AND Sunday afternoon and just the thought of the work week that is about to start again is provocative heachache or bad mood. This is definitely not a good sign, if it reoccurs every weekend then it’s really time to look around and start sending some CVs. «Another very clear sign is going to work and always thinking about what you would like to do to earn a living, even evaluating jobs or activities that are light years away from our profession or our skills» he explains Francesca ZamponeExecutive Coach and Career Strategist in Milan.
1 Understand whether the time for change has really come
Always tired. Already in the morning when you still have to enter the office, not to mention the evening after a full working day that never seems to pass. It’s not just a physical effort it’s a mental weight, which you can’t shake off even after a few days of vacation. «These are the first signs of burnout, in front of which it is necessary not only to stop but to realize that our body, and our mind, are telling us that I can no longer take that job, even if it is well paid” continues Zampone. It’s up to us to listen to them or ignore them. Knowing full well that, in the latter case, the situation will only get worse. And then yes it will be really difficult to find a new job, because you will lack the strength and energy to even think about it.
2 Finding work is work: it’s worth asking for help
The first thing to do when you think about leaving the place where you have worked for years, or even more so if you feel the need to change your type of activity, is to set yourself some goals. And the deadlines by which to achieve them. «It makes no sense to say by next month I want to have found a new job. It is much more useful and concrete to say to yourself “within the next month I want to have the list of all the companies to which I can send my CV”” explains the coach.
3 Set yourself many small but short-term goals
«Once you have set a clear and defined purpose, you can divide into other smaller objectives, for example in four weeks where in each of them it is established what to do” continues the expert. In the first week, for example, you can just look at all the ads that might be suitable for our profile, in the second track the keywords to monitor on job search sites, in the third see the adverts that come out for example on LinkedIn and in the fourth on Indeed with the key words we have selected. «Coaching really helps set concrete goals together with the personto clarify his professional expectations and to overcome any mental blocks which are the real career obstacles. And more generally to change” clarifies Francesca Zampone, also an expert in human resources management.
4 Have the courage to dare
It is precisely fears and mental blocks that sometimes prevent us from even considering the idea of changing jobs. «A career coach knows how to accompany the client towards a professional growth path, but also personal, because it highlights his mental blocks with him. The fears that perhaps date back to childhood or family legacies and helps him to overcome them, with easy exercises and “powerful” questions, because they are questions that undermine the limits that we impose on ourselves so as not to dare to ask for more. At work as in life.”
5 Get out of your comfort zone
Coaching in this area works above all on trying to take the client out of their comfort zone, for example by evaluating with them a series of companies to which they would never aspire to send their CV, but which instead can do so without problems, once they have found the courage and personal motivation. «The journey with the coach, which generally lasts from 4 to 10 sessions, helps the client to be more ambitious and sincere with himself. This does not mean not seeing your limits, but it means bringing your potential to light, objectively evaluating your skills and, above all, increase your self-esteem. This is what coaching is for, not just in the workplace” concludes Zampone.
6 Don’t weaken yourself to appear more available
Write a resume where you are looking for reduce their skills, in the hope that the selectors will appreciate the fact that you are “modest and available”. «Many people make this mistake, hoping to find a job sooner. This not only doesn’t work, but transmits a distorted image of themselves and those who deal with person selection for this reason alone do not take the candidate into consideration” explains Zampone. Just as it makes no sense to brag about experiences or skills that don’t belong to us, it is not correct to present oneself willing to do anything just to work. Even if we were to find a new job, but we already know from the start that we don’t like it or even make us feel worse than where we were before, we will again, shortly, be looking for a… new job.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED