At its core, employment is a necessity, both for people who are working today and for those who are looking for work. This need is often connected to a source of money, and for those who are jobless, it turns into a requirement that lessens the perception of selectivity when considering the available possibilities. In other words, whether it is the greatest option, the first job (or any job) that comes along may be accepted. If it wasn't the greatest choice, the job search process starts over or goes on. That is frequently the reason why a list of temporary employment appears on many resumes that I have seen in my capacity as a resume writer.
This is also closely tied to a trend I've noticed, where many of my resume customers focus more on the positions they now hold or are seeking than they do on the progression of a career. When a job turns into a career seems to be up for debate. My clients have received coaching from me on how to adopt a new perspective and consider jobs in terms of how they fit into a career goal. Regardless of the number of openings, a person may modify their mindset and self-belief by changing how they see their career and the positions they have held. As a result, they become a lot stronger job prospects.
What is a Job?
It is simple to narrow your attention to just that work and the circumstances encountered because employment is primarily tied to a personal need. If the working circumstances are uncomfortable or the required skill level is much below what has previously been acquired, taking a job out of need and hoping that it would become better over time might leave one feeling imprisoned.
When time at a job like that goes on and it seems there is no way out, as a career coach I've seen some people acquire a sense of helplessness and self-resignation. Some of my customers have been doing the same job for a long time, and because of this, their self-confidence has gotten so low that it shows in the way they speak and act.
What is a Career?
The first thing that has to be done is to alter the idea that a person's current or prior employment symbolizes who they are as a potential applicant. This is connected to the issue with chronological resumes in that the focus is on the applicant's current work rather than taking a broad picture of their career. Even if a person has only held one long-term work, they are still a compilation of all the jobs they have held. A job, or a succession of occupations, is all a part of a person's career plan, which is a larger picture.
Every position a person holds advances their career, and they gain information, skills, and talents from those positions. Because of this, I write resumes differently and place the utmost emphasis on a person's transferrable talents for the position they aspire to land in the future. It deflects attention from the applicant's existing position, which encourages recruiters and hiring managers to review the applicant's résumé in greater detail.
A chronological resume calls for a person to look at each position and attempt to determine or estimate what talents a person has, which may not be done in a competitive job market. I must first assist a person in understanding how their positions relate to their entire career, professional objectives, and career strategy before I can improve the format of their resume.
Employment, which a person can have one of throughout their lifetime, more than one at a time, or switch as their interests change, is frequently associated with and defined as a career. I work in a variety of fields, including education, writing, resume writing, career coaching, and so on. Even though I've held a variety of positions, all of my work is in some way associated with my jobs.
A career requires establishing a long-term goal and approaching each job in light of the knowledge and abilities that have been gained. Even a job that provides nothing novel or difficult but verifies that a person is prepared to search for new work or a new vocation makes some kind of contribution to that career.
For instance, regardless of the title of my profession, teaching, and leading people have always been a part of my career vocation. As a manager of training and development in a corporate setting, I moved to an academic setting where I was responsible for managing and fostering faculty while also instructing students.
Whether or not each position was ideal, flawed, advantageous, or short-term, I have always regarded it from the viewpoint of how it adds to my career. As a result, I never have to think about a job that was unfulfilling since I am constantly thinking about the wider picture and what I can do to further my career and line of work (s).
Finding Your Career Focus
Even if you want to change careers in the future, there will be instant advantages if you can alter how you see your profession. Even if you are currently working in the least ideal conditions conceivable, having a long-term perspective will help you feel in charge of your profession.
You start focusing on the skills and information you already have and are continuing to acquire rather than viewing a job or series of jobs as having no worth or signifying a failure of some sort. The actions listed below might assist you in starting to build a professional focus.
1. Define your current occupation
Define the wider picture of what you want to achieve with your career if you are regularly changing jobs and there isn't a clear pattern developed for the positions chosen. You could find it simpler to explain your occupation if you have worked at the same place of employment for a while or have held a number of comparable positions.
A person's occupation could also be defined by some of their employment. Although there are other education-related jobs that a teacher might strive toward, teaching is an example of a job and an occupation.
2. Create a vision statement
It is time to create a vision statement for your career now that you have defined the profession you are currently employed in. This does not imply that you must decide on a career path or give a detailed description of your plans for the following 20 years.
However, think about the long-term goals you have in mind. Are there several sorts or tiers of positions within your profession, for instance, that you may progress to as you acquire new information and/or skills?
3. Create a long- and short-term career plan
Once your vision statement has been formed, you may go on to develop a career plan, which will help you change your perspective and give you a sense of control over your professional future. Even if they don't have any immediate possibilities to investigate, as a career counselor, this helps many of my clients get over a feeling of powerlessness in their careers. A career plan entails setting both immediate and long-term objectives that are connected to your vision. While this does not imply that the plan must be set in stone and unable to be altered or updated, it does offer a place to start, which fosters a proactive attitude.
