Career Thinking

Agility in how you plan for career moves and flexibility in how you react to unexpected career events are key to maintaining momentum and balance throughout the various phases of your career.

Taking time to do some planning or run through possible scenarios (probable and less probable) can be a great help when the time comes to respond to opportunities or setbacks.

There are lots of times during a career path when it can make sense to check out a career coach. Many people will seek out a career coach when they’re under time pressure to consider an opportunity or deal with an unforeseen event. However, it can be more beneficial to do that work when you're not under specific time pressure and therefore have the luxury of taking time over the work.

If you think a change may be coming might have an impact on your role or team might be a great time to take a look at where you are and where you are on track to get to.

Similarly, people often take years to make a significant change and will work with a coach towards the end of that process. But it can be useful to consult a coach at the early or mid stages of the change process to explore options and interrogate your thinking.  

Often we don’t have visibility or time to anticipate events and decisions that might affect our career, so it can be important to do some thinking and clarifying before time, when there isn’t pressure to make significant decisions or take action.

Discussing your current situation and possible scenarios in advance can help you respond in a more considered way when the opportunity or threat presents itself or when you know you have reached the point of needing to make a change.

How can a career coach help?

Some tangible outputs from career coaching include:

• get a more complete understanding of your strengths and weaknesses

• identify any barriers that might be blocking your professional advancement

• consider what are the right opportunities or range of acceptable options   

• brainstorm ideas, options and research that might be useful

• plan for action, steps and milestones

• understand your professional value

• define what you offer to current and prospective employers

• decide what skills and competencies you might want or need to develop and how you’ll do this

• enjoy a safe and confidential space to discuss all aspects of your current situation and your aspirations and concerns