In one of my recent career coaching groups one of my clients, Anna, got on the call saying she’d had a tough week and was overwhelmed with her career research. She also had some personal issues she was dealing with. It all snowballed and ruined most of her week. She was asking us if that was normal, and when it would end. After we talked about how to better organize her career research, I gave her permission to have a pity...

In my career coaching I use the concept of Gremlins with my coaching clients to help them define and begin to overcome their fears, negative thoughts or obstacles about making a career change. The concept comes from a book I highly recommend called Taming Your Gremlin by Rick Carson.I’ve found over the years is that when your fears intensify, it can be a good thing because it means you are making change. You are doing somet...

One of my career coaching clients, Robert, recently was wondering if he should tell his boss how unhappy he was at work. Robert had not been there very long but he was miserable, and pretty much ready to quit.Should you lie to your boss about whether you're happy at work? Almost all of my clients deal with this question. I will give you the same advice that I gave James. Being up front about your discontent at your job real...

I’ve been writing about this Wall Street Journal article, written by Dilbert, creator Scott Adams, How to Get a Real Education, for the past few weeks because it’s rich with good career advice. The last excerpt that I really liked is “Find the action.”In my senior year of college I asked my adviser how I should pursue my goal of being a banker. He told me to figure out where the most innovation in banking was happening and...

This is a continuation of my response on the Wall Street Journal article, written by Dilbert, creator Scott Adams, How to Get a Real Education.Fail Forward. If you’re taking risks, and you probably should, you can find yourself failing 90% of the time. The trick is to get paid while you’re doing the failing and to use the experience to gain skills that will be useful later. I failed at my first career in banking. I failed a...

On a group coaching call last week, clients Herman and James were discussing the best ways to follow up on a job application.I always suggest, depending on the employer’s time frame and how connected you were to them during the interview, to follow up consistently but in a reasonable (but not to pesty), timeframe via phone if possible. I prefer the phone over email because email could get lost. Also, over the phone, people...

Look for your dream job by narrowing your options to find your career sweet spot.This is from a group coaching client, Joe, who has found a job to apply for that he didn’t even know existed. The job beautifully combines his interest in training and past work experience in manufacturing and distribution.“The last thing I would like to share is that once you narrow down your choices, make a plan to get there, and most import...

Finding your dream job can be a time complicated process at times. Time, effort, and focus are required to investigate career ideas, network with people, gather information, and keep track of your action steps.It’s imperative that you get very organized, and remain organized, throughout the job search process. This will help prevent you from getting lost in the information you’re gathering, or lost in your networking effort...

One of the newest members of my April coaching group, Beth, reminded our group of an important lesson this week. You don’t always have to throw the baby out with the bathwater in your career transition. Sometimes just making a slight change in your career direction is all you need to find a career that is right for you.Here is Beth’s story:Beth went back to a career that she had done before and didn’t like (a pricing positi...

Volunteering your time is a great way to get experience in a new career field you haven’t worked in before. What is even better, it’s a wonderful way to give back to your community. One of my group coaching clients sent me this update recently:This Friday is my first scheduled presentation for the North Georgia Goodwill and there are three others later in the month. Next Monday is my first formal speech with the Gwinnett Ha...