Career Crossroads :: Career/Life Coaching


Career/Business Coaching	Job Search Consulting	High Impact Resumes

The Chinese word for "crisis", which is written in pictures called ideograms, is a combination of the picture words for "danger" and "opportunity". An unexpected job change can be seen as a crisis, but within that crisis is an opportunity. Change can cause anxiety, fear, frustration, and depression, but it can also invite you to find the opportunity that exists within the change, the opportunity to grow into something greater and better than what you previously imagined possible.

Denise offers individual career counseling to help you find greater satisfaction in your work. Perhaps a job and/or career change is the answer. Perhaps you're interested in starting your own business, or perhaps you just need to do something different in your current position. If you're at a crossroad in your career, this would be a good time to determine which direction provides YOUR greatest opportunity. Below are some basic steps to finding your ideal work.

Career and Small Business Planning Services

Self-Assessment -- The first step to finding your ideal work is to thoroughly understand and be aware of Who You Are. You need to fully understand and acknowledge your strengths, weaknesses, aptitudes, values, personality characteristics, attitudes, and interests. All of these are important factors to consider when planning your career or a small business. Through a series of self-exploration questions and exercises, you can come to fully understand your own personal characteristics and style -- the first step in career planning. Only by taking into consideration your unique talents, gifts, skills and desires will you truly be able to find your ideal career -- whether it be a new job or a new business. (Please click here for more information on Entrepreneurial Assessment and Opportunities seminar.)

Clarify Your Goals -- Here we need to determine and clarify your real goals . What is it that you really want? Perhaps your main goal is to work from home, or to have more balance in your life. Or maybe recognition is what you strive for. Here we will determine your driving motivation. What gets you really excited about life? Your ideal work should include passion, and at this step you'll determine what you are really passionate about.

Look at Options -- After you have completed the self-exploration exercises and have clarified your goals, you are ready to look at your options. Here you take a look at future trends and the various things that the world needs to have done, taking into consideration your personal goals established in the last step. You should look at several options that can accomplish those goals. You might consider a needed service or product for starting your own business, as well as national employment trends and statistics. What are the hot jobs of the future and where would you best fit based on your Personal Career Profile? From this information, you can select a few options that you wish to explore further.

Research and Decision-Making -- After you narrow down your options to a few select possibilities, you're at the stage where you should do some thorough research before making a decision. This step could take anywhere from a few days to a few years. We will look at several ways to effectively gather information before making a decision that is right for you today. This research might include scheduling an informational interview or researching possible government grants for starting a business. At the end of this step, you will have made a decision on what you want to do and what environment in which you want to do it. You will have created an Ideal Vision.

Create a Plan of Action -- Now that you have your Ideal Vision, you are ready to create a Plan of Action to help you get from here to there. This plan should include long-term as well as short-term goals, and include the goals you have for your personal life as well as career. Here you look at education or training required, interim jobs that may be required, and obstacles you may need to overcome. If you decide to start a business, the first step is writing a business plan.

Facing the Fear

One of the obstacles to overcome in any life/career transition is "facing the fear." It is important to understand that these fears are very normal and that every person who has successfully achieved a dream has had these fears. The people who achieve their dreams move forward despite their fears. With every new venture, there is risk. Research has found that those who take moderate risks tend to be the most successful. One of the areas we will cover is your risk willingness vs. security needs. Your career plan will encompass these two factors.

How to Proceed

Within you now is all the knowledge that you need to create a career plan and work toward achieving your dreams. My job is to help you access what you already know, and use that knowledge to move forward. You may be at any one of the above stages now. I can offer assistance in one or all of these stages. Sometimes all that is needed is a sounding board to help you make a commitment to move forward with your vision.

I work with clients nationwide by telephone and email. I offer a 15 minute Complimentary Consultation to determine where you are in the career planning process, and to talk about how I might be of assistance. If you have any questions, please feel free to submit your request for free consultation.