Whilst the main work of UKHR.com is providing appropriate support to organisations in the form of Human Resources Consulting and Interim provision, one of the things that I have enjoyed most, over many years, is helping people with their career choices.
When chatting to people the biggest issues that I face again and again are lack of self-confidence or self-worth, people seeing barriers that don’t exist, people feeling trapped due to the need to earn money, not being aware of what they’re capable of, just not seeing other suitable avenues of work.
Here are some recent examples (names changed!)….
Issue: Andrew has worked for ten years in the same finance department, has had some small promotions, wants to do something more fulfilling and/or challenging, but is concerned about paying the rent.
Response: Most of my initial time was spent trying to help Andrew understand what really motivated him, what he enjoyed the most, what was frustrating him. In the end we found something that wasn’t at all scary, and may well open up into a new career. Andrew was able to negotiate a secondment to Procurement, loves the extra cut and thrust of his new role and starts a professional course in September!
Issue: Julie has gone from one temp job to another after graduating two years ago. She is having to live at home, which she hates, because of the low pay. She has been rejected from jobs multiple times.
Response: It was clear at the outset that Julie didn’t have a clue what she really wanted to do, and instead of seeing the benefits of living at home and the secure base that gave her, all she could see was the problems it threw up being too close to her mum! So we looked at the bigger picture, interests and goals in life, and realised that having a focus which didn’t involve ensuring guests were happy being waited on at table was going to be key. Julie got involved with her local conservation trust, volunteering for early morning projects, she had a long chat with one of the conservation rangers and has just started as an apprentice, she’s still living at home but is happy again :-)
Issue: Two years ago Anne wanted to return to work after a break of 8 years, bringing up two lovely kids. Her old role in data entry didn’t exist anymore and she wasn’t sure if she had the skills to compete new roles.
Response: The key here was to think through all Anne’s life skills and experiences and start from scratch, working out what she most enjoyed and where she had received the most compliments. We identified some people in interesting roles that she knew and started to build her a presence on LinkedIn. She started off with some unpaid work experience in a school office, but didn’t enjoy it. But she got noticed and the Headmistress’s husband asked her to help with his company at something she enjoys, bookkeeping, and she is now studying for the exams later in the year
If you would like a review, or to buy one for someone you know, then UKHR charges a flat rate of £250 (includes VAT) for a couple of one to one meetings and then ongoing whatsapp (or similar) support. This includes CV advice.
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