A personal experience
- It can be said that our careers are our lives
- This is true if you look at how many of our waking hours are spent working (and commuting; and talking about work)
- This definitely isn’t a bad thing, but should be looked at as a challenge; A challenge to seek the most fulfilling career possible – since this is where most of our time is spent
- That being said, it is a challenge for many since finding a rewarding and very fulfilling career is indeed difficult for many (How many people do you know that actually love their job?)
- Effort is required and normally it takes some work, with positive results rarely occurring immediately
- Below is a high level overview of my professional career path to date
- Why am I sharing this with you? A few reasons:
- You may relate to it (Frustration with not knowing what to do with your career; Your career path is a bit spastic like mine)
- You can see that it is definitely a journey over time that often requires patience
- Its never too late to make change/seek a new career path (You never know what opportunities will present themselves and who you will meet and who they can connect you to)
- Life will never be boring if you continually seek personal and professional growth and development
- Get you thinking about your own career path and possible major and/or minor adjustments or vector shifts you can and should make (Whether you’re a client, friend, or someone struggling with their current job or frustrated because you have no idea where to even start, I sincerely want you to experience a rich and fulfilling career, for you yourself, but also for all the people around you (your family, friends, colleagues, etc)
- Life is to be embraced and enjoyed (love the good and learn from the not-so-good)
My (fairly unconventional) professional career path outline
- Graduated university with an Economics degree (No logic behind this choice)
- Liked the idea of working in the financial services industry (more than any other role I had seen to that point)
- Worked in a mutual fund department in Toronto (after completing the Canadian Securities Course) but frustratingly missed out on a broker’s assistant position due to an error by the HR department
- Moved to Vancouver on the suggestion of a friend who had recently moved there (Why not?!)
- Got a cool job that involved setting up a Internet-based communications platform in the resource sector (and driving nice cars and boats)
- Three years on with still no idea of my career path or purpose I left Vancouver to travel overseas and live abroad (and maybe ‘find myself’)
- Lived and worked (primarily in financial institutions) in London and Sydney (and traveled in Europe and Southeast Asia) and had a fantastic time soaking in the history, culture, diversity, and social scene; Met some amazing people and learned so much about perspectives (good and bad) on life
- Decided to further my formal education, took the GMAT, and got into an MBA program with a technology focus in the south of France realizing that I’ve always preferred technology to banking/financial services (This program was one of the best experiences of my life, largely due to the quality people I met and the exposure to different ways of thinking and mindsets)
- Completed a great consulting project within the MBA program with a Swedish wireless consulting firm (dream job at the time) and then graduated with an intention of staying in Europe, but my timing was off (really off) as the dot-com bubble had recently burst and most jobs evaporated
- Moved to Toronto, reconnected with some old friends, and did some consulting work (in the wireless industry)
- Six months later moved to Florida to work for an upstart tech company (Got connected to the company through a good friend who had moved to Florida from Scotland after completing an MBA there)
- Excited about the new job and the new opportunities promised, dove into the role with enthusiasm (maybe a little too much) and the job ultimately fizzled out; But I loved the weather and the friends I made (Among them I met a great Lebanese guy taking the Dale Carnegie Course; A fantastic course on human behavior and growth)
- While in Florida I got involved with the leadership team of a men’s ministry and while planning an event I met one of the speakers who is a life coach; I got really intrigued with this concept as my career was in need of a change but still had no idea what to do; The more I researched and learned about coaching, the more I saw it as a great fit for my desire to help people (I had always loved coaching and instructing sports when I was younger)
- After three years in Florida and feeling for the first time a passion for a career path, I enrolled in a coach training program; Wanting to be closer to family I moved to Vancouver (a toss up between Vancouver and Toronto, but chose Vancouver in the end because of a new niece there)
- I eagerly set up my own coaching business (I had always wanted to have my own business, but often struggled with what I would do) and began initially focusing on life coaching and career coaching (I saw huge value in helping people find and go after their purpose in life, and had significant experience working through the recruitment process living and working overseas)
- I loved the one-on-one coaching and then through exposure to clients and networking I saw a need for business coaching (helping small business owners and entrepreneurs set up and successfully market their businesses), which fit well with my business background and experience
- And then my business broadened further to include group training & development on topics of leadership, marketing, personal development, and small business growth; This work I absolutely love because of the group dynamic and I often combine it with one-on-one coaching sessions which works exceptionally well
- So now, after a relatively short amount of time, my business has evolved significantly based on the needs I saw in the community, which has allowed me to serve a greater number of people as well as become even more passionate about the types of coaching and training that I do
- I look forward to continually meeting new people, getting introduced to interesting ideas, and collaborating on cool projects through the rest of my professional life and beyond
Practically speaking
- So if you made it through all of that, hopefully it will ignite a spark to assess, approve, or kick-start a career change, big or small, with the goal of a richer professional (and subsequently personal) life!
- So I suggest you write out a similar career path outline to see what it reveals to you (you’re very happy with your career to date, you are definitely ready to make a big change, or you want to start thinking about other options at this stage in your life)
- Create a challenge for yourself to get into a truly fulfilling career that will not only energize your life, but those around you (*Remember that its never too late, regardless of what others (or the little voice in your head) say!)
- And get in touch with me if you have any questions about going about it; I’m here to help!
To our careers,
David