Career Direction

Second Step: Choosing a New Career

November 1, 2017 by Tinukemi Olaoye Leave a Comment

Last week, we began to look at the steps towards making a successful career transition. Although the steps listed in this series are simple, they are important because a career change should not be carried out hastily. It should be as deliberate and intentional as possible.

In the last post, we considered the first step of accepting personal responsibility for your career. Today, we’ll look at the second step in a successful career change: Choose a New Career.

So, for some reason or the other, you have decided to make a change and leave your current career. It’s time to decide on a new career option. If you have already made the decision on what you want to do, that’s good for you. I’d still like you to read on because they might be something here for you.

How do you choose a new career?

The best way to choose a career is by discovering the best options for you based on your skills, opportunities, experiences, personality and interests. This means that, if you have not done so already, you need to go through a discovery process to identify the best career fit for you.

You do not necessarily have to have only one option, you may have a few of them, but you will probably need to prioritise them as you go along in the career transition process.

Moving from one career to the other sometimes takes months or even years. It would certainly cost you in terms of time, money and efforts. There is no point going through the processes only to realise that you have been barking up the wrong tree.

My book, ‘Create Your Ideal Career’ is essentially a guide on how to discover and create the work that is purposeful, passionate and personally-suitable for you based on carefully-identified important parameters. It explores how you can discover the right career fit for you in whatever season of life that you’re in.

This step of choosing a new career is very important because you can only make a successful transition after you understand and decide on a career destination.

**If you would like to get my book ‘Create Your Ideal Career’ or you would like more information about it, please visit www.TinukemiOlaoye.com or send an email to services@tinukemiolaoye.com.

The First Step Towards a Successful Career Transition

October 27, 2017 by Tinukemi Olaoye Leave a Comment

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at the steps towards a successful transition in your career. You’ll find this helpful especially if you’re moving from one industry to another or if you’re making the move from employment to self-employment and vice-versa.

We’ll consider the obvious and not-so-obvious things to put in place to ensure that you transit into a new career as smoothly and successfully as possible.

A career change shouldn’t be an impulsive or rash process; it should be well thought-out and purposefully carried-out. Getting it wrong can lead you into self-doubt and plenty of frustration and regrets. Of course, there’s also the possibility of losing income by way of profit of salary, if things are not put in their right place.

Today, we’ll start with the first step in changing careers successfully. We’ll begin from what goes on within a person and work our way out. The first step in a successful career transition is Taking Personal Responsibility.

As with any important decision and process in life, a career change begins with taking responsibility for what happens or will happen in your career.

This means that you realise that wherever you are right now in your career, you played the major role in getting yourself there. And wherever you desire to be in your career, you will also play the major role in getting there.

Certainly, your career would have been influenced to some degree by different people. Your family, friends, colleagues, organisation, coaches, mentors and even your government may have some influence on you, but they do not have the direct responsibility over your career. However, whether you realised it then or not, you made the final decision of accepting their influence.

It also bears mentioning that even though God has a plan for you and certainly wants the best for you in every situation, you still have the responsibility of inviting Him in and actively cooperating with or rejecting His plans.

To make a successful and effective transition in your career, you get to make the decisions and carry out the actions necessary for change. You must realise that you are the most important person involved; your thoughts, words and actions have the greatest influence.

The beautiful thing about accepting responsibility is that it will help you to understand that you have the power to create whatever change you want to see.

This is the first step towards a successful career change.
**Did you know: My book Create Your Ideal Career gives you a guide on how to discover and create the work that is purposeful, passionate and personally-suitable for you. If you would like to get this book or you would like more information, please visit www.TinukemiOlaoye.com or send an email to services@tinukemiolaoye.com.

Seeking Career Direction: Interests and Passions

September 5, 2017 by Tinukemi Olaoye Leave a Comment

Today, we’re concluding the short series on Seeking Career Direction which we began a few weeks ago.

