Welcome back, Good Life Divas!
This month I want to talk with you about what you wanted to be when you grew up. Recently I’ve been paying very special attention to my children, and I’m starting to observe things in their behavior that could be clues into their future professions. For example, every single time my daughter sees a camera, she strikes a pose! And whenever I’m selecting her school clothes, she always wants to have an input, and she always wants to wear her very special skirts and dresses. The point is that I believe she is gearing herself up for a career as a model, or fashion designer, or both. So what? Well now I can position her to develop those talents by consulting a modeling agency or checking into which local schools have a fashion design elective program. This way she has an edge over her competition before she even reaches high school. Did I mention that she is only 3 years old!
Has your life gotten in the way of you achieving your career and life goals?
This was not the case with me as I was growing up. I didn’t have a specific direction or goal, handed down through my parents’ observations, to strive toward. Personally, since high school, I had always wanted to be a lawyer, which brings me to my next point. Make sure you actually know, what you think you want to be. In my situation, as I mentioned, I always wanted to be a lawyer, that is until my senior year in high school when I participated in a mock jury trial. I’m so glad I had that experience because I realized that sitting in a court room all day is not something I was physically suited to do. I literally couldn’t stay awake. So how could I be an effective lawyer for my future clients? I couldn’t! But the important thing was the exposure which potentially saved me from a career full of disappointed clients.
The question at hand for this month is has your life gotten in the way of you achieving your career/ life goals? It happens to the best of us, seemingly without notice, suddenly you have children to raise, a marriage to prosper, and bills to pay. It is HIGHLY unlikely that you’ll ever get to become what you’ve always aspired to be…You’ll have to learn to be content with the job you settled for in order to make ends meet, right? Wrong! It’s not too late to get back on track and live your dreams! Did you know that an increasing number of people past the standard college ages are going back to school to pursue degrees? Well they are, and you can as well.
Conversely, sometimes we find after we’ve gone through the college learning process, that we no longer have a passion for what we just spent the last few years of our lives mastering. My recommendations for entering a new field are below:
1. Try informational interviewing
a. Approach individuals from your network and seek out someone who is experienced in your field of interest and request an hour or so of their time.
b. During your hour (or more) of interviewing, it is your job to ask really probing questions that will give you greater insight into this profession.
c. Ask things like… Can you describe a typical work day? What are some of the greatest challenges associated with your job? Is it easy to maintain work/life balance in this industry? Or What type of training would you recommend to enter into this field? And ALWAYS, ALWAYS ask if you can use them as a professional reference!
2. Try volunteering in the areas of your interest.
a. This is really a win-win situation, because now you’re not only gaining experience for yourself to beef up your resume, but you are also helping someone else who is in need.
b. Don’t limit this option to “feeding the hungry” or other community based services, expand your horizons to corporate internships, etc…
With these key actions you’ll not only gain a greater clarity of what you are called to do in your life, but you’ll also build confidence and a more powerful resume showing that you in deed do have some experience in your field of interest. I certainly hope that you decide to act upon some of these pointers and get back on track with what you know you were meant to become.
As always, if you need help to create a more powerful resume or other self-marketing materials, please visit my website at www.RoyalResumeAZ.com. I’m always happy to serve you.
May many new doors of opportunity be opened for you!
Brenda M. Cunningham, CPRW – Your Career Development Diva
ROYAL Resume Services – Founder / Writer
www.RoyalResumeAZ.com
As the owner of Royal Resume AZ, Mariah is a Certified Professional Resume Writer with 7 years of writing experience for several diverse career fields. Being an active member in the Professional Association of Resume Writers (PARW) and the Resume Writers Council of Arizona (RWCA), keeps her educated to the latest hiring trends and resume preferences from HR professionals and highly successful recruiters.
Do you have any burning questions for Mariah regarding your resume or your career aspirations? Please, email your questions or comments to info@goodlifediva.com. Your questions will be answered in an upcoming Good Life Diva newsletter.
