Feeling stuck or being passionate
Have you ever felt stuck in a job? If you are new to work or are a seasoned veteran of the workplace, there will be a time when you will feel stuck.
· Stuck in between a team or managers
· Stuck in the politics.
· Stuck without a budget
· Stuck with a staff you find hard to motivate
· Stuck with yourself where you are even harder to motivate.
Whether you are an optimist or a pessimist or a
realist we all get stuck at some time and It’s a good thing to find a way to
get unstuck and fast. If we don’t “unstick” ourselves we end up losing our
passion or love for what we do. Maybe the passion has slowly been eroding away
or your idealism shattered by the realities of the workplace.
In my career I have been made redundant. I have
been restructured, I have reinvented myself more than once and I am not yet
retired. You too have been in these situations. It is these career transition
times that forces you to take a good hard look at yourself and prepare you for
something else.
There can be nothing more soul destroying than
being in the mid to late career phase of your life and having to update your CV
and reapply for a job. There can be nothing more soul destroying to be at the
graduate end of your career and be applying for jobs and not even get the
courtesy of a reply.
Before you jump into the first job you see take
another look at your CV, your standard cover letter and what you say about
yourself. Can you honestly say what makes you stand out or different from the
next person? Skills and experience may look the same as the text person, talents
again may be similar to others but your uniqueness is your heart. What are you passionate
about? What organisation, cause, or area of work excites you? If I asked you
this question in a job interview what would you say? What would you opening
line be of your covering letter?
If you identified what your top 5 passions are – how do they apply to the work you do? For example, here is Janine, she is in sales and marketing. Her top 5 passions are:
1. Animals
2. Caring
3. Serving
4. Connection
5. Travel
She has worked in banking for 10 years and fed her passions in her personal life. She is about to apply for a new job as she has been restructured. He natural inclination is to apply for another banking or finance as she perceived this is the only work experience, she has had. She has a heap of transferable skills and has worked as a volunteer for SPCA for years and the President of her local kennel club.
When asked what her dream job would be it would be
using her skills in combination with her passions. If she reshaped her thinking
and approach, she could look at employers in animal welfare not banking. She
could rewrite her CV, covering letter and interview skills based on her
passions not just what she has done.
So, let’s reshape it like so for Janine:
I am an experienced sales and marketing professional who has a passion for animal welfare. I have been President of my local Kennel Club and travelled domestically to assist with competitions. I have also worked in a voluntary capacity SPCA where I have served the community and connected with others internationally in this space. I am looking for an opportunity to use all of my skills, experience and passions.
Rewrite your opening line based on your passions not just your work experience. If you don’t know what your top 5 passions are f here:
https://thepassiontest.geniusu.com
