You Can Feel More Satisfied in Your Career - Exactly Where You Are Now

You have the power to feel happier in your job - today - exactly where you are now.  

It is a myth that we have to be in the perfect job, working on the most interesting project, with the smartest team, in some exotic location, before we can truly feel satisfied in our career.  When you look at the research on what makes an individual feel satisfied in their career, the good news is that many of the job satisfaction factors have more to do with how you perceive your situation, than the elements of the actual job.  

Here are three job satisfaction tips that you can use right now to bring more joy to your work.

Express your Values.  When you are allowed to express your personal values in your job, you enliven your sense of purpose.  Just starting out in human resources, I found the endless paperwork, which was the vast majority of the job, to be sheer drudgery.  When I was hired, I thought I was going to help people. It turned out, that entry level HR work was "helping people" by filing their health forms.  This was not my idea of helping.  So, at work, during lunch one winter, I organized a winter coat drive for a local homeless shelter.  This small volunteer initiative allowed my to express my values for helping people and spoke to my belief that companies should contribute to the communities in which they reside.  It also helped me to later on transition into the community relations department within HR.  

Build Relationships.  People who are satisfied in their careers, have fostered affirming relationships.   Seek out others who share your interests and actively build a relationship with them. You do not necessarily have to build relationships with people in positions to advance your career in order to increase your job satisfaction. A sense of isolation and feeling disconnected from co-workers has the effect of creating job dissatisfaction. If you and the security guard share a love of jazz, nurture that relationship.  People who are satisfied at work, surround themselves with individuals they can connect with. 

Use Your skills. Use a skill that you already have, in a new way.  You may think that because you didn't learn a particular skill at school or even on the job  that the skill isn't valuable.  We believe that every single skill you have developed - whether it's running a road race or volunteering in a soup kitchen- can be a valuable asset at work- right now.  For example, one client we know had an incredible ability to set and achieve athletic goals such as running a marathon in under 4 hours.  However, she never thought to apply these same skills to her work as a nurse in a busy hospital.  When she began using this goal setting strength in her job - setting small, specific, achievable goals for herself such "Today, every patient gets a hug" or "Today, I will get each patient to smile", she began to feel more accomplished at work and more satisfied in her job. 

Approach your current situation with the values you care about, connect with others, and bring your skills to work with you and there's no doubt you will feel happier right away with your current job.

Big Firm Lawyers: You Have Other Options!

If you are an attorney who is unhappy working in a large law firm, you are not alone. Many lawyers contact us to help them figure out a career path that fits with their skills, values, and priorities. Eilene Zimmerman takes a look at lawyers who are leaving big law firms to start their own law practices in her interesting New York Times article Skipping the Partner Track for a Shingle of One's Own.

But, starting your own law practice or changing law firms is not your only option. You have developed marketable skills that transfer to many fields such as business, education, government, and marketing. We help lawyers overcome the first challenge of figuring out what they want to do, and then creating an action plan to get there.

Have you left a law firm to open your own practice or work in another setting? We would love to know!

So, What Do You Do? How to Answer

During our career coaching process, we help clients create a clear, exciting, focused vision of the job they want. After this vision is defined, and the resume is targeted to getting the desired job, the next stage is to get the word out.

To begin effectively getting the word out, you need a great "elevator pitch" - a clear, concise statement about who you are, what you do, and what you are looking for. Once you craft your elevator pitch, write it down on a note card, and practice saying it. So, when you meet someone at a cocktail party, and they ask “what do you do”, or you meet someone at a networking event, you will be ready!

Here are some examples of elevator pitches from individuals that have worked:

"I work in business development at a university for our executive MBA program. I particularly love traveling all around the country, meeting with senior executives, and setting up MBA programs for their employees. I am now looking to return to the private sector in finance, and use my business development skills to help women invest their money wisely."

""I recently finished my masters in American history. Last year, I co-developed and co-taught a college history course that focused on the civil war era. I am now ready to teach at the college level, and I am looking for an instructors position at a local community college. "

I run art programs in schools that teach children skills while working together to create amazing artwork. My favorite part is coordinating all the pieces - the community, the school, the artists, the children - to create these art installations. I am now looking to move beyond education and use my program management skills in the non-profit world."

