I’m a career coach for women changing direction AMA

[Angliski]

Hello

I’m a career coach with 15 years experience of heaping women find the right rile and change direction. I also have a newborn cluster feeding so am pretty bored. Ask me anything!

@paintyhands good question!

Ok so let’s step back a bit. Let’s look at the skills you have and that you really enjoy using. Speaking, researching, designing... you tell me.

The let’s say- who is in the market for these transferable skills outside your current profession? How could we migrate your skills and experience to admire lucrative area?

Research then by salary band eg. Go to guardian website , type in 50k plus, explore roles that make use of the transferable skills.

Sometimes you might need to make a hop and skip- by which I mean you make a transition via a stepping stone role to get into a new field with higher pay. So, say you are an Accoutnant in public sector and you want to move to business development in drinks industry. You might move to be an accountant at a brewery and then move to business development once you better understand the industry/ products. Does that make sense?

It’s “ask me anything”.

There are a number of similar services in my area, often set up by women who have left senior jobs and are already financially comfortable due to their own and DH’s earnings and/or family money. The rates charged for 1:1 are high.

Appreciate that it’s a commercial service, and it sounds like over time you’ve been able to target wealthy people and make good money for your services, which is great.

There is obviously a lot of free content online, in apps etc, also lower cost career change group classes, which is good, but it can be difficult for potential users to distinguish quality and value.

@stayingontherail excellent question!

1. Recruiters in your field- get your CV updated and arrange some calls with recruiters and let them do the hard work.

1. Linked in- fantastic for getting approached for roles but there is also a really good job alerts function. First update your LI to really showcase you and your background- do the CV first, then cut and paste to linked in. You can alert recruiters to your search without alerting your current employer - and it’s free to do- so pop that flag on your LI.

Then set up an alert for roles under the jobs tab and you will be told about new roles in your space. Companies pay to advertise roles on linked in so they will reply to your applications!

1. Get super proactive - decide on your dream employers and approach them directly.

1. Find the right websites for your field- many specialisms have websites for recruitment in their space eg change board is one for my fields of HR/coaching/learning . You can find them through trade journals or asking your relevant trade body.

First stage is always - define what you want. When you know what you want it’s much easier to go and get it and to filter the overwhelming levels of info online.

Good luck!

@Dozer I agree about quality. There is a lot of crap out there and hiring a practitioner in any space, be it a roofer for your roof or a coach for your career, comes with some risk. Which is why referral/ recommendation, getting reviews from previous clients and asking for samples or chemistry calls is so important. But that’s true in any field.

I’m not here to defend my rates to you. And I’m not about to.

I wrote a book about my approach. It costs a few quid. It’s published by the worlds largest publisher for non fiction. It’s step by step. I get letters from readers all over the world letting me know how they changed their lives with it. Change is down to taking action not about price really. Loads of people read it and did nothing at all.

Second I did once have a very accessible online programme for women. You know what? They didn’t buy it. They still chose to work one on one. Although the handful of women who did buy it did make some impressive changes moving from editing to working as a producer on CBeebies. Another was a guy who moved from being a part time librarian to working customer facing in a web software company.

Plus I am not a natural digital marketer - I am a thought leader in my area. I’m good at speaking and sharing ideas that change lives. My method is all about focussing on your area of genius- mine isn’t marketing b2c to individual women worldwide for a low cost service.

I can’t speak for the other financially comfortable women you refer to. I cna tell you I took minimum wage and drove a banger for a couple of years while I worked damn hard to launch my work. Also we do work with employers like the OU and the council. Why not get us in to run a workshop at your firm? I personally think the workshops work even better than one to one because you learn so much from others.

Thx for this thread when you’ve got a full time job on your hands!

I’m nearly 53. Have taken 12 yrs out to support dd with health/ additional needs. Thought life stabilised so secured a returnship in finance ( new sector ). About to end and no job prospects ( they don’t offer jobs after contract ). Prob is my dd health been awful last 6 mth so hub and I juggled working from home ( like today !). I’m a bit of a mment jack of all trades do not easy to pigeon hole and work world has moved on. I need flexible work so can wfh when needed . Hols are challenge for childcare. I used to have great career( was self employed for 10+yrs) and feel resigned to low level now to balance family needs - and I’m getting older! Any thoughts would be appreciated . Thx

@Angliski thank you so much for your reply.

Yes definitely going to OWN it! Thanks
For the encouragement. Sounds silly but just having someone say to me to go for it and the fear I feel is totally normal is so positive and supportive.

Thanks again. The reviews of your book are all great! Purchased!

Congrats on your little one by the way :) x

@Dozer reflecting- you are totally right. It is AMA. Fair comment.

Haven’t asked you to justify anything.

You’re clearly successful at earning money for your goods (books, apps etc) and services. And even if you weren’t, it’d only be your business!

Am genuinely interested in the “market” for these services. Both the supply side (I couldn’t ask acquaintances offering these kinds of services nosy Qs!) and demand (prices etc).

I work in the public sector with a tiny training budget, which usually all goes on “business critical” type training, unfortunately!

Hi do you have any advice for my daughter, she is nearly 19, educated to gcse level, completed 2 years at college in travel and is now working in retail.

