Episode 138 is live! This week, we talk with Caroline Dowd-Higgins in Bloomington, IN.
Caroline is a speaker, executive coach, author, and media host. She hosts the Your Working Life podcast, and is author of the book This is Not The Career I Ordered.
On today’s episode, Caroline shares her own success story of career reinvention – transitioning from opera singer to executive coach. She also shares her tips on being resilient, being your own self-advocate, and embracing the concept of being good enough to go.
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
Thanks to everyone for listening! And, thank you to those who sent me questions. You can send your questions to Angela@CopelandCoaching.com. You can also send me questions via Twitter. I’m @CopelandCoach. And, on Facebook, I am Copeland Coaching.
Don’t forget to help me out. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and leave me a review!
A reader recently wrote to me with a unique situation. They landed an impressive contract position. Everything was going along great for eleven months until one day, they were let go. The company laid off a large number of people all at the same time. After soliciting feedback, the reader was given a good review and sent on their way.
It wasn’t personal. Or, was it? Just a few days after being let go, their contract job appeared online as an open position. It was the same job at the same company. Then, a friend of the reader was hired at the same company. They asked what had happened. They were told the reader was let go due to poor performance issues.
How could this be? The reader had never been given any negative feedback. They were told it wasn’t about them.
After this incident, the reader has had multiple job interviews. This has left them with a difficult question. “What should I say in future job interviews if someone asks ‘Why did you leave the company?’ How do I honestly answer that without bad mouthing anyone?”
Reader, let me say first, I am so sorry this happened to you. Being let go from a company is difficult enough. Receiving conflicting messages about it later is even worse.
When you interview, it’s very important to be honest. It’s also important to be as accurate as possible. The problem here is that the company may not have been honest with you. If there was a performance issue as you have heard, it’s possible that your manager avoided their duties by not giving you direct and constructive feedback.
The problem is, you don’t really know the truth. What you’ve heard is third hand information at best. It’s tough to know how much of what you were told is a rumor and how much is reality. For example, did the feedback come from your boss or from an old coworker who likes to gossip?
In a case like this, it can be tough to know what to say in an interview. But, the best course of action may be to go with the company line. You were part of a random company layoff. It wasn’t personal. Your performance ratings were good. It’s what is documented in your employee file.
Unfortunately, when someone leaves a company, others have a tendency to talk. Often, they may try to guess the reasons someone left. This gossip can spread misinformation.
Even if the rumor is true, how would you validate it? And how would it benefit you to do so? It would not be helpful to provide unproven, negative information to a future employer. It would also not be helpful to explain a long story of events about your departure and the rumors that followed.
Stick with what you were officially told and move on to a more exciting and fulfilling opportunity with a manager who appreciates your skills and talents. Best of luck in your job search!
Angela Copeland is a Career Coach and Founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com or on Twitter at @CopelandCoach.
Sometimes in your career, things don’t always work out the way you plan them. For me, the first time I learned this lesson, I was in college. I went to one of those fancy, private schools to study computer engineering in the late 90s. I knew that an investment in such a great degree would guarantee me a job when I graduated. Not only that, it would guarantee me a great paying job.
Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. The dot com crash came along right in the middle of my studies an put a halt on hiring. Even the recruiters that normally came to our school to hire students canceled their visits. It was something I’d never seen before and couldn’t have predicted.
This experience took me down a path of finding my transferrable skills and learning about new careers. Transferable skills are the strengths you can take from job to job. I also learned to interview for all sorts of jobs in many different industries – and I lost my fear of reaching out to strangers. It’s truly a skillset I developed out of survival. I needed to pay the rent.
I know it sounds strange, but when you look at interviewing from a different angle, it’s less scary and much more interesting. I looked at (and continue to look at) interviewing as making new professional contacts and learning about new jobs. I look at interviews as networking meetings, not as an opportunity to be rejected by a stranger.
And, you know what else? I don’t care as much if I meet every little minimum requirement on the job description. You know why? Because, truth be told, many employers don’t really care if you do. If an employer brings you in for an interview, it’s because they think you can do the job. Why not submit your application and let them decide?
If we could all spend a little less time worrying about being the perfect candidate, and a little more time just being the best candidate we can be, we’d all go a little further, faster. When I learned this lesson, my own career path changed dramatically. I went from being an engineer to a project manager then from a project manager to a digital marketing executive. Now, I’m a career coach. I could have never guessed in the 90s that my career path would have been so winding.
I was recently invited to share my own story of career success as a TEDx Talk. My talk, titled “How I broke the rules & found my perfect job,” shares my story of not waiting for permission and a little obsession I developed along the way. You may have already noticed. It turns out, I really like interviewing.
I invite you to check out my TEDx Talk on the TEDx Talk YouTube channel (http://bit.ly/broketherules). It’s my hope that you will be inspired to bend the rules in your own search, so you can find your perfect job.
Angela Copeland is a Career Coach and Founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com or on Twitter at @CopelandCoach.
I’ve recently received multiple letters from scientists in the research community with questions about their career transitions. Most likely, this is because of the large number of folks I meet from the medical research community. They’re developing new technologies for things from vaccines to cancer cures.
