often find it harder to make decisions over career change having spent the better part of our working lives doing something different. A career coach can help make a seamless transition into a more suitable and satisfying career.

So, here are five ways hiring a career coach is beneficial for your short- and long-term career success.

1. Help Identify Your Value as a Professional. Often when seeking a career change or just assessing where you are in your career, many people assume this means starting at the bottom. In doing so we forget that we have certain strengths, skills and knowledge that would be of value to any future employer. Working with a career coach will help you identify your strengths, transferrable skills and what you have to offer as a professional, as well as when it comes time to negotiate a salary that is fitting for your skills set. Find out what you’re worth on the job market, here.
2. Help Determine The Best Career Path, Not Just a Job. Many of my clients are looking at a 3 – 5 year horizon that extends beyond their current day to day role. As the world of work changes, it can be quite daunting not having a handle of whether or not current job or career will be one that you want for the future or if it will even be there in the same format. As a career coach, knowing the person and what their personal style and preferences helps when it comes to plotting a clear career path that builds on your strengths and provides a rewarding and fulfilling career.
3. Help You Build Your Confidence When Making Career Choices. One of the biggest barriers to career change, especially as we get older is a lack of confidence. We might be highly skilled professionals but we may not know how to project this to best effect. A Career Coach will work with you to help you understand how to project your strengths in a way that has the right balance of confidence without appearing cocky or arrogant.
4. Keep Motivated While Remaining Accountable. Even the best of us can lose out motivation when it comes to career search or career planning. Like most things in life if you want something you have to make the effort. You are more likely to make the effort if you have someone cheering you on and asking you how you’re getting on. Career Coaches will help you unblock something that might be standing in the way of your career progression. Knowing you have someone you can talk to an who understands the world of work can go a long way to keeping you on the right Career path.
5. Help When It Comes To Making Difficult Career Decisions. When it comes to making a career decision, it can be one of the most life changing decisions we can make. What if we get it wrong? What if we don’t like the choice we make? Perhaps you think its time to ask for a promotion or a pay rise but you’re not sure if this will have a negative impact on your career with your current employer. These are some of the concerns many of us have when it comes to career choices. Having the ear of a Career Coach to hand who has your best interest at hear and who can act as a sounding board and guide you through some of these difficult decisions will help make your final choices much easier and far less stressful. You Don’t Have To Do It Alone.

Do you need the support and help of likeminded people also going through a career change? Why not join our FREE Facebook Group Career Changers Hub.

JUNE 8, 2020 | BY YVONNE AKINMODUN

You’ve been thinking about changing careers and are now finally at the stage where you have a clear idea of what you want to do. There are however a few questions you have.

• How do I know if this career path is the right one for me?
• If it is the right career path, how do I make this happen?

Here are a few things you can do to help you find out whether or not you are on your way to finding your dream career.

1. Research online. At the risk of sounding like a school teacher – the first thing you need to do is to do your homework. With most if not all companies these days having a website, carrying out research shouldn’t be too difficult. If you know the sector but don’t have a specific company in mind, find out if the sector has a professional body. If they do, you may be able to see a list of members on their site. The other great thing about membership organisations is that they also highlight the latest trends and things going on within the sector which will come in handy later on.
2. Look at job ads. Start searching the jobs sections of relevant jobs and employer websites to get an idea of what people in the sector are doing. Look for jobs at the right level. Consider the range of qualifications and experience they ask for. This will help you carry out a gap analysis whereby you can determine what skills and qualifications you already have and what is needed to fulfil the role. Look at how many jobs are advertised; if few this might indicate a sector with few current prospects – or it could just mean that jobs in this sector tends to recruit through more informal methods.
3. Identify people already in the field. One of the best ways to break into a new sector is by finding out who you already know. The power of networking cannot be under estimated. Look through your list of contacts to see who you know in your chosen sector. It could be a former work colleague, a family member of a friend. Now is not the time to be shy. Approach them to see if they can connect you with the person in their organisation who is responsible for hiring. At the very least, they may be able to introduce you to someone who can talk with you about the sector and the entry requirements

One of the best tools to help you in this quest is LinkedIn. This will show you who you are connected with and also some of their connections.

Do you need help planning and managing your next career move? Want to spend less time job searching and more time working in a job you love? Why not join my FREE Facebook group of likeminded career changers click here to join.

