Gold Nugget Coaching

Are you looking for a job, or thinking about changing jobs? You probably know about the various online job posting services like careerbuilders.com [link] and monster.com [link].

But do you know how best to leverage them? Do you know their strengths and weaknesses?

In a series of posts that starts with this one, you’ll discover what all “CareerBuilders” should know before they put their hopes for a better future in such tools. These and other tools can be powerful when used the right way but, when used blindly, can create frustration or a sense of hopelessness or, worse, can actually be damaging to your future.

But before we get into that discussion, along with tips and hints for using these tools, I’d like to introduce some concepts and get you thinking about some critical questions that will help shape your use of the tools.  Question #1 . . .

Do you really have a career?

Let’s start with this very basic question: Do you really have a career?

To which you may respond, “What kind of a question is that? Of course I have a career. I even have a career strategy.” But do you really?

In my coaching I consistently observe that people confuse the distinction between “job” and “career.” Maybe you even use them interchangeably. But they’re most definitely not the same. Why does it matter? Well, I say it matters because this distinction (or lack thereof) can muddy your goals and, thus, affect your chances of reaching your goals if they are ill defined.

So if your goal is to have a great career that is satisfying in many ways, but you have never thought about “What is a career, anyway?”, then you may be pursuing a goal that’s more like Dorothy in the Land of Oz: it’s very exciting and colorful but, in the end, it’s only a dream.

There’s an even more unsettling possibility that has emerged in recent years: career as an institution may be dead.

Career as an institution may be dead?! I know that’s not a very happy notion for you CareerBuilders. But the good news is that there’s a more effective and empowering concept of career that is emerging, along with some new and very useful distinctions.

I’ll tell you more in the next post.

 © 2006 Gold Nugget Coaching

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