I like being a Careers Consultant because every conversation starts with me needing to think about what the other person wants, and carries on that way too.
When you are motivated by someone else’s needs, whatever the situation, however a conversation develops, what this actually creates is two people aligning themselves around the same goal, even if the goal is unclear at first.
The journey can be tough sometimes but having this shared objective gives us a better chance of working things out. When the going is tough – which can happen in every career – having this shared orientation means I’m always on the same side as the person I’m talking to. He or she isn’t alone because I’m not fighting or pulling for something or someone else. There’s no underlying conflict in our reasoning. No intrusive third-party mastership to serve.
Another liberating factor about being focused and motivated by this common goal, is that the same applies for everyone I talk to. Of course the person and his or her situation will always be different – in fact they are always unique. But I can have the same consideration for each person’s wants and needs. In each individual case, I make it my priority to understand what they are prepared to do and how hard they are prepared to work, in order to make good, solid progress in a direction that feels most like progress – whether we are at the stage of tentative steps or giant leaps.
It’s my belief that one day, supporting careers will be a first-choice career. The way work has changed over the last 20-30 years, and the way it is still changing – with individual choice and individual strengths & motivations becoming so much more important – the role of a profession that supports people at every stage of their working lives has become more important. It also becomes even more important for such support to be relevant and consistent for the life and length of every career. For a constructive, flexible narrative to be easy to access and easy to reference regardless of the work or profession an individual finds him or herself in.
The future for careers (the profession) really can aim to create a sustainable, lifelong relationship with work for everyone of a working age; and a meaningful and personal relationship with work for us all to look back on when we retire. This is why I like working in careers. In my experience, there’s no other job like it.
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