Personal Career Strategies

Personal Career Strategies SLA Conference Toronto June 2005

Dr. Laurie Anderson Welcome!

Objectives…..Have a conversation • How to take charge of your work future • How to identify your career dreams • Minefields to avoid • Additional resources

Rules for the Road • Leave with something you didn’t have when you came in • Tell me what you need • Spend the time; do the work

My Definition of SUCCESS … • Doing what we love … • Doing it ‘well’…(getting an “A”) • For people who value us and our work … • In a way that fits with our other life priorities….

TALENTS: (Skills, Knowledge, Experience) PASSIONS: Interests, Values EMPLOYER NEEDS: Current 911 Emerging 411 Career Edge

Career Strategies Include: • IMMEDIATE aspirations (i.e. career goals and job enrichment) • LONGER TERM aspirations (i.e. career direction) • STEPS and SUPPORT required for fulfillment

Key Terms • Career • Job • Work • Job History • Resume • Career Plan • Career Management

Sources of Motivation: • Pursuing something we long for but have never experienced or achieved • Improving the fit between our unique calling and our current assignment • Fixing a ‘broke’ in our work or its relationship to our other life priorities

Choices, Choices... • Either YOU choose or EVENTS choose • Forks in the road appear via the passage of time alone… • I want YOU to do more choosing • The process applies to a range of choices: • changing/enriching your current role (same job) • changing your actual job (same career) • changing your actual field (new job/career)

Specific Choices • Same job; improve the fit • Same job; improve ME (KSAs) • Same career; change job or company • Change career

Some Context Setting • The world is changing • And so are you ….

PAC Model Old Way Parent Parent New Way Adult Adult Child Child

Proven Process Assess self (our needs/wants) Assess options (their needs/wants) Make Decisions (prioritize; face tradeoffs) Write a Plan (theme-based plan) Get Support (can’t do it alone)_

But I know the job I want! • Before you get too attached to a solution to your career woes (ie, getting promoted; starting your own business)…. - tell me what you want more or/less of - tell me how you want to serve others - tell me the tradeoffs you will make - write it down (using themes!) - research a range of options that could work - organize your sponsors and support

Self-Assessment Categories • History • Skills • Interests • Values • Style • Beliefs

Some 21st century truths… • Careers = immediate and long term quests for meaning, service, fit NOT a series of job titles or promotions • Much of what the marketplace needs hasn’t been identified yet • We will be as happy at work as we agree to be

Sample Themes • Expertise….at innovation; cost savings; leadership; JIT information for market analyses • Creativity….graphic depictions of ideas; org structure • Deal making…for start-ups; for broad org change

OPTIONS • Change the JOB structure • Change YOUR impact

Now about YOU? • How many of YOU see yourselves at a professional or personal turning point?

Adults care about… • Making a difference • Learning • Right balance • Right reward • Right recognition and visibility • Fun

NO MATTER WHAT… • Decide WHAT you want to get an “A”in during your career • Stress/unhappiness comes from NOT excelling at our priorities

A Helpful Career Plan is.. • Written • Reviewed by others • Based on data • Theme based (not targeting a job title) • Identifies WIFMs for employer and candidate • Sponsored by advocates

Assessement Thinking • More of / Less of • Job Breakdown (content; role; context; approach) • Think themes

Sample Plan • What (essential job elements) • Why (indiv/org rationale) • How (sample titles; roles) • Where (possible areas; types of org) • When (tentative timing) • Who (key sponsors and roles) • Next steps (actions; milestones)

Why write it down??? “The most fundamental choice we have to make in our lives is to create a future of our own choosing…and the initial step toward real autonomy we must take is to put into words a future we wish to create.” Peter Block

Career Plan Formats • One page • What, what, who (with/for), how, when • More of/Less of • DIFFERENT THAN A RESUME

What does the market want? • BETTER • FASTER • CHEAPER

Common Mistakes • Skipped the assessment (no themes) • No written plan • Confusing plan with a resume • No study of options or opportunites • Compromising (even in ‘dream’ stage) • Fear (of losing what we hate) • TOO UNHAPPY…MUST LEAP NOW!

What’s in a Job?? • Content • Role • Context/environment • Approach

Success and Failure I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is in trying to please everyone….. Bill Cosby

Calling, by Richard Leider “Calling is not unlike purpose but is vocationally focused…people who have a sense of calling around their work tend to love what they do and experience a level of joy on the job that many of us dream about…Calling is the inner urge to give our gifts away…Our calling is our embedded destiny; it is the seed of our identity…”

Checklist…Do you really know: • What you want to contribute • What your unique gifts are • What you want to get an “A” in and what your grade is now • What the tradeoffs will be and how you will manage them • Who really needs you (whether they know it or not)

Possible Next Steps • Create an accountability network • Conduct a complete self-assessment • Conduct a market assessment • Find the intersection of your priorities and the market needs • Draft a plan and share it with others • NEVER stay stuck

In closing • Don’t be a FROG

To contact me…. Drlaurieanderson.com

Personal Career Strategies