In life coaching we have found a career goal is one of the most popular types of goals to set. It seems a huge percentage of people are unhappy in their jobs, either stuck in a rut, wanting to stay where they are but wanting to make changes or wanting something new but unclear what they would really like to do next. We often hear �but is anyone really happy in their job?� it seems a popular phrase to hide behind and justify staying in a role that just doesn�t satisfy you. We spend so much time at work isn�t it important to enjoy what you do? Stress and unhappiness in the work place can over take your life and spill over to affect other areas such as health, emotional levels and relationships. So it really does make a big difference when you find something you love to do, it makes you spring out of bed in the morning and life doesn�t seem such a struggle when you are enjoying it.

Last month we looked at improving the current situation in your workplace, this month we are focusing on how to work out what your ideal job will be.

Often when we are in a job that we don�t particularly like or have done for a while it�s hard to see beyond that to decide what other type of work you could do. We can easily feel pigeon holed into one type of role or stumped at what other work to look for, believing we only have experience of one type of job. It�s very easy to get caught up into fitting into certain job titles rather than actually getting creative, working out what you want from a job, what skills you can offer and then creating a job that fits all of that. This is what we are going to look at here, please leave any generalised ideas about job roles to the side and let�s focus on what you want and what you have to offer.


What are your skills?

Make a list of all the skills you have to offer, the ones you have learnt through your employment and any other ones you use outside of work.

If you are finding this tricky think back to past feedback you have received through out your career and ask your colleagues, friends or boss. Another way to explore this is to look through the job ads each week and highlight the skills you have from each ad. When doing this over a period of a few weeks you might start to notice a trend in the type of jobs you will be good at as well.

What is your experience?

Now make a list of what experience you have, what have you achieved in your roles so far, what have you learnt, where have you used those skills you thought about above? Thinking about all of this will be useful to back up your beliefs about the skills you have, strengthen your confidence in yourself for what you have achieved so far and will also be good to draw upon in interviews.

If you could have a dream job what would it be?

Was there ever a job you dreamed about doing when you were younger that you since abandoned any hope of achieving?

Is there something you have always thought �Oh that would be a fabulous job� but for some reason never thought you could do it?

Don�t worry if you can�t think of anything, not every one has a �dream job� but if you do it�s good to bring it up again to the fore front of your mind.

If you can think of one, what is stopping you from achieving it now? Is there a limiting belief that is holding you back?

Remove all of the barriers and constraints, if you really could do anything what would it be? Get creative.

What are the key components of that dream job that you like so much? Could they be transferred into another type of job too?

Why are you not going for this job? Ask yourself why you would be great at it? How could you use your skills you have so far in this jobs? What would you need to learn for it? What are the next steps for you to move towards getting this job? Perhaps it is time to follow your dream��

What do you enjoy doing?

It might seem like a strange concept if you are stuck in a job you really dislike to conceive of the idea of actually having fun whilst working but it is possible! Think about what you love to do, what are your passions, what gets you excited. Think outside of work, what are you really interested in, what do you love to talk about with your friends, what do you dream about?

Once you have a list of these things you can then start to get creative about how you could fit them into a job? What kinds of jobs offer these aspects?

What is important for you in a job?

What are the key elements for you in a job�

How do you want to feel in a job?
What location would you like?
What type of environment would it be? (eg relaxed, media, corporate, creative)
Do you want to work alone or as part of a team?
How much money would you like to make?
Do you want to be office based, home, out and about etc?
What responsibilities would you like?
Is there a particular role you would like?
What tasks would you like to be doing?

What are your values?

What are the top ten values that are important for you to feel everyday. An example of a list of values could be:

Honesty
Loyalty
Integrity
Growth
Leadership
Excitement
Fun
Creativity
Friendships
Making a difference

Once you have your key list of things that are important for you to experience this can then help you to work out if a job will be right for you. For example looking at the list above perhaps a team leader for an events team at a charity might be a suitable job, it will probably include making a difference, fun, creativity, leadership and possibly some or all of the others too. You need to be in a job that helps you feel you values otherwise you just wont be happy.

Piecing it all together

After working through all of the above hopefully you might have a clearer idea about what you are good at, what you have to offer and also the key elements you want from a job. The next step is to go on an exploration to find that job that will fit everything you have to offer and what will make you happy. Look at your lists and brainstorm what kind of jobs might fit what you are looking for? Again look through all the job sections in a paper (rather than limiting yourself to the industry you are currently in) highlight the parts of the job descriptions that stand out to you now and start to notice if a pattern develops.

Start speaking to the people you know who might be able to help, is there anyone you know working in the industry you would like to break into, is there any one you admire who might be able to offer some advice?

Are there any introduction courses you could do to get a taste of a new direction? For example if you are interested in fashion and media but don�t know in what direction, you could take an Introductory course in Fashion Media. Get some college prospectuses and see if any courses leap out at you. Go to careers fairs for inspiration.

Do not feel like to have to suddenly find out what you dream job is, once you have established what is important for you and what you would enjoy then think of the next few weeks or months as a time of discovery and investigation. Get creative and think of all the different things you could do to explore all your options, you just never know what could leap out at you whilst doing all of this.