She is a lovely hardworking girl, but has no passion for anything. She would love a career but has no idea what. Do you have a any. advice

@Dozer there is definitely a need and a market - careers is a relatively new area of advice vs general life coaching - but it’s a really valuable and practical one. Most of us didn’t really decide on our work but we spend 80000 hours there in a lifetime. We spend more time researching and planning our hols, so there is definitely a need for people to really choose. Plus the opportunities to redefine or redesign your work are really amazing at the moment. It’s also my prediction that work will chang emassivldy - the hours, location, amount, skills etc so we need to be prepared to be flexible. This is particularly important for women as they tend to shoulder the majority of life business in a family - and of course is also relevant for everyone who wants a balance in life and a humane workplace.

Rates wise this work can start 121 at around £40 with a good, experienced coach with some useful credentials.

I’d say this work is essential- it boosts retention, mobility and performance and makes sure that orgs with lean resources out the right people in the right place and know what makes them tick. I was a home office fast streamer at the start of my career - it was a bad fit in so many ways, but they might have kept me if we had worked out my career equation on the way.

@Imtoooldforallthis what does she like outside work and studies? Music, fashion, sport, food, making people feel at home, travel?

She has finished her studies, she works a 40 hour week, outside of that she socialises with her friends. No sports or hobbies. She wants to change her job but only to a job she likes, but has no idea what.

She likes fashion and beauty, but does not want to do anything in the beauty industry.

Hi op, what a great thread.

I'm 29 (30 end of this year) and have a school aged dc and a partner who works full time.

I currently work very part time as a health care assistant but would like to look into nursing.

Is there any way I could train and fit work /study around my other commitments?

I'm really struggling to see how I would manage with the hours, childcare, and the inevitable drop in income

Hi

Thanks for this thread. Wondering if you have any advice for me...

Mid 30's, young kids and working part time for the Local Authority in a job I don't enjoy. Over the last couple of years I've rediscovered my creative side and feel passionately that this is where I should be heading.

However I have no skills/experience or any idea where to get them. I've always loved houses, architecture, interior design/styling but how to get into that career now at my age?

I'm frustrated I've just ignored this interest for so long and don't know what to do about it. I'm have no GCSEs or anything else so don't know what would be possible.

I recently completed a Interiors night course (12 week programme) for fun and absolutely loved it.

Any advice would be MUCH appreciated.

That is great advice - thank you! I really appreciate you taking the time to give me the steps to follow (and follow I will!)

@Pippaonesock I think it’s fab you have reconnected with what you love. At my company we say we exist to reunite people with their gifts so that they can do remarkable things.

I wouldn’t consider age or qualifications necessarily a barrier. A good eye and strong negotiating skills can take you far when it comes to Property. The property business has a lot of people renovating homes and needing someone to furnish and style them. Could you begin by attending a network or two for property types ( the property hub hosts free ones) so you get a chance to find out more about the industry and make some
Contacts? Would you consider a freelance career or are you looking for a more steady
Flow of income?

@BillywigSting I am not an expert on the nursing professions . I guess the question to ask is ‘ how can I get into nursing while juggling my other commitments?’

The best people to ask this of are:

1. People who have done it
2. Nursing employers and
3. Nursing educators

Could you begin with a ten minute a day bit of research to find these orgs and people and ask them that question?

@Imtoooldforallthis show her this video

m.youtube.com/watch?v=ttAPiza_9O8

Have a chat about what skills she wants to use in a day to day basis and get curious about how she defines success. Not everyone cares that much about money or ambition and she may work to live not live to work. Also at her age you uncover your calling through trying things on and experimenting.

Hi, this thread is fab thank you! I changed from Journalism to PR/communications for a work/life balance for my young family, but I've realised I'm more suited to a marketing and PR role. Similar skills but I'm going to undertaking marketing qualification too. What would your advice be to move field whilst getting a promotion? I would need a promotion to manager role to be financially viable and progress my career but my team is so small there are no management opportunities.

It's a bit of a catch 22 as I can't demonstrate people management where I am to prospective employers.

Thanks for any advice!

I’m just placemarking for later I need to take some notes. Currently on maternity leave but jobless and want to make sure my next job isn’t just a stopgap.

Placemarking here too and using as impetus to start exploring new ideas.
15 years ago when my DC were young I moved from professional role to a university teaching role in related field. I like the teaching but it's getting boring and I have really had enough of the academic environment. Feel like I've sacrificed a lot for the flexibility that my job has offered my family and lost a lot of confidence, but I really need to get out. Just not sure where to go from here.

Thanks for your comments last night/this morning. What you said re not being able to control other people really resonated. I don't know why as I'm sure others have said it. Sometimes easier to take advice from a stranger?! Maybe I don't know but thanks!

@Imtoooldforallthis also, have her check out Icould.com

For a lot of young people the challenge is knowing where their skills and passions could find a home. They know what they like, but they don’t know how it fits woth the world of work.

So if she likes fashion, does she know about fashion buying, styling and other roles in the business beyond say, modelling, designing and blogging?

That’s where I could is super useful.

It has a great collection of videos of people discussing their work. And you can search by their interests, their hours of work and the time they left school or what they studied.

This could help.