Transcript

Facebook Live "Ready to get back to work: Connect who you are with what you do to land an ideal position!" with Career Coach Arjan Eenkema van Dijk

Arjan Eenkema van Dijk: [00:00:00] Hi, everyone. I'm so excited to be here with you today to speak about career assessment at this Facebook, I rely lounge life session, and thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule. To attend today. So I'm just going to start in a few minutes so that everyone has time to log on and that we have a few more people in attendance.

[00:00:27] I see Susanna is watching, so hello, Susanna and nice to see you. And so what I'm also going to ask you when you. Logan feel free to put your name in the comment section so we can see who is all online. So I'm going to wait a few more minutes to see if he will get some other people coming on. So that's always exciting.

[00:00:49] I see some people jumping on right now, and I was just saying to everyone that I am going to speak about career assessment with all of you. So. See more people coming on. So feel free to put your name in the comment section so that we can see who's there. It's always much better to have a sense of what kind of a community we're speaking to.

[00:01:10] So, my name is  and I am the founder of inspired shift and I'm an executive coach and I also focus on. Career coaching and entrepreneur coaching as well as organizational consulting. And so I have been working with Carol Fishman Cohen and her team for many, many years now. And I'm also working at many relaunches on an individual basis.

[00:01:36] And I have to say, I care deeply about the topic of relaunching that Carol has brought. Not only to a national level, but truly to an international level. And like many of you view, that are on here with the SLIFE, I'm a relaunch or myself. And I have to say, I, I landed in a job that I absolutely love, and I want to same for you.

[00:02:00] And that's what we're going to talk about here today. So as I mentioned, we will be speaking about the value and the importance of career assessments. And I want us to be a really interactive meeting and session. So feel free to ask me any questions you want. There's a comments box underneath my video.

[00:02:19] You can ask questions, you can make, you know, you can basically make comments. You can like other people's comments. You can give a thumbs up, whatever you would like to do. And I see it thumbs up there. That is really, terrific. I see one person. Orange shimmers saying I have no sound so earns, I think good to see you that you're on earns.

[00:02:41] I think that may be that you want to turn up the sound on the other side. Maybe Suzanne can give you some input, but I think most people are having sound so. I think we should be good to go. So I'm also going to ask you to take a pen and paper, because I'm going to give you a lot of tips and I really want you to get as much out of the session as possible.

[00:03:04] So probably most of you came on to this Facebook live event. And I see Mary Beth is saying, I can hear you. So orange checkout, your sites, maybe there's something you can do on your end. So I think most of you came. Onto this session today because you are a relaunch and you probably decided that you want to go back to the workforce, but not only do you want to go back to the workforce, you want to land a job or a career that is really connected to who you are.

[00:03:36] To your interests and values, and that is meaningful to you. And so this is why career assessment is so important because many people skip this part. And what ends up happening is they actually end up happening. In a career that they don't like at all. And if you work truly connects with who you are, you go to be much happier.

[00:03:58] And I always like to quote, you know, the European philosopher, Allbirds Weiser, who asks me, says it's not success. That is the key to happiness. But happiness is the key to success. Because if you are in a job that you love, you most likely are going to be doing really well and feeling good at the same time.

[00:04:20] So oftentimes people ask him, everyone, you know, feel free to ask questions and everything like that. And so. People often ask me the question, where do I start? I have to say I've been in this field for a long time and we launched, it can be a bit overwhelming because of the reason that people don't know where to start.

[00:04:42] And the stories go a little bit like this, you know, I've always been in law. Maybe I never liked it to begin with. I took some time off to take care of my kids or maybe my parents, or maybe I'm working on a remodeling of my home or a big project. But now I'm ready to go back. And I only know one thing I do not want to go back into the law.

[00:05:03] So now what that these are the stories or stories. Like I've always been a marketing. I actually really liked it, but I don't want to work those long hours anymore. Now what? Or I feel that my skills are not up to date anymore, or I'm just not confident now what, where I really have no clue what I want to do.

[00:05:24] Now what? So then now what question is very, very important and please feel free to jump in and say, if any of these stories resonate with you, because I see lots of people struggling with the same questions. So, you know, That know what question can truly be quite intimidating. And the reason why it's intimidating is because there is no clarity.

[00:05:49] And so what I'm going to ask you to do today is to kind of look at that questions slightly differently and to kind of say, Hey, Maybe this question is a question about discovery and self exploration, and that gives you then an opportunity to look at this question differently and with more energy, because relaunching is truly a great time for you now, thinking about your career.