JUNE 8, 2020 | BY YVONNE AKINMODUN

Are you on LinkedIn? Many job seekers already regard LinkedIn as their most valuable social media platform, and new features are being added all the time. Staying up to date can help you land your next position.

If you’ve been using LinkedIn to research opportunities and connect with others, you might be interested to know that LinkedIn has job aggregator feature. That means you’ll find double the amount of job listings and more individuals to add to your network.

The following 7 steps will help you take your LinkedIn job search to the next level. Get ready to polish up your profile and reach out to more people!

Create a Stand-Out Profile on LinkedIn

1. Write a compelling summary.  Capture the interest of your reader with a summary that tells an engaging story and describes your unique value. Keep it brief. In any event, you are unable to exceed 2000 characters so make sure you plan and think about what you will say in this section to make it as compelling as possible.
2. Showcase your accomplishments. Use the experience section to highlight your achievements. List qualifications and membership to any relevant bodies. It might sometimes be helpful to also have short courses you have attended listed here. However no more than one or two course here should be sufficient.
3. Optimize your photo. Include a professional-looking photograph that conveys your personality. It’s okay to wear a hat on Twitter, but here you want potential employers to be able to see your face.
4. Customize your URL. Visit the LinkedIn help section for instructions on customizing your public profile URL. Having a customized URL LinkedIn profile is a great way for search engines, and therefore recruiters to find you.
5. Make use of keywords to help your profile stand out.  Adding keywords to your profile is the most powerful and simplest way to get your profile found by recruiters on LinkedIn. Think about the job titles that are most relevant to your profession, for example, keywords like Marketing Manager, IT Systems Analyst, or Director of Building Control. Find the one that works for you and add it to your summary.
6. Make sure everything ties together. These days, it’s common to change positions and even careers frequently. Give your profile a once over to ensure that it has a cohesive theme. Check that the details are consistent across different sections.
7. Remain current. Be sure to dd significant new developments to your profile. Examine your language to remove terms that are becoming overused and add the latest industry buzzwords. Do some research within your chosen sector to get an understanding of what is topical in your sector.

Do you need help planning and managing your next career move? Want to spend less time job searching and more time working in a job you love? Why not join my FREE Facebook group of likeminded career changers click here to join.

JUNE 8, 2020 | BY YVONNE AKINMODUN

There is no question that many of us will be prompted to reconsider our career choices either as a result of COVID-19 lead redundancies, the threat of redundancies, or as a result of spending time away from the workplace and being able to reflect on our current job and career.

If you are considering a career change during this uncertain time, its best to start with a clear plan. Here are a few key steps worth putting in place to help move you forward in your career journey.

Review your current skills

This is one of the most under unexplored areas for many in their quest for a new career. Most people assume that their skills are only limited to what they know and do now. Not so. For many, the longer you have been in the world of work, the more skills you are likely to have. Start by making a list. Look over your CV or any old applications to gather put together your list. If done well, this can take two or more attempts in order to pull together a really comprehensive list.

Make a list of possible career options

Make a list of some of your possible career choices. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it will give you something to focus on. Over time, your list might get refined. The reason for having a short list of careers it that it helps in updating your CV so that its more tailored towards the kind of jobs you might be considering. You will also be able to see where you have transferable skills that easily lend themselves to a different career path.

Identify gaps

Now that you have a fair idea of one or two career options, you may also have found some gaps in your skills or knowledge. Make use of online learning up skill and to help bridge the gaps.

Gain a New Skill with Online Learning

There are so many opportunities online to gain a new skill and they're growing by the day! Grow your personal or creative skills or choose a new skill to learn and take back to work with online training providers like Coursera or Udemy. There are many other providers.

If there's a skill you always wanted to learn, search for it. But be sure to read the course descriptions thoroughly, check reviews if there are any - and check money-back guarantees.

And with so many learning options ranging from FREE to tens of pounds to the low hundreds of pounds, there will be something out there just perfect for you.

Explore your Life Vision:

If you are struggling to figure out what you want to do next, ask yourself, what do you want from the rest of your life? What would you be disappointed you did NOT do? Where do you envision yourself in 10 years?

Having a clear vision of how you want your life to be is a powerful motivator. A vision helps us work towards our goals, take action and make change.