Researchers struggle with a problem workers in all sectors face: how to change industries. Most get into research with a three- to five-year contract. But this is not before completing a lengthy Ph.D. program. By the time their contract ends, the researcher may be in their 30s or early 40s.
With no experience in corporate America, and with little support about where to begin, many of these brilliant scientists struggle to decide what’s next. The most common choices are to continue in research or to take the corporate route. Often, staying on the same path is easier, but it is not always the most desirable choice.
For those interested to make a transition, one of the first steps is to ask for help. Connect to colleagues you already know, whether they were classmates, professors or co-workers. Expand your network to corporate workers. Ask these connections, new and old, how they made large career transitions. Ask what they like and dislike.
Pay close attention to how you feel when you learn about their experience. Does the idea of sitting in a cubicle all day or being held to strict deadlines make you cringe? Or does working for a big corporation excite you? If you decide that corporate is for you, there are a few places to start.
Begin by cleaning up your resume or CV, and start applying for jobs. Don’t let the minimum requirements stop you. Keep in mind that it’s rare for a company to find the perfect candidate. If you’re confident that you can do a job, apply. Let the company decide whether or not to hire you.
Make sure you have at least one nice suit for interviews. Corporate is more formal than what you may be used to. Do your best to show you can fit into the new environment.
Practice your pitch. You need to be comfortable explaining why you want to make a career change. You are your own marketer and must help others understand your desire to make a switch. Not everyone you speak with will understand your industry jargon. Try explaining your job and career goals to an aging loved one to ensure you’re communicating in a clear manner.
Interview for as many positions as you can, at least in the short term. Remember that every interview is practice for the next one. If you don’t get this job, you’ll be more prepared for the next interview. Multiple interviews will also give you a better idea of what is available in the market, differences in companies, and your overall market value.
Being persistent with these simple steps will help you to take your career in a new direction, whether it’s from research to corporate or between other industries.
I hope these tips have helped you. Visit CopelandCoaching.com to find more tips to improve your job search. If I can be of assistance to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to me here.
Also, be sure to subscribe to my Copeland Coaching Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher where I discuss career advice every Tuesday! If you’ve already heard the podcast and enjoy it, please consider leaving a review in Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
Episode 125 is live! This week, we talk with L’Oreal Thompson Payton in Chicago, IL.
A masterful storyteller with a passion for empowering young women, L’Oreal is the Media Relations Manager for Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Prior to joining Girl Scouts, L’Oreal was a professional journalist for seven years, most recently as the Digital Content Editor for JET magazine. She’s also a writer and blogger for a number of publications, including EBONY, JET, HelloGiggles, and Brit + Co.
On today’s episode, L’Oreal shares her own inspiring career trajectory, and what happened when she let go of her five year plan. She also shares differences between the corporate and for profit worlds, and everything you need to know about the Girl Scouts and Girl Scout cookie time.
Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
Thanks to everyone for listening! And, thank you to those who sent me questions. You can send your questions to Angela@CopelandCoaching.com. You can also send me questions via Twitter. I’m @CopelandCoach. And, on Facebook, I am Copeland Coaching. Don’t forget to help me out. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and leave me a review!
Have you ever wondered if you might have picked the wrong career path? If so, you’re not alone.
Ask a friend, “How did you end up in your career?” There’s a good chance they’ll say that they just happened to fall into whatever it is that they do. Perhaps they happened to get a particular internship during college that happened to lead to a job. Or, maybe their parents were connected to a certain company. Or, they had a friend who contacted them about a job.
You may have started your own career out in a similar way. And, once you were on the path, you learned more about the field, were promoted, and never looked back – until now.
Typically, you begin to question your career path because of a life event. For example, maybe you’re getting a little older and you’d like to do something more meaningful. Perhaps you’ve been doing something meaningful that doesn’t pay well and you need to make more money because you’ve started a family. Or, you may not like your job – plain and simple.
Whatever the reason, the idea of career reinvention can be daunting. We often hear that it’s virtually impossible, or that we’ll have to start from the very bottom. Sometimes, a big career shift does require us to take a pay cut, but it’s not a guarantee. Neither is starting at the bottom.
The first key to reinventing your career is to take the reins yourself. This isn’t the time to fall into another career path, or to try to get your foot in the door just to test something out. It’s time to identify possible alternative careers. Evaluate your transferable skills. What are the things that make you great at your current job that you could take with you to another type of career? For example, perhaps you’re a good public speaker or maybe you know how to organize groups of people. These skills can help in all sorts of roles.
Also, think about the other skills you have that may not be spelled out on your resume. For example, you may work at a nonprofit, but on the side, you’ve been investing in real estate. Make a list of the knowledge you have that’s not outlined on your resume. Find ways to incorporate this information into your existing resume. You might add a section for volunteering, consulting, skills or leadership.
Then, make a list of what else you’d like to learn to do in the future and figure out how to get there. Do you wish you knew more about computers? If so, look for classes you can take. Look for a nonprofit, or small company where you might volunteer your services to learn “on the job.” Don’t wait for your future boss to see something in you. Find it yourself, and look for ways to nurture this new skill.
The best news is, your timing is perfect for change. What would you like to do differently in 2017?
Angela Copeland is CEO and founder of Copeland Coaching and can be reached at CopelandCoaching.com or on Twitter at @CopelandCoach.
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