Great Occupations

In part one and two I talked about the first ingredient of your brand – your skills, talents and traits. In part three, I’m going to tell you about the last two ingredients that go into making your individual brand... Passion and Accomplishments. So, you have the whole recipe now. Take your Skills/Talents/Traits, add in your Passion and top it off with your Accomplishments. Okay, so you do know what you’re passionate about, right? Hey, maybe you're not. I’ve learned to not make assumptions that folks know this stuff. I mean, it’s hard to find the time to sit around and self-reflect. Life is busy. Life is distracting. I asked someone recently what she enjoys doing in her spare time, and she remarked, “What spare time?” If you don’t know what you’re passionate about... Read the rest of this entry »

Taking stock of your career assets includes taking a look at your personal traits. Traits are not the same as personal values, nor are they the same as skills. Traits specifically describe how we do our work in the world. Create a list of your traits – you can find traits online, of course, but the best list I’ve ever seen is in What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles. Round up what you think are your top 5 traits and then, if you dare... Read the rest of this entry »

Most of the time clients have a hard time deciding what factors they want in a job, and an easy time figuring out what they don't want. This exercise is simple sounding, but can be challenging. The task is to list out all the factors that you don't want in a job. Read the rest of this entry »

In his book, Release Your Brilliance, Simon T. Bailey speaks about his belief that you have what he calls a Universal Assignment. He adds, “And you are the only person on this planet of 6.5 billion people that can fulfill that assignment. You are here on Earth for a very specific reason. There is a void in the world that needs your touch, your insight, your wisdom you magic. You are here to be different and to make a difference.” Ah, making a difference... that intrinsic quality we find so elusive in our careers. I once read a survey in which employees were asked what they want most from their jobs. Choosing from a list of options such as... Read the rest of this entry »

“Informational interviewing” is a time-honored method of career exploration. Clients who are just getting started doing this kind of research usually ask me about how they should make contact and what they should say to break the ice. Should you make contact by email or by phone? There’s not a magic formula to follow, but what you decide to do can depend on... Read the rest of this entry »