Andrea’s Story
My work with Cardy Career Coaching led to a huge epiphany for me. I had been an expert in my field for 23 years and was finding myself struggling in my career. The job I was in just wasn’t the right fit for me and didn’t align with my values. Something had to change.
My last job really turned my world upside-down. I started to think that it was the kind of work that was wrong for me and that I no longer wanted to serve the target group that I had been serving very successfully. I thought maybe I’m in entirely the wrong kind of work.
All of this negativity was coming through in my interviews and in my resume. It wasn’t doing me any favors. This meant that even though I was applying for jobs I was qualified for and even when I had the required levels of experience, I wasn’t being chosen. This really rocked me emotionally. On some occasions I just thought, “seriously, I could do that job in my sleep.”
People kept saying to me “You’re in Washington, so you’ll totally find a job.” That just made me feel bad, that there was something wrong with me. I thought “Oh my gosh, I’m in Washington and can’t get a job!”
I wanted to be able to be a good role model for my daughter and felt that in struggling with my career I was failing to be the great role model that I wanted to be.
Learning to See Differently
It was fantastic to work with my coach as she helped me see things with a more objective viewpoint that was different from the influence of family and friends. She helped me to recognize that I did like the sector that I was in, it was just the particular institution I was working at that wasn’t a good fit for me.
She also helped me to see that maybe I should disconnect from the huge number of job alerts and newsletters I was signed up for, Linkedin, Monster, Indeed, emails and pushes from ads, as they were just making it harder and harder to make my own decisions.
My coach was able to help me to make my own decisions. She also helped me to own the fact that I had not been working for seven months and being able to go into a selection process being upfront and honest about that also had a huge impact on my confidence levels as I went through the process.
Re-focusing and Re-aligning
She helped me to refocus my energy and to think positively about what it was that I actually wanted. I was able to see how important it was for me for my values to be a good match for those at the institution I was working at.
My coach had a sense of humor and made me so comfortable with her that I was able to let the walls down and to be vulnerable.
I was able to secure a role in the sector that I had been working in that was a much better match for me as the values of the institution were a much closer match to my own values. This changed everything for me.
The work I did with my coach has also helped me beyond my career search. I find that with the tools that I learned that I am now less hard on myself, that I’m not as rigid in how things need to or should be, and I now notice when I’m able to choose to do something differently to improve things in my life for myself.
I now have a great job that uses my expertise. The hours are great and there’s a good amount of focus on employee well being. I’m a huge advocate of Cardy Career Coaching services now and recommend them to anyone who is struggling in their career, as my own experience of working with Cardy Career Coaching was amazing.
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