Vera Adamovich was very motivated to make a career change
when she showed up at my office. She had that day signed a contract with
another career consulting firm, heard of me, and then signed up with my
organization too.
At the time she was running a home-based desktop publishing
business, the main product of which was a weekly advertising publication.
She wasn’t unhappy with the business because, as a single
mom, it had allowed her to be home with her daughters for nine years.
However, when I met Vera, the kids were 11 and 16
respectively and there wasn’t the need for her to be home as much, which caused
her situation to be less than satisfying.
Although not miserable, she was always struggling
financially because the business didn’t provide sufficient income. Vera hated
the responsibility for advertising sales that were necessary to increase the
volume of business, but it was difficult to secure good sales people. She’d
hire them and they’d last a month.
Though she knew she’d “had it” with desktop publishing, Vera
had no idea of what she wanted to do.
Assessment
After reviewing several of her more pleasant assignment
experiences, I realized Vera had one very valuable talent. She was able to
translate complicated concepts like accounting procedures, computer reports and
financial statements in such a way that people could understand and apply them.
In the past she had had jobs where she taught people how to
use software, how to interpret management reports and how to process and track
orders on an automated system.
Vera’s education wasn’t in high tech but in art, which she
used in her desktop publishing business. She loved the creativity involved with
designing graphics and derived much satisfaction from a well turned-out final
product. What was missing was people contact.
In fact, her work life was structured exactly the opposite
way than it should have been. She was spending 80% of her time at home alone
working on the computer and 20% of her time interacting with people.
It wasn’t a good job fit and she needed to reverse that
equation so that the people portion was 80% of her time and the remainder was
spent working at her computer.
She needed to be independent, and not confined to a 9-5 desk
job. In other words, she needed a variety of activities and the flexibility to
manage her own schedule.
It was actually a question of whether she was going to build
a career around her artistic talents or her communication talents. The creative
route gave her a real feeling of accomplishment, but she wasn’t able to make enough
money from that alone.
Job Choice
Armed with the knowledge of what she needed and what she
needed to avoid, Vera was able to find the perfect job in a very short time.
She got a position with Laurentian Financial Services as a Certified Financial
Planner. However, even though she works with a big company, she has a sense of
being self-employed under a structure that is similar to a real estate agent.
“It’s absolutely a people business,” she said. “When it
comes to financial planning people have problems that need solving. Dealing
with what are often huge problems to my clients, I am able to offer solutions
with ease.” Vera enjoys the level of comfort she is able to bring to her
clients. She’s happy as the captain of her own ship and totally in charge. She
can choose whether to work in her home office or her downtown office.
Most of her time is spent talking to people. When she does
have to work on the computer, she says, “It’s a joy! It comes naturally to me,
and that’s a creative outlet as well.”
She added that her income is now “great.” It can be whatever
she wants it to be. She has everything she needs to get true satisfaction from
her career.
Values + Talents = Good
Jobfit
Vera made a career decision based on values – that it was
important to be home with her daughters. A value-based decision one hears more
often is something like, “I’m going to be a millionaire by the time I’m 30.”
It’s not a bad thing to make a decision based on values, but
don’t make a decision that excludes your talents. They don’t have to be
mutually exclusive. People who make a career decision based only on values may
be setting themselves up for a job misfit and years of frustration. Vera’s
values were noble. She was trying to do the best for the kids, but her choice
didn’t match her natural interests and talents.
She could have done both. Many people get trapped in job
situations because they don’t recognize their natural inclinations – what they
do naturally and effortlessly – in terms of the right work.
Once Vera had that knowledge, she was able to spot an
opportunity that fit her to a “T”. Today, Vera’s business continues to
grow through the Independent Planning Group Inc.
More information please visit site www.jobjoy.com
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