So far, we have shared simple and effective career direction tips that would be very useful for making career decisions whether you are a starter or a pro. We started with the role of prayer, followed it with the importance of understanding your skills and in the last post, we looked at taking advantage of opportunities.

In today’s post, we’ll be looking at the place of your interests and passions in career direction. Your skills are extremely essential in your career, they can show you the possibilities of what you can do and where you can fit in, whether you really like these possibilities or not. Similarly, you may find opportunities that you can explore, with or without a great liking for them. Determining where your interests and passions lie can help you to determine where to turn in your career.

There is a difference between an interest and a passion, and I explore it at length in my book, Create Your Ideal Career**. For now, though, we’ll apply them together.

Your interests and passions can help you to make career decisions because all you need to do is follow what you already like to do or what you are interested in doing (even if you haven’t done it before).

Here are some tips to help you discover what you might be interested in doing:

You have done it before (even as a hobby or an avocation), and you find that you really love doing it and would love to make it a full-time career.
You find the job or business prospect appealing. You may not have done it before, but the thought of doing it appeals to you for certain reasons.
You are simply curious about that line of career or the difference in responsibilities (if it is a different level of the same career).
You have noticed that you have a natural talent for it and it interests you.

If you have a better understanding of what you would like to do, it could make your career decisions easy for you. Where you have the interest or passion for something, it gives you a direction to work towards. Even if you do not have the skills required for that direction, going to acquire the necessary skills can be the first step to take in your new decision.

I hope you have found the tips and truths shared in this short series helpful in your quest for career direction. Remember to take action with what you have learned, that’s when things can become even clearer for you.

**My upcoming book Create Your Ideal Career gives you a guide on how to discover and create the work that is purposeful, passionate and personally-suitable for you. If you would like to get this book or you would like more information, please visit www.TinukemiOlaoye.com or send an email to services@tinukemiolaoye.com.

Seeking Career Direction: Opportunities

August 28, 2017 by Tinukemi Olaoye Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, we started a short series on Seeking Career direction and we began to share simple and effective tips that will be very helpful for you if you’re in need of direction in your career. In the last couple of posts, we discussed the role of prayer and the advantages of knowing your skills.

In this post, we’ll be looking at Opportunities. Taking advantage of opportunities is especially important for those who need to get started on their careers or those who desire a career change and who have practically no idea of where to turn. Getting started in any opportunity you find can help you in your desire for career direction.

When you have an idea of the skills you have, the next thing would be to find or be available for the opportunities that fit your skills. Here are three ways to be proactive about opportunities:

One: Tell your contacts. Make a list of your contacts and let them know that you are available for new opportunities. Let them know the skills that you have, and your preference for either an employment, short-term project or a business opportunity. If people do not know what you can do or that you’re available to do it, they will not remember you when an opportunity comes along.

Two: Look around you for open positions. You will need to take some initiative. If you’re inclined towards a certain field or project, there may be volunteer opportunities available. You can also look around for job vacancies that match the skills that you have. If you’re already employed in an organisation, keep your eyes open for opportunities that may arise in other departments or levels within the same organisation.

Three: Look around you for needs or problems. Since you already know the skills and competencies that you have, look around you for the direct needs and problems that your skills can meet or solve. This can be a direct project or business opportunity for you.

Remember that when it comes to career direction, taking advantages of opportunities is a way of moving forward, even when you did not specifically plan for those opportunities. As long you know what you can do, keeping yourself open for opportunities will help your career possibilities.

**Did you know: My upcoming book Create Your Ideal Career gives you a guide on how to discover and create the work that is purposeful, passionate and personally-suitable for you. If you would like to get this book or you would like more information, please visit www.TinukemiOlaoye.com or send an email to services@tinukemiolaoye.com.

Seeking Career Direction: Skills

August 1, 2017 by Tinukemi Olaoye Leave a Comment

Some weeks ago, we began a short series on Career Direction. The tips in this series will help you to gain good clarity for career decisions, especially if it involves a major career change or advancement.