[00:06:17] And I see a question about a relaunch or. Who had extensive experience in management consulting, but is having a hard time finding consulting work that doesn't require travel. What can I do? Whoever asked that question? I can't see that. I'm going to answer that question in a minute. So I'm going to table that for a second because I will get back to that.

[00:06:41] Great, great question. Thank you. So let me first speak about how do you start this relaunch journey. So I'm going to say to you that this relaunch journey. Is actually much more structured than people realize and that's structured. Yeah. They'll help you too. Actually get started. I do know it's very highly individualized.

[00:07:01] You know, I saw Ernst on the line, Christine, Suzanne, you know, each of you, probably a very, very different people. I see a Nita coming up. And so what Anita may like maybe very different from what Susanna may like. And so it becomes important that this is about you finding clarity about yourself. So while I said that the process is very structured, it is also quite organic and that can sometimes be a bit tricky.

[00:07:28] People think it's a very linear process. But it's a little bit like when you start, you really don't know where you're going to end up. And sometimes I use the metaphor of thinking about being in a forest, a big dark forest, and you're sitting on a stone and you're running out of water and you want to get out of this forest.

[00:07:47] So if you stay on that stone and start to think, think, think, think, think about how to get out of this forest. Chances are, you will actually not get out of the forest. And so what I would encourage those people sitting on the stone is to actually get off the stone and start walking. Because if you start to walk in that forest, you will actually find cues along the way that will help you get to the end of the forest.

[00:08:15] And that is actually very similar in a relaunch journey. So when we think about that, we learned journey it's really about. Thinking and acting, if you think, think, think, and you don't act, guess what happens? You get stuck. And if you act without thinking, guess what happens? You end up in the wrong place.

[00:08:37] So this relaunch journey is so again, Nick, and it's really that interaction of thinking and getting more clarity and then acting and that acting will inform you more. It will inform your thinking more. And that is how you will walk this process. And I will give you some examples of clients of mine today as well.

[00:08:56] So that, you know, you can put this in, in the right context. I'm just going to take a sip of water.

[00:09:06] And while I do that, feel free to throw out more questions. This is your time. And so whatever you want to ask, I'm going to try to answer. So to relaunch journey really starts with you. And that's why it's also exciting. This is really a time to think about you and you know, many of you have many other responsibilities.

[00:09:25] And so. It's actually good to sometimes pause and say, this is actually about me. It is exciting. So it is about you and it's about you getting clarity about who you are, but it's also about getting an understanding, not only about yourself, but also about the job landscape. How is the job landscape looking?

[00:09:46] What kind of possibilities are out there? Oftentimes you don't know what you don't know. So twofold. Getting clarity about yourself and getting clarity about the job landscape and that's combination will help you to move forward. And oftentimes people ask me, well, how do I get clarity about the job landscape?

[00:10:05] And that goes in again to taking action. You want to read the newspapers? If you're interested in relaunching in the art industry, read magazines around that, go to places where people in the art industry gather. Set up informational interviews to learn more about the art industry. Go on, you know, LinkedIn, see what kind of openings there are available in the art industry.

[00:10:30] This is how you get more insight into the job landscape because you want to kind of become relevant again. In that particular area that you're interested in, I do a lot of executive coaching and this is true for executive as well. We constantly need to stay relevant as to the field that we're in. And when you are relaunched, that process started right now for you.

[00:10:51] So when we're thinking about relaunching, I think it's really important to put some structure around it and, Oh, I love what Christina is asking. How do I find out where my instructors. Interests are I have so many things I like, and I hear this very often. Christine, I'm going to answer that question on the one of the four CS that I'm going to speak about.

[00:11:15] So some of you may have Le rats. Carol's amazing book. Back on the career track and she speaks about three CS. And since then we have added a fourth seat. And today as an extra bonus, I'm going to give you five CS. Okay. So the four CS of career relaunching is control as a force. As a first seat, you can write this down.

[00:11:40] This is the control you have over your own time, you know, and it goes to work-life balance. The second C is to see of compensation. What do I want to need to make? And we'll talk about that. The third C is company culture and the fourth C is job content. And that's the C Christine that you're asking about that we will be speaking on later on.

