What Every Job Seeker Ought to Know About Themselves
Many people who are looking for work are only focused on getting a job that pays well and matches their qualifications. They apply for any jobs for which they are qualified based on their work experience. This is the conventional way to find work, but it’s not necessarily the way to get a career that you truly love.
Where Have You Gone Right?
When you come to a crossroads in your life – particularly when it’s forced on you by an unexpected, unhappy event — it’s human nature to ask: “Where have I gone wrong?” This kind of negative thinking takes you entirely in the wrong direction. It’s better to ask “Where have I gone right?” This opens doors and creates opportunities. This the first step towards finding a job you’ll really love.
Finding out where you’ve gone right in your life is about analyzing your accomplishments. These are the events in your life that gave you a sense of real satisfaction.
What is an Accomplishment?
Many people, especially younger folks, claim that they haven’t accomplished anything yet and that this is their problem. Not so. Everyone has accomplishments!
They don’t have to be huge, world-changing things for them to be considered accomplishments. In fact, they’ll hardly ever be. Instead, think about the times when you felt good after you successfully followed a recipe, threw a party, helped a little brother learn to catch a ball, made a school team, lost weight, rebuilt a relationship with an unhappy customer, organized your financial affairs, etc. Little things. But things that gave you satisfaction. These are all accomplishments. Each event will have these three things behind it:
• A problem, an issue, or an opportunity,
• The action you took to resolve it, and
• A result that made you feel good.
Digging Up Your Accomplishments
Find your accomplishments by going through diaries, photo albums and yearbooks. You can also try asking friends and family if they remember any time you had a huge smile on your face. Or try thinking about the stories and anecdotes you repeat time after time. Take your time and dig deep.
Finding a Career You’ll Love
Creating a thorough list of your accomplishments will bring you closer to finding a job you’ll love. You’ll be able to analyze them and determine the specific skills you used to achieve them. These skills may seem like simple common sense to you, but these are likely things that other people can find challenging. By knowing the skills you possess, you’ll be better at identifying the careers to which you would be best suited.
Continue Your Self-Discovery
You’ll find more information and exercises designed to help you get the job and life you want in Jim Hayhurst’s book, Where Have I Gone Right?
Or, for more guidance, contact usand schedule a free career counselling session.