These are our explorer’s notes. Everything we’ve seen on our journey so far. From wonderful moments of discovery to not so wonderful mistakes and follies. We hope you learn as much from them as we did.
Three Golden Career Questions
From all of our searching and all of our discoveries over the years, the following three questions are the most valuable by far. All you have to do is think of a job, profession or line of work that interests you and find a person to ask… 1. What do you like about your job? 2. How did you get started? 3. What advice do you have for someone like me, who is just starting out? These three golden questions are perfect when you want to start a conversation and maybe you’re a bit shy or reluctant. They work for any career and any...
read more5 Ways to Explore Culture in Your Career
It’s now completely normal to talk about company culture but we’re still quite a long way from understanding and harnessing the power of culture when it comes to our careers. Strange really, because in many ways personal culture is more powerful and more tangible than organisational culture. Unlike corporate cultures, our personal career culture will never be ‘Under New Management’ or subject to hostile takeovers or less-than-credible 180º turns. Here are 5 simple ways to start exploring and identifying your unique career culture. 5...
read moreThe Career Explorer's Journal 2014
Yes it’s that time of year once again The nights have drawn in. The weather is colder. Christmas adverts are already on TV (and online). And thoughts here have started to turn towards the new year ahead and all of the new opportunities it creates for exploring work and careers. With all this in mind it gives me great pleasure to announce the new 2014 edition of The Career Explorer’s Journal. So What’s New? This edition has a new introduction plus heavily updated sections on ‘Talents‘ and ‘Goals‘....
read moreCareerNook
I’m delighted to share news of the birth of another great careers destination on the web. Recently launched by Ronnie Ann, of Work Coach Café fame, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to the brand spanking new CareerNook. It’s a nook, take a look! Work Coach Café was probably my all-time favourite career related blog so it’s great to see Ronnie back with a new place made for anyone and everyone to talk about careers. I’m not going to spoil any surprises, all I wanted to say was drop over and pay Ronnie a visit...
read moreWorking with Silence
A while back I wrote about being ignored on your job search and how preparing to be ignored makes a big difference. The power of the nasty surprise is removed. You’re expecting to be ignored. You’re ready for it. It won’t get you down and it won’t get in your way. Being ignored is all part of the journey. It’s maybe even a guarantee you’re going the right way. This time around I’m writing about silence. Is getting the silent treatment any different to being ignored I hear you say? Are you ignoring me...
read moreThe Story of The Little Red Hen
When you were little, were you ever told the story of The Little Red Hen? In the story and pictures I recall, the little red hen was an anthropomorphised chicken who lived in a picturesque cottage in a delightful rural setting on a small plot of land. Her human-like abilities were quite well developed because this particular hen was able to plant flowers in her garden and grow crops on her land. The heart of the Little Red Hen’s story revolves around the farming of this land. If you’ll allow me for a moment, I’ll tell it...
read moreActs of Kindness
“Behind anything anyone ever achieved, was an act of kindness by somebody else.” How did your thoughts go on this? The more I explored this idea about connected kindness, the more it made sense. Take your career for example. It goes without saying that all your achievements (large or small) rely on the effort you put in but can you really say no one else had a hand in there? I for one couldn’t say this for sure. So if I can’t deny other people’s involvement in my achievements, what does this mean? For a start it...
read moreJargon, Buzz-Words & Inactivity
The other day I read this article about talent communities. The author explained what talent communities are and how important it is to have a talent community of your own. In case you don’t know, “a talent community is an interactive group of people joined together by a common interest or affinity.” It was good to get this definition because I had absolutely no idea what a talent community was. This article was actually the first time I had ever heard one mentioned. This recent ‘talent community’ experience reminded me...
read moreComfort, Stretch, Panic
A comfort zone is usually a nice place to be. Everything is where we need it, Doing what we expect it to do, How and when we like it to be done. In a stretch zone things are different. We’re not so confident or assured, But there’s this feeling we’ll get there, We’re not worried, we got this. In panic zones all bets are off. Everything compresses, Comfort shatters, stretch snaps. In panic we get lost. These three zones are normal. Perhaps even good. No single zone is permanent or all powerful. All three have downsides...
read moreLines and Lines of Questions
Immediate answers are a trick. And their cutest trick is to make us think they are instant when in reality even the most immediate answers come from long, long lines of questions. Lines, strings, chains, streams, paths, roads, cycles, flows, trains and planes and galaxies of questions. There are no immediate answers. Immediate answers are a trick. Sometimes lines of questions are very long. These long lines can reach way, way back to the past. Sometimes the question string or stream is shorter. Often the path of questions follows an offshoot,...
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