[00:12:04] And the question that I think it was Suzanne asked about, the consultant, I will address that. Under the seat of control. So when I start to speak about this topic, I really wanted to see how, whatever I say applies to your individual situation. I'm also going to look for a moment. You know, at the time, because it's not coming up on my computer so that I can, can kind of gauge how much more time I have.

[00:12:29] So let me jump in and speak about control, control, focuses on work life balance, and especially for we, it, this is a really important question to answer. You know how much work-life balance do I need? And it starts with a little bit beds. you know, the whole aspect of, if I am going to get, you know, there's probably like a couple of components to that.

[00:12:56] Control one is the component of. Commute. How long of a commute do I need or do I want, so some people can have an hour commute. That's fine. But for some people it's actually really important to be very close to home because maybe they need to pick up the kids from daycare center or somewhere. So someone may say, I, you know, the most important requirement about my relaunch is that I have a 15 minutes commute.

[00:13:22] If you have a 15 minute commute, That's actually a really great cue because now you can creating more direction to your launch because you're only going to look at companies and organizations that are in a 15 mile radius from your home. So do you see how, when you start to. Focus on the things you do now, you start to get actually more direction.

[00:13:44] Typically when people go to a relaunch, they focus on the things they don't know, and we'll go to focus on the things we know, and then we're going to build from there, which is kind of a good way to look at it. So commute is one component to control. Of your time. Another really important component is obviously the number of hours you're going to work.

[00:14:06] And so, I'm going to throw in some clients' stories just to, so that you can put it in, in a context. So I was working with a client, I'm going to name this client Petra for sake of anonymity. And I said to her, how many hours do you want to work? And she said, You know, I know lots of people work 40 hours.

[00:14:26] I probably really want to work 20 hours max. It pretty clear. I want to work 20 hours because I have so many responsibilities and she was very clear. And then she proceeded to say, but I know that that is probably not going to be feasible in marketing. And so does this, what I see so many people do they use that, but.

[00:14:48] Component and they need gate with that. But what they, the statement they made before, I want you to leave out that, but, and I want you to say, no, this is what I'm, this is my ideal. This is what I'm going to look for, because again, it gives you focus. So actually Petra did land a job in marketing for 20 hours as a contractor at a fortune 500 company.

[00:15:13] And she actually learned that through networking and then she moved on to be a part-time, employee at that company. And later on, When her kids were a little bit older, C X, we were moved to a full-time position in another department. And so the timeline is really important here as well. When you think about control, you know, you might just want to work initially for a couple of, you know, 10, not a couple of hours or five hours or 10 or 20, and then you move it up.

[00:15:42] When you kids may have just entered college and you have more time. So it's not only the number of hours. Some people say I'm fine working a lot of hours, but I want to have control over my time. That's some of the things I said, you know, I really love to work quite frankly. But I wanted to be in charge of my own schedule.

[00:16:02] So I became an entrepreneur and I see quite a few people relaunching as entrepreneurs and the climate today is actually fantastic for entrepreneurs. And so I'm actually going to go now back to the question that Suzanne asked about the consultants. So this consultant says. Love being a consultant. So this is the content of the job.

[00:16:23] I love that work, but you know, in my area, you know, there's a lot of companies for me to have to travel so much. So travel requirement has to do with the control of a work-life balance. And this person, I don't know, her name said, I don't want to travel so much. So I think what is really important to know here is that not every consulting company.

[00:16:48] Requires you to travel as much as some of the big name companies. So there's definitely consulting companies. I actually, one of my clients works for a consulting company that is actually more mission oriented and nonprofit based and a very well known company as well. And that's where the people don't travel as much.

[00:17:08] They actually focus. They have a setup where the officer's focused on projects that are more locally. So I think what is important is to do. some research as to which companies that are consulting companies are more locally focused and it might also be that you take that consulting word in, you know, in another company and kind of peel away the layers.

[00:17:32] What do I really like about that consulting work and how can I reinvent myself by doing similar kinds of work, but maybe with a different title or maybe entrepreneurship and starting your own business locally oriented. Could be a great way for you to go. I hope that answers that festival a little bit.

[00:17:49] So specificity really important with regards to control and also, you know, because of technology. So many people can now work part-time or flex time. And that's really important as well. So let me go to compensation. Lots of people say, where do I start with the compensation question? And I'm going to suggest you start with three things.

