Having been very fortunate to have worked with a number of MBA students, helping them identify strengths and development areas for their immediate careers and their MBA studies. Now most believed (and rightly so) that the MBA will kick start an upward trejectory in their careers. The qualification will open doors toward a bright new future. Of course the evidence shows that MBA graduates improve their career rewards and more so when changing career*. So why were so many students and many other people report being unclear about their career strategies and goals? Why do so many talk of having a career itch but did not know where to start scratching the itch?
Unplanned Wandering
Of course this is nothing unusual. To be honest we are all blighted with the sometimes lack of vision and clarity to know what we are going to be doing from any point in our career. How many people reading this post are actually doing a job they set out doing or have changed career/job because it fell in your lap? We can all loose focus and perhaps loose our faith in ourselves that things will ever change in our careers. Some may remember posts on Planned Happenstance Theory, where we can easily wander through our careers or work life ending up in jobs just by chance more than anything else. The MBA students seemed to prove the theory right in most cases.
So where to start?
So then the question to the students (and I guess to us all is), if you have that career itch, how do we begin to scratch it? Well a discussion with a brilliant student who had a passion to be a consultant is a great start. Though I am sure you can all see the flaw – what type of consultant? A business, management, HR, Avon (cosmetics) or IT for example. The goal in this first instance was the first word of the title ………….. consultant. As without at least the first word the problem solving becomes overwhelming and confusion sets in. As was the case with the student.
Dream a little
So then we needed a strategy a plan to ensure that this career path was more defined and goal driven. Motivation starts and mostly sticks from an internal perspective, that drive to achieve, that sense of purpose & direction. We needed to find the “why”; why do you want to be that? We just might need to begin to vision the career path – dream a little. Visualise the role, begin to align the skills, abilities, knowledge & experiences from other roles to focus in on the point of where you are going. The CV starts to look like this is the direction we are heading, you become the role by starting to network and talk the talk with those connectors who will get you in front of those people who will help you achieve your career objectives. All of this career strategising will take place as the student we are discussion becomes more focussed though their MBA. Hopefully squirting out the other end of the degree with a clear career strategy ready to embark upon getting the career path that they want: and not leaving it to happenstance.
Lastly…………
So it doesn’t matter where you are in the career/job itch – to scratch it you need to know where to start or more to the point where the itch is. Begin to dream a little, make the dreams a plan – a real and goal directed plan that you can achieve, with proper milestones to know your career direction is on track. Need more support, well I am just a click away. I can talk you though the career management process step by step to give you the career you just might not want to scratch ever again.
