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No 66                                                                               August 2005

Want to Work for Yourself or Work Portfolio? - Part 3

Continuing from the last NEWORKer the list of myths that discourage the entry to Portfolio work

Long and detailed CVs offer no guarantees when it comes to getting an interview. As we know, employers can receive a huge amount of applications for some positions. Their first task, which is often extremely time consuming, is to ‘screen out’ those applicants who do not appear to have the relevant skills or experience. So the first step, is to make sure your CV is short and concise, highlighting your areas of expertise right up front. Sometimes we can be tempted to place too much information in our CV, trying to demonstrate every tiny detail for each role we have ever held. So if your CV is starting to resemble a short novel, it’s time for some ruthless editing. A general rule of thumb is more detail of the roles you’ve held in the last five years and summarise the ones before that. The CV is to get you face to face with the prospective employer or business owner. Your interview will provide you with an opportunity to talk in more detail about the positions you’ve held, so help prospective employers to get you there by giving them the information they need at the beginning of the process.

Moving up the career ladder to positions of increasing responsibility, isn’t the preferred career path for everyone – and the good news is that it doesn’t have to be. Two alternative approaches are ‘lateral’ career paths and ‘portfolio’ careers. Lateral career paths involve staying in the same or a similar career role but moving from one industry to another or laterally across an organisation. Portfolio careers (which is my personal option) are all about finding out what it is you love to do and then finding a variety of ways of expressing it. This approach provides you with a great deal of variety and encourages you to explore options you may not have considered before.

This myth often stems from our beliefs – about ourselves and the world around us. Just because you’ve pursued one particular career path to date, doesn’t mean that you’re not capable of pursuing another. Yes, you may need to consider re-training, depending on your new direction, but you’ll also have a lot of skills and experience that you’ll be able to transfer to a new career path. Being clear about what you have to offer is a first step and believing in your ability to follow through and have what you want is the next step.

Changing careers is like any other form of life change. You’ll find the process so much easier when you’re ready to make the change – and only you will know when that is.

Sometimes when we start thinking about making a change in our careers it all starts to feel ‘too hard’. By the time we’ve weighed up our options, thought about the direction we’d like to take and how to make the best use of our skills and experience – we’ve either given ourselves a headache or convinced ourselves that we’re better off staying where we are. For some, the pain of staying where they are needs to outweigh the pain of making a change before they’re ready to make a move. We can also get too ‘cerebral’ about the whole issue and end up wrapping ourselves up in knots. This is when having someone to talk through your options with you is a good idea. It doesn’t need to be a career coach. It can be anyone who’s able to give you objective advice and support. Sometimes all we need is someone to listen. Make the change when you’re ready and the end result is likely to be more successful – because you’ll have the motivation to make it work.

Myth #22 – "I’m too old to change careers"

Societal conditioning has been so effective that it’s led us to believe that we have nothing to offer anyone when we reach a ‘certain age’ – whatever that is these days. Some feel it’s in their late 50’s, others in their 40’s and even more depressing, some feel it kicks in when they hit their late 30’s. At the end of the day if you truly believe that you have nothing to offer anyone anymore – then that’s exactly what you’ll get back from other people - a big fat zero.

At the risk of simplifying the process, it takes three key things to make any career change a successful one – regardless of age. The first is being clear about what you want to do and why. The second is understanding how to channel your past experience and knowledge in to your future career direction. And finally, you need a healthy dose of self-belief, because if you don’t believe in your ability to make a change and add value – then how will you convince other people?

I’m a strong believer that you get back what you send out in this world – so believe in your ability to make the change, set your course and make it happen.

This myth is closely related to the previous one and the key word to pick up on here is the word "should". Whenever we catch ourselves saying this word it indicates a ‘rule’. A rule is something we tell ourselves about how we, and the world around us "should" operate. If someone else is using it when they’re talking to you about your career – it’s their rule not yours. What you need to ask yourself is where do these rules come from? Who says that you ‘should’ retire when you get to a certain age? Personally speaking, I intend to carry on doing what I love for as long as I want to - regardless of age or hair colour! So, if like me, the thought of a full retirement fills you with images of walls and you climbing up them - then look for new ways to evolve your career – not kill it off.

Back the bus up my friends – there’s that "should" word again. If you’re able to take some time out to consider your career options, I strongly encourage you to do so. If you’re not in a position to take some time out, but would still like to consider your options, why not take on some temporary or short-term contract work for a while? This helps to pay the bills while you’re considering your options, takes the pressure off and gives you the much needed breather to make a considered choice about your next career move. That may also introduce other options for you to consider.

Again, it’s often our conditioning that helps us to place undue pressure on ourselves and our knee-jerk reaction is often to jump in to the first role that comes along. When this happens we often find ourselves in a role that doesn’t meet our needs or make us happy. And when this happens we make ourselves feel better about it by telling ourselves that "it’s only a job anyway, it’s not suppose to make me happy". So, if you want to kiss goodbye to dreading Mondays and looking forward to Fridays – take a breath and make your next career move count.

This is a quick one. See the above response to Myth #24. There are always ways of earning a living if you need ‘pay the bills’ money and we all know that there have been times in our lives when we’ve had to get pretty creative in finding those opportunities. So, don’t let your finances become your ‘out clause’ for not making the career change you want to make. If it’s really important to you – you will and can make it happen.

Sometimes when we’re considering making a change in our careers we can begin to feel some anxiety about jumping outside our comfort zone. It could be that we’ve been with the same organisation for a while and feel nervous about making a change, or we may feel apprehensive about what we have to offer a new employer.

If you feel this way, it may be that you’re not ready to make the change yet or perhaps you need to understand more about yourself and your new career path before you make your move. The main thing is to be honest with yourself about where the fear is coming from and then to take action accordingly. Perhaps researching your options will give you the confidence you need to make the move when you know the time is right. Whatever you do – don’t ignore how you’re feeling – as taking even small steps towards where you want to be is better than taking no steps at all.

There's more and they will be included in the next NEWORKer

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