Questions to Ask Yourself
The quote at the top of the Absolute Transitions website for the month of March 2024, is about the art and science of asking questions. Asking insightful questions, and more importantly listening intently to the answers from the individual you are asking the questions, is an important tool that I use with my job search clients. As I have written about in other posts, the Informational Interview is a tool that I feel is not used to its full potential by many job searchers. Learning from others such things as the status of an industry at that point in time, challenges they are facing, paths others may have taken to make inroads in an industry and so forth, is all valuable information to have as you are conducting your job search.
However, one individual we often overlook in terms of asking questions, while we are pondering what we may want to do next in our career journey is ourselves. Some just accept that because they have worked in a certain job function or certain industry for a number of years, that the next logical step is to stay in that industry in the same role. Others are obsessed with getting employment quickly, (and I realize that individuals may have important cashflow needs to address), that they are willing to take the first opportunity which comes along. And, still others don’t feel comfortable going through assessment or analysis of what may be right for them until they realize that they have been unhappy in most every job role they have ever taken, and have only done so because they are afraid to face what are other ways to both make an income, but actually enjoy the type of work they are doing.
As part of the outplacement practice for which I currently work, one of the things they commit to each client is to write them a resume which will help to “brand” them with the skillsets and talents that will make them attractive to employers they may be targeting. While some of the clients I work with absolutely need the resume service of the outplacement process, I am finding that even clients that already have a strong resume, or who are more experienced professionals, find the process of benefit in terms of both getting to know themselves and how to present themselves at this point in their career.
The “branding” process has clients prompted by questions from two different directions. The first direction is to look forward as to what they may want to do next in their career. They are prompted with such questions as:
What I Do:
How I Do It (or) Why I Am Good at What I Do:
Why Do I Like Doing It:
What Is Unique About Me:
My Qualifications:
My Specialties:
The other direction is to look at what you have accomplished in your career. That is best addressed by using what is know as the STARS technique. In using such an approach, and using the acronym STAR you are doing the following:
S: Describe the Situation
T: What Tasks were involved?
A: What Action did you take?
R: What was the Result?
Taking the time to reflect on the answers to such questions, assists one in determining what they want from their life at this time. It helps them to better make choices on what avenues to pursue. Additionally, it helps in communicating with others how your skills will be able to help them.
So, if you are facing a significant change in your life, (it could be a job or career change, or this process would work if you were moving to a different city, moving on from a family crisis, etc.), remember that while asking questions of others is important, be prepared to ask questions, and receive feedback from the most important person in your life. That person is the one you see in your bathroom mirror each morning.
