Managing Your Career As Well As You Manage Your Vacation!

Welcome to the inauguration of my first blog! I have spent the last 12 years helping clients manage their careers better than they manage their vacations. Lots of them have encouraged me to take the next step and blog about managing careers not just getting the next job. So today is the day!

First let's think about how we manage our vacations. Usually we start planning our vacation the day we get back from vacation. We start by doing some research on places we might like to go.

Once we choose a place we start networking like crazy. Let's say we decide to take a cooking class vacation on the Amalfi Coast (that is my current plan for next September) We ask everyone we know (that would be our 1st degrees for those of you on linkedin)  "Have you ever taken a cooking vacation"? "Have you ever been to the Amalfi Coast"? You have! What was it like, where did you stay, what should I know? You are off and running playing the 20 questions game.

Then of course more research, you walk into your local grocery store and there on the magazine rack is this month's copy of Conde Nast. On the front cover it says..."The Best Cooking Vacations in Italy." You grab a copy and head to the check out counter eager to get reading, all the while forgetting to pick up that pint of ice cream (okay, I forgot the ice cream and it was sorbet, must watch my figure, I'm going to Italy!)

There are two women chatting about having just returned from a fabulous vacation on the Amalfi Coast and you immediately say "Excuse me, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but did you say you have just returned from the Amalfi Coast? I am wanting to go there and do a cooking school, can you share with me how you liked it.

You are suddenly talking to two total strangers. I thought you were the person who hated to network especially with strangers.....

You are entering the next phase and that is spending time on the Internet looking for the best deals (on google of course) Negotiating best flights, transfers, rooms etc.

The day arrives and you are on your way to that vacation you have been planning for and dreaming of. It is a sense of accomplishment that you envisioned it, strategically planned for it, and have implemented it.

Now let's talk about what you are doing to manage your career.

• Do you have a plan, long term or short term?
• Are you doing your research on that industry or that discipline?
• Are you asking your network about skill-sets that are needed in those industries or companies?
• Are you putting together a list of your skills and determining what additional skills you need and how you are going to get them?
• Are you asking that same network about the culture of organizations and determining whether or not you would like to work there?
• Do you understand the contributions and accomplishments you have brought to the table so far in your career and can you talk about them in a compelling and meaningful way?
• Do you have a brand?
• Do you know why you are working...what purpose does work support in your life? (buying a house, sending kids to college, saving for retirement are just a few at different times in our lives)

I have found clients have difficulty answering these questions in the beginning. If you are looking for a job most likely you are looking at postings and applying.
If I ask you:
What do you know about the company?  The answer will be... they are hiring
What do you have in common with the company? The answer will be...I need a job and they are hiring
Will working for this company get you closer to your career goal? The answer will be...yes, I will be working

You may working but will you be working at the company you like, doing work that excites you, and be managing the next move in your career?

It's not about a job, it's about managing your whole career. Let's all start today.

Stay tuned for my next muse on careers.....and of course my adventure to the Amalfi Coast

You will find my full profile at www.linkedin.com/in/cindypain