In the last post, we looked at the role of Prayer. Today, we’ll be addressing the topic of ‘Skills’. Taking stock of the skills that you have is a big deal when it comes to making career decisions.

A skill is a special ability or expertise that you acquire by formal or informal training and practice. It is the most important factor in any career. Your skills may come from the practice of your talent or natural ability or from deliberate learning.

There are three important ways that the knowledge of your skills will help you in your quest for career direction:

1. You will have an idea of just what you can do and where you fit in. The most basic requirement for any career or promotion is skill. If you know the skills that you have, you will know the kind of work you can do.

2. You will understand how and where you fit in the world of work. This way, you’ll have an idea of which direction to turn. You will increase your level of confidence. Skillfulness equals proficiency and competence. As you take stock of your proficiency in certain skills, you will become more confident in your abilities and what you have to offer a potential client, customer, employer or boss. This will help you as you take steps or make changes in your career.

3. You will know how to get better. Having an idea of what you can do will help you to make the right decisions on where to focus your development efforts. If you have a specific career in mind and you know the set of skills required for that career, knowing what you do have will help you to determine if you can be effective in that career. You will also know the specific skills you need to go and learn or acquire to help you to function optimally in your desired career.

There is hardly anyone without some kind of skill, regardless of its level of proficiency. Your technical skills and people skills combine to make you a unique individual and understanding them will help to make your career decisions easier. Next week, we’ll discuss ‘Opportunities’.

**I explore the subject of skills more deeply in my upcoming book Create Your Ideal Career. This book also contains an exercise that can help you to discover your skills and rate your level of proficiency in them. If you would like to get this book or you would like more information, please visit www.TinukemiOlaoye.com or send an email to services@tinukemiolaoye.com.

Seeking Career Direction: Prayer

May 23, 2017 by Tinukemi Olaoye Leave a Comment

Today, I’ll begin a short series of posts to share simple and effective tips that will be very helpful for you if you’re in need of direction in your career. These tips and truths will be useful for any career decision you need to make whether you are a starter or a pro.

In this post, we’ll start by looking at the role and effectiveness of prayer in career direction. While we are to take responsibility for our careers, we also have to keep the big picture in mind.

Prayer helps you to acknowledge that your life and career is not just about you alone; you’re part of a very big whole (most of which you do not understand and cannot directly control) and that whole is held together by God who is greater than you are and can see the big picture more clearly than you can.

Prayer is not just for those who are in a religious kind of career. God is very interested in the work you do and how you do it. No matter how mundane, secular or non-spiritual it may seem, the work you do is an offering and a form of worship to God.

These are three easy ways to harness the power of prayer in your career, especially as you seek direction for any kind or level of career decision:

One: Be totally submitted to God as you seek His direction. There’s no point asking for direction if you’re still prepared to have a mind of your own and do your own thing. Even of you feel like you have it all together, there is still so much that you do not know.

Two: Make specific requests. God wants you to have a purposeful and successful career much more than you want to have it. Talk to Him simply and ask Him to show you the right steps to take. If there are specific concerns that you have, take them to Him.

Three: Work with God. Having asked Him for direction, don’t fold your arms. Look out for His direction. He can lead you in any way, even in things that seem unspiritual. Be proactive in your thinking and in the further actions you take to seek direction. The fact that you have brought God into a situation doesn’t mean that you do not also have work to do, on your own.

In the following posts in the series, we’ll address some of these other things you can do to be proactive as you seek direction in your career. As we round up this post on prayer, I pray that you will find the direction and the answers that you seek, no matter how complicated your career situation may seem. See you next week, when we will discuss the place of ‘Skills’ in seeking career direction.

**Did you know: My upcoming book Create Your Ideal Career gives you a guide on how to discover and create the work that is purposeful, passionate and personally-suitable for you. If you would like to get this book or you would like more information, please visit www.TinukemiOlaoye.com or send an email to services@tinukemiolaoye.com.