The question of whether you need a job change or a career change is one I see a lot. It's important when we're looking at this subject to take a few things into consideration and take a step back. We need to look at the bigger picture first:
What is your work personality? That is what type of work is a natural for you? In other words, who are you and what motivates you? I say to my clients that it's a little bit like if you were right handed and I asked you to write your name with your left hand. You could do it but it wouldn't feel comfortable. Doing this we can work out what is a natural fit for you and is comfortable, a little bit like making sure you're writing with your right hand!
What are your values? What's important to you? I once had a client who called to ask if I did values as part of my career coaching and I said "yes, why do you ask that?" as I thought it was an insightful question to ask. He said that he did his values with a Life Coach a few years ago and he thinks they may have changed and could be contributing to why he's not happy at work. This was true, in that time he had gotten married and had a couple of kids so his values had changed slightly but he was still looking at continuing the type of work he had been doing prior to that. Whilst they were good for early in his career times had changed.
What are you interested in? Are you interested in more creative work? Are you interested in strategy? Are you interested in conecting with people more? From this angle I ask clients to rate their level of interest in a huge variety of jobs from landscape architects to makeup artistry. While we can say we're interested in certain jobs, at this point it's important to actually measure that interest and are you planning to do any more study. At this point I also look at which of those jobs will meet your values and is a natural fit for you with your personality.
Where have you come from? At this point I look at a clients resume to determine where are you now and where have you been. What qualifications do you have? What do you like about your current job? What don't you like? What are the gaps that would need to filled to get you to there? How much would it cost? How long would it take? What options are available with your current employer? It's a this point that I can determine if you need a career change or a job change. Only when all the evidence is gathered can we say if it's time to take the plunge into a job change, a career change, or not at all!
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