How To Create Opportunities In Times Of Uncertainty

I was asked two great questions in The Career Café recently:

“Is it possible to change career after 20 years in the same job and organisation?”

“My contract is ending, how can I find another one in the next 30-45 days?”

My initial reaction was to think that these questions were quite dissimilar, but the more I looked at these questions the more I realised that it was the same issue, just with a different time-frame and context.

The first is long-term and looking for something different. The second is short term and looking for more of something similar.

For both, the question is about how they expand their horizons and create options and opportunities. 

The most useful start point with your career is always to ask this question. What do I want and what do I offer?

In other words…

-    What are your values around your career or work?

-    What is it important that work does for you?

-    What are my skills and personal qualities?

-    Which do I want to use?

-    How do I make a difference?

Once you know those things, you’ve got the foundations for being in total charge of your career.

You’ve also defined yourself by who you are rather than by industry or job title.

So, if you are looking for a new career, you can explore where your skills might fit and where might also meet your criteria. If you are looking for the next contract it’s probably more about the skills you use in your industry and where the opportunities are that will give you a rewarding context in which you deploy them.

One of my favourite resources for generating ideas and options if you are thinking that a career change might be beneficial for you is www.sortyourfuture.com, here you can build and adapt a profile based on your interests as well as skills.

Also simply doing a brain dump of ideas that interest you can be very useful; it could include companies, industries, environments and anything else that appeals. The thing is, that when you whittle that list down to three or four key options, it gives you a start point for researching next steps.

Whatever your situation, your network is key.

Eventually, and sooner if you’re looking for that new contract in a short timeframe, recruiters will probably play some role in the route to your next step.

However, your networks are equally if not more important, both online and offline.

They are the key to your success now and in the future. They can be used to research options and they can be used to connect with hiring managers.

If you want to see the full answers I gave to those questions, do hop over to The Career Café Facebook group and look back at the live session on Tuesday 7th July 2020.

Before we finish here, let me ask you, what are your own experiences and questions…

•   If you have changed career, what is your top tip for others considering this option?
•   If you’ve ever had to secure a new job in a short timeframe, what would your top tip be to help others do the same?
•   Did you hire a career coach to help you, and how did it benefit you? 

And finally, The Career Base Camp opens soon!

All with one simple goal. To get you exactly what you WANT from your career and be successful in just the way you want to be successful. Regardless of what you may feel now or what you have been told is not possible in the past.

Calling all struggling employees, dissatisfied job go-ers and those hearing themselves say…

“There has to be more to life than this.”

At launch, and at founder member special offer, you can have access to an array of tools to help you manage your career easily and successfully, including:

-    Forging your very own mindset for career success

-    How to know what your ideal role is

                       o   Clearly knowing what is important for your job to do for you

                       o   Profiling exactly what your skills, qualities and contributions are

-    Creating and adapting CVs for your unqiue situation so you can get those interviews that excite you

-    Tools to get the best results from performance appraisals and interviews

-    …and much MUCH more!

I can’t believe it has come around so fast – as I write this launch day is now less than two months away! Register your interest today to be amongst the first to hear when we open our doors for the first and ONLY wave of founding members (a subscription price so low, we dare never offer it again):

Career Base Camp