tracy@proactive-coaching.co.uk
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As these guides are about advice from people who have been through, I thought it would be good to end with some of their concluding thoughts.
Read MoreIt helps to prepare yourself for the impact of retirement. Although it may be something you have been working towards, it can bring out many mixed emotions including a loss of identity and a sense of routine at one end of the spectrum to euphoria of being free at the other.
Read MoreFirst impressions do count, so decide the impression to you want to leave with key stakeholders at the end of the first week.
Read MoreIf you are marketing yourself as a consultant, it is important that you think about what problems you can solve rather than focussing on previous roles that you have had. If you are setting up as a contractor or interim tailor your areas of expertise to make it clear what you can do for your clients.
Read MoreIf you have not worked for yourself before it can be a daunting proposition. It is important to evaluate your reasons for wanting to be self-employed and understand the advantages and also the disadvantages. The advantages include being in control of what you do and not be involved with office politics. You also have more control over when you work, so if you are looking for a better work life balance then it may be an option.
Read MoreWhen it comes to interviews my advice is preparation, preparation, preparation. Most people find it difficult to talk about themselves and by practicing this gets more familiar.
Read MoreHaving developed your CV, LinkedIn profile and elevator pitch and identified your routes to market, it is essential to have a clear plan of action.
Read MoreNetworking is engaging with people you know, both via work and in your personal life. I advise that you approach networking in a very organised, thorough way.
Read MoreNetworking is key to securing a great role and it is this topic which elicited the greatest response from my networks when I asked about sharing advice. Studies show between 70% and 80% of all jobs come from people’s networks.
Read MoreNow that you have your CV, your elevator pitch and your LinkedIn profile sorted it’s time to take your message to market. There are for main routes to market: recruiters, job boards, your networks and direct approaches. This guide will cover the first two routes.
Read MoreLinkedIn plays a very important role in your job search: it is used not only by the vast majority of recruiters but also by in-house recruitment teams and by hiring managers themselves.
Read MoreI often am asked ‘what does the perfect CV look like?’ and the answer is, it doesn’t exist.
Read MoreOnce you have clarity about what you would like you to do next, I would advise you to create a 20-30 second elevator pitch. This will be useful when talking to recruiters and your network and will help with writing your CV and LinkedIn profile.
Read MoreHaving done the exercises as suggested in previous guides it’s now time to start funnelling those down and deciding what is your direction of travel, what is it you really want to do.
Read MoreI encourage people to take a step back and explore different options rather than automatically applying for a role that is similar to what they have previously been doing. The analysis of your skills and values could help you uncover some alternative options and this ‘crazy ideas’ exercise may uncover more.
Read MoreAs well as identifying the things that you’re good at and you enjoy it’s also really useful to understand what your career values are. For example do you like autonomy?, do you like structure?, do you like a team around you or do you prefer to work on your own?, how to you like to be managed?, how important is the values of an organisation to you? The ‘good day’ exercise we covered in part two should help you when you look back to understand what your career values are.
Read MoreIf you find yourself looking for another role it may be a really good time to take stock and work out what you love to do as well as what you are good at. The more you understand yourself, the more you will be able to identify the right career path for you.
Read MoreWhether the decision to leave an organisation was forced or planned you may find that you experience several different emotions such as denial, panic, loss of confidence, euphoria and blame. Rather than a steady change of emotions often you will feel differently day by day.
Read MoreI have been wanting to write a guide to finding a new job for some time and thought it would be great to include advice from some of the hundreds of individuals that I have coached over the last 10 years.
Read MoreOrganisations often have no clear ideas of what they want from team coaching, partly because there is no widely accepted definition of its purpose. However, it is important that everyone involved with the team coaching process including the sponsor, the leader, the team itself and the coach, have clarity as to what it is and the benefits it will bring.
Read MoreI recently conducted some research into the effectiveness of coaching in helping individuals overcome the Imposter Phenomenon. I have put two posts together summarising this research: the first is an explanation of what the Imposter Phenomenon is and the second are some tips to help individuals overcome some of the negative symptoms.
Read MoreInterim Management can be a highly rewarding and satisfying career choice. But what skills do you need to become an interim manager? This blog explores some key questions you need to ask yourself if you are considering becoming an interim manager.
Where is your depth of expertise? It is absolutely vital as an interim that you understand where your depth of expertise lies. And by this, I do not mean a list of job titles. Clients do not care what you were, only what problems you can solve for them, where you have ‘been there and done it before’. Make sure you have a clear understanding of this before you launch yourself as an interim.
Use of self is a difficult concept to put in words, harder to put into action, and can be demonstrated more easily than described. However, it can be a very effective tool in a coach’s kit bag. Some coaches describe the use of self as simply self-disclosure, where personal information is shared by the coach to help understanding and the development of the coach/coachee relationship.
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