[00:18:10] Number one, we always, I like starting with you as, as the most important person in this process, what do you need to make? What are your family expenses, which can determine what you need to make, or what do you want to make, or what do I want to make to maintain the lifestyle that I have right now? So you start with you, then you start bed, you know, If you want to do your research, if I'm looking for certain kinds of position, what is actually fair pay for that position?

[00:18:40] And I'm going to tell you different industries pay very differently. So if you want to be an administrative assistant, You know, and you go to certain industries, your compensation may actually be much higher than another industry. So you want to be aware, you want to do your research, and then you want to look at what does this comp, this particular company want to pay?

[00:19:02] What is the pay scale for this particular position? And that gives you some insight in compensation as well, and what you can ask for. So with regards to compensation, I also want you to think about. Healthcare benefits. You know, I worked with a client who went to a divorce and see how to take care of her healthcare, which he didn't have to do before.

[00:19:23] And so healthcare benefits became a requirement in the same age. As the 15 minute commute can be a requirement to really then focus with your job search. So, so it can be that you say, I want to have a fixed salary, or I want to be fine working on commission. These are all elements that have to do it's compensation.

[00:19:43] So we spoke about control. He spoke about compensation. And now I'm going to speak to you about the company culture. And I'm always getting excited about that because really the company culture determines very much how happy you are as work. You know, I get calls from people where they basically say, you know, are you on, so-and-so told me to call you and I'm ready to quit because I really disliked my job.

[00:20:08] And sometimes they use much stronger words and I need a different career. And then actually when we peel away the layers, this person may X, we loved our job. That they don't like the company culture, because maybe it's too intense. The hours are too long. Maybe they don't like to work style of the boss.

[00:20:26] Right. And so it becomes really important to separate job content from job from company culture and company culture has a really important component is a really important aspect to happiness. You know, some people want to work in a mission oriented company. Some people say collaboration. It is so important in a company.

[00:20:48] Other people may say, I want to work in a fast paced, fast moving forward company, more innovative or more traditional. So all kinds of element that are important in company culture that you want to think about because they're all connected to happiness. and so. We spoke about company culture. We spoke about, compensation and we spoke about control.

[00:21:14] And now I'm going to the heart of the job search process. And that's something that Christina is asking about. She is saying, how do I find out where my interests are? I have so many things. I like, well, I love that Christine. That means. That means Christine, that, you're a lucky person to have so many interests.

[00:21:34] And I see a question coming in from Nita. How does one research company's culture and good can get good information. I need I'm and to table, that's the question. I'm first going to job content. And then I'm going to go back to ask to asset X to answer that excellent question about company culture. So let's go to job content.

[00:21:55] What type of work do I want to do? What ma what, how do I want to wake up in the morning and how am I going to feel excited to go. Back to work that goes to who am I? What is my personality like? And what are my interests? Like? So you want to think both about the function as well, as in which kind of a company you're going to do.

[00:22:17] Dysfunction. I think what is really important is Carol Fishman Cohen. In her book and also on her websites speaks about building blocks and that's goes to X, we looking at a position and peeling away the layers so that you start to understand that a certain position has certain kinds of functions. And some of these functions you may really like, and some of those functions you may not necessarily like.

[00:22:44] So I recommend you go back to, you know, jobs you have had in the past, and these can be paid jobs. And volunteer jobs because I consider volunteering as, as really important word. And you peel away the layers and find out the individual functions and say, Hey. These are the functions I really like. And then you can act three B organize those functions into a new job.

[00:23:07] So let me explain that to you. So let's take the chair of a fundraiser or an auction at a school. So this person is going to focus, donations, right? This person brings in donations. And if this person really likes to do that, well, guess what? Bringing in donations. It's like doing sales. And so this person may actually be really FC light, said C probably really likes to be in sales.

[00:23:33] So while auction chair doesn't sound like sales, this is a really great transferable skill in the sales arena. However, it could also be that this person says no. What I loved most was actually bringing the community together and bringing the volunteers together. If that's the function you'd like most, maybe you can relaunch as a community relationship manager or another relationship manager, and you really like building community.

[00:24:03] Or it could be that this person says, you know what, donations I delegated that I didn't like that at all as the oxen chair, but what I love to do with creating an organizing the event, that means that you may love organizing, and you may actually like event planning or different kinds of organizing. So those, those are all the cues you get.

[00:24:26] When you're thinking about passing. Positioned. So it can also be that you just, when you think about your interest, you start to say, Hey, I'm really very much of a numbers person, or I love to work with my hands and to create these two people are going to end up in different kinds of positions. So becomes really important to reflect, to ask other people what they think of you.