To learn more about crafting an effective elevator pitch, check out our business development blog - BREAKTHROUGH RESULTS

Resume Writing - Our Best Tip for Getting Started

When my partners and I teach resume writing workshops, we often have groups of friends sign up together. Many of them have not had a resume for a number of years. And more often than not, each one gets stuck when we ask them to make a list of their accomplishments and experiences. But, here is something interesting - when we ask them to list the accomplishments and experiences of the friend sitting next to them, they quickly rattle off numerous things that their friend has accomplished. Ask them to do it for themselves - and it’s just too hard.

I get it! Even as a career development professional, I find it much easier to talk about my partners’ skills, talents, and experiences than my own.

So, my partners and I came up with a resume-building exercise that is a simple but effective way for you to get unstuck and craft a list of accomplishments to put on a resume - enlist the help of a friend. Ask a trusted friend who knows you well to answer the following questions:

What would you say are my strongest skills?

What talents do I have that have surprised you?

What are my accomplishments? What projects have I worked on?

What experiences have I had that allowed me to demonstrate my best self?

When you use a friend (or “empowering partner”) to help you brainstorm a list of skills, talents, and accomplishments, you will be surprised, like the women in our workshops, at just how accomplished and marketable you truly are.

Flextime - Everybody Wins.

A flexible work schedule or "flextime" has finally emerged as a truly viable option for individuals seeking to balance work with "life". Boston Globe staffer, Katie Johnson Chase crafts a compelling case for flextime in When Time is Money. At DKS Consulting Group, we believe that flextime is not only an important option for employees (especially working parents who want to be more involved in the lives of their children) but for business owners as well. It turns out that flextime benefits companies in many ways, including the place they care about the most - their bottomline. By allowing individuals to work from home, one company saved as much as 30% on overhead costs. That is a real incentive for flexibility in the workplace, and the great thing is, everybody wins.

We are always happy to post career-related good news when we hear it.

Keep That Job Search Motivation Going Strong

It's the second week into the New Year, and your motivation is high as you forge ahead in your job search. You have the energy to set up networking appointments that you have been putting off, you find the time to sign up for a class to develop a new skill, or you finally join a job search support group to gain new job hunting ideas. The beginning of January can provide us with a great burst of motivation as we take on our New Year's resolutions. However, that surge of excitement can taper off by the time February rolls around.

Each New Year, we see our career coaching clients become motivated to overcome obstacles in their job search. And each year, as their New Year's energy begins to fade, we share with them the following tips to help them stay on track and move forward:

1) Its a Marathon not a Sprint - Searching for a new job is a lengthy process that can be both exciting and emotionally draining. And like a marathon, it requires you to pace yourself, expect some hills, and maintain your focus on the finish line. We tell our clients to mentally prepare themselves for a job search marathon not a job search sprint. This realistic expectation can help you maintain a steady level of enthusiasm because it wards off dissappointment when opportunities take time to materialize.

2) Celebrate Small Successes - A steady supply of small celebrations does more for boosting one's motivation for achieving a goal than just about anything else. Give yourself a "Yay Me!" each time you check off an item on your job search action plan. It's important to acknowledge each step up the ladder. Don't wait until you have the new job - celebrate and honor each of your accomplishments along the way.

3) Take Time to Re-Charge - Searching for a job can become a stressful, 24/7 endeavor. It is important to set a specific, daily timeframe when you put your full energy into looking for a job - then quit for the day. One way to decrease stress is to take time each day to do something that refuels and recharges your mind, body, and spirit. Go for a walk outdoors, meet a friend for coffee, or lose yourself in a great book. Plan a daily recharge of your mental battery, and you will have the energy you need to truly succeed in your job search.

What tips do you have for staying motivated during the job search process? We want to know!

Is Executive Coaching for You?

If you have been working hard climbing the corporate ladder, but it seems that you are making little progress in your career, it may be time to consider executive coaching. Executive Coaching allows you to strengthen your leadership and interpersonal skills with real-time feedback. As you rise in the organization and take on increasing levels of management responsibility, your ability to work with and influence people becomes critical to your success. Executive Coaching is an effective way for you to sharpen your interpersonal skills, look at old problems in new ways, and re-energize your career so that you can lead your team to achieve their highest level of performance.

For more information on the benefits of executive coaching, check out the following Harvard Business School article, "What an Executive Coach Can Do for You".