Working with a career coach or career counselor can be a invaluable investment for your career transition. I can’t tell you how many times I have potential clients contact me and say, “I read these career books but I still don’t know what I want to do”, “I took a career assessment online and it told me I should be a circus clown”, or something they were not interested in at all. I understand how this feels. Some of us feel...

I hear so often from my career coaching clients that they just fell into their current career, or it is the career they thought they “should” pursue; sometimes it’s a just career that someone else suggested to them so they tried it out. The common theme here is people aren’t pro-actively choosing their career path. They aren’t spending quality time thinking about it. Instead they’re reacting to circumstance, to what someone...

I met with a VP at a public relations agency, Mary, a few months ago. We talked about LinkedIn and how it is an important resource for job search, and for career management. I know many people are not on LinkedIn and many others feel they don’t need to be. Some professionals are at the top of their career path, or even the tails end of their career and don’t see the need for continued networking. I disagree with this perspe...

When I start the coaching process with a new client, I am often asked, “when can I start applying for new jobs and looking for new opportunities?” I typically ask them to wait a few weeks until we’ve gotten into the meat of our ideal career program, but tell them they don’t have to wait very long.Looking for job openings in your possible new field of interest will help you learn about the industry and what is out there. Thi...

I read a great article in Newsweek recently about how information overload is paralyzing our ability to make good decisions. It reminded me of a great piece of advice I am always telling my clients about defining their career path.I wanted to share it with you because it's a critical step in identifying your ideal career and finding life balance. Finding your career direction is a process that takes time and effort and a lo...

I spoke at the Junior League of Atlanta Wednesday night on “Find a job you love: 6 Steps to clarify your career direction”. It was a great event. I was thrilled to receive this feedback from one of the participants: “Enjoyed meeting you last night is such an understatement! Like I said, I got more out of that hour and 15 minutes than I did in most of my college classes! I went home and talked my husbands ear off about it!”....

I wanted to respond to a few of the points from this article on MarketWatch.com, “Job-hunting tips for new college grads”. The author touches on some questions I often get asked by my clients who are job searching, so the issues addressed I find very relevant.Here’s my take on some of the questions she addresses:Should you follow a boyfriend/girlfriend to a new city if you don’t have a job?I don’t think this is a good idea....

A few years ago, I was giving a presentation at a Re:Focus on Careers event (this is a great networking group by the way). A man who was job searching came up to me and we started talking. He was asking me questions, and when I asked for his contact information, he had to scribble his name on a ripped up piece of paper. I wasn’t even in a position to hire him and I was not impressed. Imagine doing that same thing with a pro...

I was recently privileged to give a presentation at Agnes Scott. I was approached at the end of the event by a woman named Kelly who had just been on a job interview a few days prior. She came up to me and said gI havenft heard from them yet, is that a bad sign?!h I told her she needed to relax, worrying doesnft help, and it sounded like she was making an assumption. It had only been a few days since shefd had the job...

I was working with one of my evening coaching groups recently, and two of the women mentioned that they felt overwhelmed by the process of clarifying their career direction. They were progressing through their homework, but beyond that, felt like “How do I really know what I want to do? And am I really going to figure this out; it seems like such a daunting task?” I explained to them that this is a normal feeling. I hear t...