Here are 5 questions to ponder or journal around to go deeper:​

• What do you desire or yearn for in your life?
• How do you want to feel?
• What do you really, really want to be different in your life?
• What's your dream for this lifetime? Imagine you're 90 years old and looking back over your life; what did you do that made you proud and happy?​

TIP: Remember to think possibility not probability! Don't limit yourself and your ideas because you don't believe something is likely. Instead believe it's possible - and even if you don't get all the way there, you may get close - or even find something better along the way!

Live Your Values

When we know your values, we understand what motivates and drives us. When we build our lives around our values, we create a life that is meaningful. Finally, when we align our actions with our values - we're being truly authentic. It's a very satisfying and fulfilling way to live.

And living your values could be the single most important thing any of us can do right now.

Here's an exercise you can do:

• List your values on a piece of paper or in your journal.
• Give each value a score ___ / 10 as to how well you are living that value in your life now (where 0 is not at all and 10 is full-out).
• For the scores that are 8 or more - great!
• For the scores that are 7 or less out of 10, ask yourself, "How could I express this value more in my life right now?" "What could I do differently or approach differently, so that I feel good about how I live this value in my life?"

For example: You have a value of creativity, but you're only managing to 'go through the motions' right now and your score is 4/10. Ask yourself how you could be more creative during this time - whether it's cooking, gardening, art or writing or helping your children do something creative, or even watching a documentary about someone creative you admire...

Build your network

If you are reading this article on LinkedIn, you already have some idea of the power LinkedIn as a tool to help you connect with people who can help you build your future career.

Start by making sure your profile is up to date, and speaks to the type of career direction you want to in. Although this is a great place to start, you also need to ensure you are proactively connecting with people and companies in your chosen field. This will help make you more visible and put you in a stronger position to know about opportunities when they arise.

Do you need help planning and managing your next career move? Want to spend less time job searching and more time working in a job you love? Why not join my FREE Facebook group of likeminded career changers click here to join.

JUNE 8, 2020 | BY YVONNE AKINMODUN

Have you recently landed a job interview? If you have, when is your interview scheduled? If your interview is scheduled to take place in a few days or even in a few hours, are you prepared for it? What you may not know is that most job applicants aren’t. To make sure that you are prepared for your job interview, continue reading.

When it comes to hiring an applicant many interviewers place a lot of stock in personal appearance. This focus on personal appearance doesn’t just focus on dress sense but also on overall appearance.

Employers want to hire workers who will give their business a good public perception. That is why it is important that you give a good perception, especially in an interview. When attending a job interview, you will want to make sure that you are professionally dressed, either in a suit, dress or skirt and blouse for ladies. Make sure that your hair is neat and tidy. In fact, if possible and practical, you may want to think about buying a new outfit or getting your hair done before your interview is scheduled to take place.

Ahead of your job interview, make sure you have put together a few questions to ask the interviewer. It also creates a good impression if you come along with a pen and paper prepared to take notes during your interview. If you’ve applied for several jobs you may have multiple interviews scheduled.

Taking notes during your interviews will help you keep all of them straight. Also, taking notes during a job interview shows you are genuinely interested in the job. It is also shows a side of you that says “I am professional and always prepared”.

One of the things that is very rarely done is sending out a thank you note to your interviewer. A thank you note may also help to create a good, positive impression. If you do decide to send out a note, try to do it within a day or even a few hours after your interview. If you have been invited to interview via an agency, make sure you ask them to pass on your feedback which should show enthusiasm and interest in the employer’s job.

A job interview is where hiring employers will want to learn as much as they can about you. This is often done by asking a series of questions. The questions that you are asked during a job interview will tend to vary, but are most likely to focus on area such as your experience, skills, knowledge, goals and work ethics.

For instance, you may be asked to describe your strengths and weaknesses, your career goals and work experience relevant to the job role you have applied for. Even if you are expecting these questions, it can still be nerve-wracking when they are actually asked. That is why you may want to do several practice interviews. These practice interviews work best with another person, like a family member or a friend, but you can also do them by yourself, in front of a mirror. Practicing your responses before a job interview is one of the best ways to make sure that your answers come out exactly the way that you want them to.

The above-mentioned preparation tips are just a few of the many that you may find useful, when it comes to preparing for a job interview. If you are hoping to schedule multiple interviews, it is always best to have a job search planner so that you can keep track of all the interviews you’ve applied for so that you are prepared at a moment’s notice for a job interview should one arise.

Do you need help planning and managing your next career move? Want to spend less time job searching and more time working in a job you love? Why not join my FREE Facebook group of likeminded career changers click here to join.