values, personality and interests. As you build self-knowledge by taking action, inspiration about different career paths you could follow will come along.
4. KEEP FLEXIBLE
Remember, we are each of us more than one person. What interests you at one time in your life may not be right for you at another. Be prepared to be flexible and respond to your intuition as to when to change paths.
5. FAILURE IS OK
It is perfectly OK to have a career on your CV that wasn’t right for you. Trial and error teaches us more than introspection. As you learn more about yourself, you can get more precise and accurate in matching your career choices to who you are.
6. TAKE SMALL STEPS TO GET YOU TO THE BIG GOAL
Even if you know what your ideal career is, it may take a while – even years – to get there. Although it would be wonderful to wave a magic wand, small wins are the best ways to work the path towards a bigger goal. Use each small change you make, and everything you learn, as feedback about what you want and how to get your big goal. Accept that the path often weaves in and out of rocks and disappears for a while underground before coming back again. It is not a straight line. A series of small wins will add up to a big change over time.
7. KEEP LEARNING
If you don’t have the opportunity to learn through your current job and you can’t afford to take an immediate leap to another career, identify voluntary or parallel projects that you could take on that will give you new skills or insights. Turning points in careers don’t usually come because of one huge leap, but because of a build-up of preferences and commitment from different assignments over time. It is better to spend more time trying out different ways or styles of working in extracurricular projects, where you can afford to change direction, rather than taking a huge career leap that might prove hard to reverse and cost you money or security.
8. BE PATIENT
Career growth and transition take time. If you want to take the unfamiliar path, it may take two, three, or even more, years for you to grow the career you really want.
9. RECOGNISE OPPORTUNITIES WHEN THEY APPEAR
We all have periods when we make progress and periods when we seem to get stuck. Always keep your eyes peeled for opportunities. Career chances don’t always come conveniently labelled as such. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to make your career cooler than it is at present. Think about becoming an expert in a particular niche area. Or how about changing geographical location? What are you prepared to do that other people might not consider? Make a story out of your career so far. Take advantage of whatever life throws at you. Only you can make your career a positive experience for you. Tell the story of your life in a positive way to bring meaning to your career and it will make you get clear on the next steps you can take.
1O. TAKE A RISK AND BECOME SELF-EMPLOYED
You can aim for an employed career or you can just get your name out there and invent your own. Be prepared to take a risk and go self-employed once you really know your own working preferences. It takes some courage but it could be your best investment in yourself ever. Check out the unusual careers in the lists in Part Two for ideas about one-off careers.
Turning uncool into very cool
Don’t panic if you have just realised that you are very uncool. With a little creativity you can start developing your career into a cool career. It’s up to you just how cold you want to go.
EXAMPLE 1: A COOL ADRENALIN CHARGED CAREER
Classic cool: Pilot Being a pilot is an example of a classically cool career. Pilots have status. Little boys grow up wanting to be them. But the amount of cool depends on what type of pilot you are. A Commercial Pilot is a much sought-after career – aspirational, but not particularly unusual.
Very cool: an RAF Pilot Might score extra Cool points. Why? Fewer people have the opportunity to become RAF pilots. The tough training programme and reputation for ‘Top Gun’ adrenalin-charged flying produces extra cool points for many.
Think laterally to find a cool career: A linked very cool career is Air Traffic Controller. It requires quick reflexes and a high degree of skill, as well as a cool, calm character.
Unusually cool: a Seaplane Pilot In the golden age of the 1930s and 1940s, seaplanes complete with smoking lounges and cocktail bars would fly around the British Empire, but they are much rarer nowadays. A new seaplane school has recently been set up in Glasgow but there are likely to be only a handful of seaplanes flying in the whole of the UK in the next five years. The exclusivity of being a seaplane pilot creates an unusually cool classification. (If you want to find out more contact the UK Seaplane Association.)
EXAMPLE 2: A COOL CREATIVE CAREER
Classic cool: Singer There are many types of singer, from backing to nightclub to opera. Some have low-paying jobs; others find fame and fortune. If you specialise in one type of music, or have a fantastic vocal range, there is work in recording studios, musicals, the theatre and opera.
Very cool: Singer (niche) How about developing a line in overtone singing, English folk, Gregorian chanting, Mongolian folk or country and western? If you are one of the few people in an area with a skill, you are likely to open up a nice niche in the market.
EXAMPLE 3: A COOL CAREER USING YOUR BODY
So-so: Sports/physical activity teacher/trainer This is an average career. There are plenty of careers around in this area. It may be an enjoyable career, but not particularly aspirational in terms of monetary or status rewards. There are lots of ways you can teach a physical activity – in a school or college, in a club, in a gym.
Classic cool: Trainer in yoga/pilates/martial arts You can up your cool factor by choosing an unusual speciality within the same field. Some of the classically coolest right now are yoga, pilates, martial arts. Keep an eye out for the latest fashions in fitness to become even cooler.
Very cool: niche opportunities in personal training How about giving training in Israeli self-defence for an additional cool factor. Or take a dance class in Bollywood Bangra? Or how about being a celebrity personal trainer? While being a personal trainer in the average gym isn’t going to win you many ‘cool’ points, thinking laterally and changing your geographical location rather than your job title can have the same effect of upping your cool. Make a move to Beverly Hills or Los Angeles, get yourself a DVD and an agent, a celebrity endorsement and some good PR and suddenly you become very cool indeed.
In fact, thinking ambitious and being prepared to move to an exciting or unusual part of the world can make many careers cooler.
EXAMPLE 4: A PEOPLE CAREER
So-so: Counsellors Being a counsellor is not very rare nowadays. You don’t have to have a psychology background to train as a counsellor, e.g. as a relationship counsellor. Think how you could make it a little cooler, though.
Classic cool: Counselling psychologist Extra cool points come from the fact that this requires more training and so is rarer. You will help individuals understand