Strategy, not (just) Tactics
An arrow has no purpose without a target. When thinking about your career, do you really know where you're trying to go?
Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash
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In just over a week it would have been my 17th anniversary at my last company. I left just before the 16th, needing to get out to do...I didn't even know what yet. In some ways I still don't know. I just knew it was time for that to end. I needed to work on new problems in new domains, to recover from burnout & working long-term with a narcissist, and to follow a different intellectual muse. I needed that to be done. And I needed naps and quality time with my therapist to work through it all.
I actually went to a job coach after I left, half-thinking I was ready to move right into something new. I wasn't. I thought that if I just did enough of the right small things, I could somehow keep moving forward despite having no idea of what that even meant. Somehow all of the decompression I needed would magically resolve itself. It wasn't until I took a few moments to really step away from the grind that the seed that turned into Getting the Nod was planted. I'm happy for that. (Thanks for your support.)
This isn't a journal entry, don't worry. In my posts I often talk about my current work in terms of job searches, going into some of the nuts and bolts about cover letters, resumes, and what have you. The reality is that's actually a small part of what I focus on with my clients. Many aren't looking for a new job at all, instead wanting to be a good manager, launch a new endeavor, bolster confidence, or plan for 5 years down the line. Even for those that are actively searching, I don't really think of the search as The Thing.
You don't exist in a vacuum. We have to navigate our external and internal worlds about anything we do, reconciling our own needs with what's being presented. Navigating a career doesn't exist in a vacuum either. You have coworkers, bosses, projects, clients, family, and your own brain all tugging you in various ways and we're often stuck with only ourselves to work through it all. My actual work is in helping with that navigation and it's incredibly rewarding in all of the forms it takes.
When people approach me for career support they’re often looking for specific activities in the same way that I thought I could put one foot in front of the other. If they have the right resume template they'll get that screening call. If they use the right action verbs they'll get that interview. If they use just the right anecdote they'll get that job. There's utility in the brass tacks of those activities but there's more to your career than just the work. No, I'm neither a life coach nor a therapist but I think it's important to accept and work with that more complicated reality. You need to know more about your internal goals to really make any of those discrete tasks as effective as they can be.
What's going right?
What's not going right?
What do you need and what do you want?
What's in the way? How might we get past it?
As you're thinking about your career, think bigger than just tactics. There is no magical resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile that's going to do all of the work for you. Those are all extensions of responses to big, meaty, sometimes existential questions. You've got to understand yourself and what you want to prepare for your next steps. An arrow has no purpose without a target. So figure out the target then focus your efforts on how to get there. And obviously, if you need support in that process, I'm here to help. I can help you with your resume, but be prepared to answer some bigger questions first.