[00:24:49] Where other people see you, sometimes friends give you the best advice. As a matter of fact, it was a friend of mine who was an executive coach who told me, you know, you need to go into this field because of a, B, C, and D you know, and love working with people and companies. And so it's oftentimes it's your friends who actually tell you what is terrific for you.

[00:25:08] Also, I suggest to do assessments, but a better coach either. The strong assessment or the NBTI these assessments gives you quickly an overview of what may actually be of interest to you. And a lot of the Ivy long's coaches, if not all, all are certified in these assessments. So that might be another way for you to think through how can I get more clowning?

[00:25:33] So. I want to go back. Let me first go to, that's quick question from Anita. How, how does one research to company culture? I'm going to say a couple of things. Look at the websites of the company. Lots of times there is language on the company website that gives you an insight in the company. So it may be that the company says, you know, we care deeply about high quality deliverables.

[00:25:59] That says something, or it may say we are very focused on an open culture and inclusivity. Another key component that you can take away from looking at a website, you can look at how do these companies appear in the news, what is being said about them? You can actually also look at job descriptions because oftentimes, you know, oftentimes that is really also where you can see.

[00:26:25] What, you know, how a company speaks about their own organization or about a certain job. And I love Mary, thank you about the point of having other people give you some insight, talking to other people about who you are is really so important. Going back to Anita. So looking at newspapers. Looking at comp the website, looking at job descriptions, and most importantly, talking to people that you may know in that company or that you have connected with through other people, so that you actually hear from someone who works there, what the company culture is like very, very important remark.

[00:27:03] So we spoke about the four CS control compensation. Company culture and content of the job. So in these last couple of minutes, I'm going to talk to you about a 50, which is compromised and compromised is actually really important because while I'm a very positive person, you may not necessarily be able to check off.

[00:27:25] All the different components in your job, right? It, with regards to control compensation, you may not, you know, make lots of, you know, a million dollars and working 10 hours a week to be, to create a stark contrast. So compromise is really important. So be aware as to what requirements are must have in a job.

[00:27:46] And then. Be aware of also what are components you want in a job, but what you can also compromise on. So I see sometimes people say I'm going to compromise compensation if I can work from home or if I can be flexible in my time. So some companies. Focus on that. I also can give you an example of one of my clients who, you know, was a surgeon and actually really wanted to relaunch in the medical field because he loves hospitals and, and, and likes that's culture.

[00:28:19] And she'd been out of the workforce for, out of the workforce, in the medical arena for, I don't know exactly how many years, but over a decade. And she relaunched X, we in the medical fields in a hospital and she will be a liaison. And some of the things between patient, doctors and outside institutions, she's very excited about this opportunity.

[00:28:43] And one of the things compensation was very important for, for her. Yeah. And what she compromised is he actually, we relocated and it wasn't even a compromise for her because she's actually excited as to where she is locating relocating. But what was important about that? She would have never guessed that.

[00:29:04] Whilst he was starting this process and that's where it's a really organic process and where you will find these cues along the way when you start to actually jump into the process. So I'm going to say to you to kind of close the, this Facebook live session, what is really important is to get clarity, clarity about who you are and what you would like to do.

[00:29:26] And these tips that I gave you today can help you with starting that process. And I'm also going to say. Take action. You know, talk to other people about that. About a rah rah. I'd have people outside there because the moment you start to act, you'll actually go to move forward. So, Joanne, thank you. I see you just came online.

[00:29:48]thank you for the nice remark about excellent advice. Really appreciate it. Let me see what time we are. We have one minute to go. So if anyone has any more questions, let me know. I'm encouraging you to go on the Ivy launch website. For those of you who can make it to, follow Altos in, we have our next IB launch conference in Stanford.

[00:30:10]Oh, I have to think here May 1st. And then we have another relaunch conference in October and it's probably one of the most exciting places to be because it's a combination of. Meeting representatives of companies meeting other relaunches, very inspiring, you know, S tax, but also really people walk away there with real tips that they can.

[00:30:33] Apply to the job search. I just want to thank you for all, you know, your questions and great remarks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This was a lot of fun and I hope to see you either in South park in Palo Alto, South baltal Palo Alto or in New York. Thank you so much for joining us, and Todd's great to see you as well.

[00:30:54] And Jennifer, thank you all so much for joining. I appreciate it. Thank you.