Here is a common cycle you might relate to;
You’re not happy in your current role and know you can do so much more but you’re not sure what that is.
You go looking at jobs online, hoping to find some inspiration.
You apply for a few roles that look interesting and get interviews here and there.
After a while, you’re exhausted and just want to be done with
So, you take an offer. Deep down, you know it’s not the job, but it’s something. It’s different from what you do now.
Within a year, you’re back to being unhappy in your current role.
What went wrong?!
Here is one of the biggest mistakes I see job seekers make:
Job searching without a clear goal.
Ask yourself this – did you have a clear understanding of what it was you were looking for?
No. You were browsing online and applying for what seemed interesting and simply better than your current role.
People who love what they do slowed down to speed up.
In fact, when I was unhappy in the industry I was in, I spent months diving deep into understanding what’s next for me.
I looked at:
- What’s important for me in my career and in life
- What I’m good at
- What I enjoy doing
Then I took that and added my proactive networking approach to explore companies and roles that were out there.
I spoke to real people in real companies to make sure it was the right fit.
This process helped me understand that the covered career at company X was not AT ALL a fit for me.
It also helped my students go from feeling stuck after 15 years in banking, to discovering (and landing) a brand new career in management consulting.
Remember this: to have the career you love, you need to do the work to get crystal clear on what is the right fit for you BEFORE you start actively job hunting.
