Set a New Direction

My Program for Individuals Summarized:

• Know YOU (What makes you unique)
• Know WHO (Who needs people like you? Most jobs are in various stages of conceptualization and aren’t ‘posted’. Know how to uncover them)
• Know HOW (Bring YOU and WHO together - the onus is on you to do it)

Aristotle said “Where your talents and the world’s needs meet – there lies your vocation.”

Paradoxically, while it is a job seekers market right now, finding work is becoming harder. This is because:

• Many do not grasp the requirements of a global economy, especially the growth of contract, temporary work and the need the need for non-traditional, creative approaches
• More and more jobs require higher skills (you will need to address this)
• More competition between workers from around the world. A global economy means global competition that reaches to your local community level.

Today you need to have new "skills" just to locate the best work.

Set a New Direction is unique. It emphasizes releasing your talents then capitalizing on your uniqueness.

Designed for today's rapidly changing world
The approach of Set a New Direction is qualitatively different from the job search materials available at an employment office. Those ones are generically designed for anyone in a local community. Globalization is not explained, the reentering from cross-culture work is not addressed at all, and transitions are hardly mentioned, if at all. I offer customized career support that unpacks all these critical concepts - because they do impact you at a core level.

Targeted to people in major transitions by one who’s been there
I’ve moved 14 times with my family. I’ve lived and worked in a foreign culture – 7 years in Africa. I know first hand the disorienting, dangling feeling of having my own roles rocked to the foundation – stripped away actually. Role stress is more common for all of us today and is the root of many problems, physical, emotional, spiritual and societal. I've interacted with full awareness my own (ongoing) transitions. I can cheer you on!

Cutting edge and highlights the needs of the new "Right Brain" economy
I offer leading edge career development services based on the trends of today’s global economy. Personality and Customization matter. As a researcher with access to university libraries, I take advantage of close to 100 journals per month on the subject of globalization, business, organizations and career development. My services and curriculum are in real time. You need this kind of approach if you're going to ride the "permanent whitewater" today.

Holistic
My program is end to end and comprehensive. There are many other simultaneous issues that impact on the whole person’s career transition. For example, together we would also cover:

• Challenges pertaining to relationships
• Third Culture Kid (TCK) issues
• General Wellness

MY PROGRAM DETAILS
The 4 Phases are meant to cover a period of 8 to 12 weeks. The objective is to slow down, learn about yourself as an individual, then get up to speed for new opportunities. The process overview looks like this:

• You will understand your skills, motivations, competencies and accomplishments by doing several self-assessments. It is essential to begin with a current understanding of who you are at this point in time. You will become aware of the best areas to concentrate on. Many people are inarticulate about their strengths and weaknesses. Or, they need to re-clarify them before applying them to new work roles. You need to have an accurate foundation of self-knowledge so that you’ll know what you have to offer to an employer. Some of the tools I use are the 5 Dynamics and the Birkman. These are outstanding self-assessments but they do not stand alone in a person’s career development. More than ever you need to approach your career from a holistic perspective - which my program does.
• Clarify and prioritize your work values: what are the values of primary importance, secondary importance, little or no importance to you?
• Build the following documents which will present your strengths well. Together these will document your one message of who you are, what you can do and what you're focused on:
• Career Objective Worksheet
• Career Objective Summary
• Cover letter
• Resume
• Personal Profile
• Personal Brand Statement
• Success Factors
• A deeper understanding of globalization and what it practically means for your career. Knowing the top skills most in demand today - and why?
• Job Search Strategies. Understanding and assessing the informal, unadvertised job market. Determining the type of work you want to do based on who you are – based on talent, not titles; researching and targeting that market. It’s not at all about chasing ‘hot jobs’.
• Building a Career Plan moves you from here to there. This could include building a formal business plan for self-employment.
• Making yourself visible. Networking and making contact with people who actually hire in the places where you want to work. Interviewing and negotiating techniques. Communicating your credibility by effective oral and written communication.
• Becoming a Career Activist. Self-management, continuous improvement, life-long learning. The Interview Review checklist.
• Yearly review and career checkup methods.
• Signing off with your personal Career Portfolio (Personal Career ID) which collects and organizes all the above documents for future reference.
  

As you can see, this is a comprehensive program.

You can also see that there is a lot of work to be done. My dad had two jobs in his life: policeman, plant security supervisor. He never wrote a resume. He never researched himself. He didn't need to. But it’s different today. You can expect to dedicate a total of 40 hours for this over the 8 to 12 week time period. It's important to take full advantage of your transition time and be committed to Setting a New Direction. Don’t become impatient and just take any job available. Spend the time and expense up front and you wont regret it.

The cost of the complete three month program is $1,500 CAN. 

I also separate out the YOU stage ($850) which stands alone as a solid foundation for any person serious about managing their career. As the graphic above shows, this stage is between 50% to 60% of the program.

I will provide a free one hour exploratory session where you can determine if this program (or customized pieces of it) would improve your situation at this time. There is no obligation.