04. In the search of new beginnings...

Category: Career and Purpose

04.
Often the REAL reason we do not like writing our resume, 
has a lot to do with these three things.
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​Sitting down to write an application is a tedious task, let's start with that. It does feel like we are narrowing down our experiences to bullet points and highlights. To some of us, it may also remind us of sitting for exams or doing coursework back in the school days. There's a dreadful aspect that it is just what we ´have to do´, how things are - we must comply with the rules and that's that.
But the years of both writing my own and also reading and advising others´ have made me reflect that there are a few more reasons that are a bit more emotional. They are sometimes subconscious but also very normal.

• We are not used to remembering our strengths and achievements. Try this with me - think of 3 things you are proud you achieved in the last year. Now add 5 more to the list. 10 more? How about 20?​  I see this in coaching all the time.

          Our mind is not used to remembering all the great things about us. Which is why when we have to dig for them it feels like we are excavating fossils. The silver lining is that once we do the hard work, it feels pretty good to look at the fantastic things we have accomplished. For most people it is a confidence boost.

• We are afraid we will put all this work and not be chosen. The good old fear of rejection. Classic, yet so valid. No matter how amazing the resume - there is always a part of us that knows we may be the next genius and still not even get an interview.  Having a great deal of compassion for ourselves helps the process. Hiring processes are always to some extent biased, lengthy and not always pleasant for the candidate.

Call me spiritual but I believe, if it is not this one - there is something better coming.  

• It is the first step of making a snowball that we are not sure we want to roll down the hill. Often we may already be in a role or a company we enjoy to some extent. Other parts are far from great, and we are not sure if change is really what we want.
  Sometimes the familiar discomfort is far more tolerable. We are not even sure it can be better or what the trade off would be.
  
  

It is not so much the process, as it is admitting to ourselves that something must change. We must either make peace with what is or take the risk for what it may be. That brings us to the topic of change - something that can be scary as well as exciting. 
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So. When is it a good time to change jobs or start something else?
       Again, a great question you are asking. Indeed…
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