COACHING FOR CAREER CHANGE
What follows are the questions I hear my clients ask most frequently. If they resonate with you, coaching can help you find answers.
I want to change career fields, but I feel overwhelmed and lost. What concrete steps do I need to take to get a sense of direction?
Most people going through a major career change experience this phase as a kind of limbo with sometimes quite extreme and often changing states of mind. So, welcome to the club. Although confusion and insecurities are an essential characteristic of this phase, there are ways of thinking about it that will give you more confidence about which steps are the best to take next. One way is a 5-phase model of career transition that I have developed based on the experience of hundreds of people I have worked with in the course of their own individual career changes.
How do I decide whether to leave academia or continue to pursue a career in academic research?
It’s one of the hardest decisions my clients face. Pro and contra lists don’t help because there are equally good reasons for either decision. Asking other people how they would decide doesn’t help, because they are not you. Reading job ads doesn’t help, because that still does not tell you if this possible future job could fulfil you as much as your research. What does help is to get to know all the parts inside you and in your life that constitute the current chaos. What also helps is to realise that you can slowly grow into this decision by making tiny, non-existential, decisions every day. This approach is partly based on Herminia Ibarra’s test-and-learn cycle described in Working Identity.
How do I translate my academic and research skills to industry or public sector jobs?
As long as you have no clue into what “language” (i.e. what job field and sector) to translate your skills into, it’s an impossible task. That does not mean that you need to have it all figured out before you can even start with the translation work. Here is an approach that is both playful and analytical and that you can download for free. You pick a job field that you find at least in some respects attractive with the intention to play with it. No need to commit. Then you follow the instructions of this method. The result will be more confidence and fluency in the language of that job field – which is immensely useful for writing powerful applications and your LinkedIn-profile.
How can I know if there are truly interesting and suitable jobs for me outside of academia?
You can’t and you won’t for as long as you don’t go out there to look and to experience that ominous black box. Again, that does not mean that you need to leave your current job and commit fully to a career outside of academia. It simply means that the stronger your bias to action becomes (as opposed to your bias to thinking), the more you will make discoveries that will bring light into that black box. My approach here is informed by the framework and mindset of Design Thinking.
HERE IS HOW COACHING WITH ME WORKS
The power of coaching only unfolds with your commitment to walk the talk. It’s a lot like physical exercise, meditation, or learning a new language. Doing it every once in a while, or only for the first three weeks of the new year, is unlikely to get you the results you want. It’s only through daily practice that we change thought patterns and behaviours, and through a continuous reflection of our inner processes throughout this learning path. This is why my coaching offer is more like a gym membership or a meditation programme: to support you to follow through with your intentions.
THE ENTIRE PROCESS LOOKS LIKE THIS
- We chat for 20-30 minutes (free) via Zoom.
- You tell me what you are looking for.
- I tell you what I can offer you.
- If you’re interested, I send you an offer, the Coaching Agreement, and materials for our first session, the Journey Mapping.
- You then decide if you want to work with me.
- 120 minutes via Zoom.
- Who are you now? We create a visual map of your strengths, needs, wishes, and limiting beliefs, as a starting base for your journey of change.
- Who do you want to become? This part is about creating your Future Self or Selves. It provides direction and a goal.
- We define 2-3 concrete actions or practices that lead you towards this goal.
- We define corresponding Daily Questions with a tool called TrackingCoach.
- We schedule a check-in call two weeks later to reflect on your experience and evaluate your progress.
- You decide how to go forward from here.
- Continued Coaching support in six 30-minute 1-on-1 sessions with me.
- Close guidance by me through your documentation of your progress in the TrackingCoach App. We will adapt the Daily Questions to your needs to provide you maximum benefit.
- Reflection and evolution of your strategies and insights.
- Support in finding ways to overcome your inner and outer obstacles.
- Templates (e.g. of CVs and cover letters) and workbook if beneficial for your progress.
- Definition of next steps in each session.
- Minimum duration: 6 months.
- Continued coaching support in monthly 2-hour group sessions with 4-8 people with a similar Coaching goal.
- Weekly check-ins (30 minutes) with an accountability and empathy partner from the group.
- Close guidance by mw through your documentation of your progress in the TrackingCoach app. We will adapt the Daily Questions to your needs to provide you maximum benefit.
- Group reflection on your strategies and insights.
- Group support in finding ways to overcome your inner and outer obstacles.
- Definition of next steps.
- Workbook and templates if beneficial for your progress.
- Duration: 6 months.
- Dates, Saturdays from 10-12 a.m.: 02.09.2023, 07.10.2023, 11.11.2023, 09.12.2023, 13.01.2024, 10.02.2024
- If needed, the group coaching sessions will be held in English.
FEEDBACK FROM CLIENTS
The Journey Mapping Session was already a great experience. The materials you sent me beforehand were fun to work through and insightful. They got me thinking more concretely about my strengths, skills and values, and we could build on that in the Journey Mapping Session itself.
My new job is super fun! Most of my colleagues have a background in psychology or business administration and I am really glad that despite (or because of?) my degree in art history I feel like I belong here and can contribute my specific expertise. You really helped me find orientation with my career planning and opened a perspective to me that I would never have thought of without you.
Most of all, this coaching gave me self-confidence! I was able to enforce my wish for an 80% position. Regarding the salary, I negotiated a bonus if my employers are satisfied with my performance at the end of the year. The firm is very small, still in the startup phase, and I am their most expensive colleague.
I learned a lot from you. For instance, before I applied to SAP, I contacted my friend who works there, and he organised a small tour for us, where I met and chatted with his manager, who showed us what the daily work life is like. When I later applied for the job, my current manager asked my friend’s manager about me. I think the tour I had helped a lot.
I want to thank you for ALL your support. You discovered the vacancy, encouraged me to apply, then gave me a push when I was sort of thinking to myself “ah, why bother applying, I will probably never get it anyway”. Then you worked amazing wonders on my CV and helped me write the cover letter. Then all the essential support in the interview preparation. And last, but not least, your encouraging SMS on the day of the interview. I am so grateful to you.
I have tried out your suggestions of prototyping conversations which helped me to see the conversations I had been planning more as a way to test my hypotheses. My most important hypotheses about my new job were that I would fit in the team and that the people there really enjoyed their work. The startup ticked these boxes whereas the corporate job did not. So, the decision was clear!
