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Making a Difference.

Sometimes I spend hours with clients, mentoring, coaching and helping them prepare for career and education challenges. Often, I wonder if I have made a difference! Have I done enough? Could I have opened up a few more avenues, practiced a few more scenarios? And then I remind myself, that my role as coach and mentor is about helping the client achieve their potential. I am not the athlete, I am not the job seeker, I am not the candidate.

In my role as a Career Coach, I can encourage and I can empathise. I can carry out research, I can look at new perspectives and I can get clients to examine, to question and to develop their own personal awareness. Together, we can explore the world of education, the range of new courses, the labour market and the changing world of work. I can work with a client to make a career and education plan. In the end, every client makes their own decisions. Every client has choices and opportunities. Each client decides whether to help themselves by implementing new changes or repeat previous behaviours and hope for the best.

The most successful clients are the ones invest time and energy in their career and education journey. We often joke about homework during a coaching session. Whether you work smarter or you work harder, one truth remains:- If you want to succeed you will need to put the work in. Of course, a little luck goes a long way too. But I think that we make our own luck.

  • Did you follow up your job application with a phone call to see how the recruitment process was shaping up?
  • Did you send an email after the interview to say thank you?
  • Did you send an email after the rejection letter, to let them know that you were still interested in working for the organisation – Possibly at a future date?
  • Did you really practice your interview questions and answers, until you knew that you could be your best self.
  • Did you do the background research on the the organisation?
  • Do you really know why you want the job?
  • Did you research the course material or the course delivery? Does it align with your preferred learning style?

During the last few months, I am delighted that many clients have contacted me to say that they got the job, the promotion, or the pay rise. It is great to hear that others have been called for interview against all the odds, and some has returned to education in order to expand their career opportunities. It is so wonderful to hear that a student is enjoying their chosen third level or further education course. The common denominator usually revolves around the work invested in by the client. If you want to make a difference in your life – If you want to change your career path or your education route – then the choice is yours. There is no quick fix. Engagement with the coaching process, combined with determination and work will reap real rewards.

Contact Career Coaching Matters for an appointment. angela@careercoachingmatters.ie

 

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The Interview Process – What went Wrong?

  • You were absolutely thrilled to get invited to interview –
  • You researched the organisation – Googled the Website –
  • You read the latest news about the sector –
  • You studied the Job Specification again and aligned it with your CV –
  • You practised the expected interview questions –
  • You got to grips with competency interview questions –
  • You organised your smart professional outfit –
  • You checked out the interview location – Even did a test drive –
  • You turned up for the interview well prepared and in good time –

You didn’t have to wait for the regret letter. 

  • Sitting in front of the interview panel, you knew something was wrong.
  • They were quite shocked when you approached the interview table to shake hands and say hello –
  • They did not introduce themselves –
  • They talked for 15 minutes out of your 20  minute allocation –
  • They just about asked you about yourself – Nobody took notes –
  • They didn’t ask you about your experience, qualifications and fit for the job –
  • They didn’t even ask you the ‘creative off the wall question’ –
  • They talked, laughed and joked among themselves –
  • You got a sense that they were not listening –
  • The interview came to an abrupt ending or just filtered out –

Learn to Manage the Interview Process

  • Question: Who must prepare for interview?
  • Answer:   The interview candidate and the interviewers.

Solution

As an interview candidate, you must learn to manage your performance as well as the interview process in the event that interviewer is not expert in the field of interviewing. Don’t judge them, they may be your future employer. They are expert in other fields, so help them, to see what benefit you can bring to their organisation.

As an interviewer, your responsibility is to hire the candidate who can solve specific problems in your organisation – who can add value. In order to see a candidate at their best, set them up to succeed at interview, give them an opportunity to shine.

Next Steps

  • Would you like to perform better at Interviews?
  • This question applies to the both the candidate and the interviewer.

Contact  Career Coaching Matters in order to get better outcomes from interviews.

Email: angela@careercoachingmatters.ie       Facebook:  Career Coaching Matters.