I’m excited to participate again this year in Job Action Day created by Quintessential Careers. It is a day of empowerment for workers and job-seekers -- to put your career and job in the forefront, making plans, taking action steps.
In support of Job Action Day, I’d like ask you to reflect on your “core genius”–who you are, what do well naturally and what you feel compelled to do. You see, I find most people are not operating from their core genius and that is the reason for so much career pain and frustration.
Why? People are shoehorning themselves into only what’s out there (which is shrinking). They're revising their resumes to become what an employer or recruiter wants them to be, focusing their job search on the latest hot field, and/or spending thousands getting degrees because they don’t know what else to do and figure another credential couldn’t hurt.
This may have worked in the past. But in the new world of work, shoehorning is not the way to real career opportunity. For one, you may not genuinely be interested in that new hot job/field (beyond the paycheck), and two, what’s hot can change overnight or worse, can be outsourced.
To create real opportunity, reflect on your core genius and how you can make a living from it. To do that, you’ve got to Soul Search & Research, BEFORE you Job Search.
Start your Soul Search by identifying the value you provide to others by naturally being who you are and doing what is it you most enjoy doing. Get specific about what it is you bring to the table by looking back over your life and noticing what people tend to come to you for help with. Then make a list of your best, most fun projects or moments. Lastly think about what you would do with your time if you didn’t have to worry about making money.
All of these clues point to your core genius. It’s not something new. You’ve been using your core genius your whole life, you just haven’t formalized it yet into a career.
Formalizing your core genius in your career might feel strange at first. To get used to operating from and valuing your core genius, Research your new career by piloting projects with friends or family. Create your elevator speech (try this easy-to-use pitch wizard) to describe what you do and practice saying it to others as much as possible.
- As you get comfortable with formally sharing your core genius, focus your Job Search on the role that is the best fit for you to put your core genius to work. This may be a full-time job but it can also be your own business or project-based contract work. You may even want to informational interview potential customers of your core genius to understand the way they’d most like to be served – by you as an employee or by you on a project or contract basis.
After years of working with my career coaching clients and SIRIUSXM radio listeners to uncover their core genius and formalize it into career, I know each and every one of us has unique value to offer through our work. We don’t need to look at the want ads to find our next opportunity. It’s waiting for us to define, create and dedicate our time to. Are you ready to take these actions to Soul Search, Research and Job Search and uncover your core genius?
Please check out these posts from fellow career experts that are joining me in supporting Job Action Day 2010:
- Quintessential Careers Blog, Third annual Job Action Day arrives with job-seekers struggling with a new and more challenging future of work, future of job-hunting.
- Career Doctor Blog Job Action Day 2010: 5 Things to Help You Thrive in the Relentlessly Changing World of Work.
- Quintessential Resume and Cover Letter Tips Blog, Career Experts Offer Tips for New Job-Search Realities: Job Action Day 2010.
- A Storied Career, Job Action Day 2010: Stories of Creating Opportunity Through LinkedIn.
- Susan Guarneri, New World of Work: Job Action Day 2010 Career Assessment Goddess.
- Wendy Terwelp, Job Action Day: Create Your Own Opportunity, Rock Your Career.
- Laura Labovich, Give-to-Get in the Protean Workplace!, Aspire! Empower!
- David Couper, Job Action: what can you do to help, David Couper Blog.
- Barbara Safani, Job Action Day-Opportunities Knock Harder When You Use Social Media, Career Solvers Blog.
- Steven Rothberg, On Job Action Day 2010, Focus on Your Competencies, Interests, and values, CollegeRecruiter.com Blog
- Miriam Salpeter, Job Action Day -- how to create job opportunities by being a connector, Keppie Careers.
- The Career Management Alliance Blog [multiple posts].
- Stephen Hinton, Focus On Certifications: How Can a Certification Help My Green Job Search?, Hinton Human Capital Blog.
- Hannah Morgan, Job Action Day: Create Opportunity In Your Career, Executive Career Brand.
- Deb Brown-Volkman, Job Action Day 2010, Surpass Your Dreams.
- Jason Alba, I’m Dumb: Connect the Dots for me, JibberJobber Blog.
- Deborah Shane, Job Action Day 2010-Career Experts Offer Tips for New Job Realities, Deborah Shane Toolbox.
- Darrell Gurney, Job Action Day 2010, Career Guy Blog.
- Debra Wheatman, Don’t Let Fear Scare You Out of a New Job, Careers Done Write Blog.
- Rich Milgram, It’s Time to Take Action: Five Nontraditional Job Search Methods To Get You Hired!, EmploymentMetrix Blog.
- Willy Franzen, Creating Opportunity with No Experience, One Day One Job.
You might feel compelled to take a job, any job, at any employer. But are you sure that's best for your career? How much happier or successful might you be if you worked at a company that invested in you, trusted you and partnered with you?