You’re a corporate executive or self-employed professional. If you are reading this blog, you probably have a question about your career. Maybe you thought you’d always want to keep working in your current career and now you feel differently. Or maybe you don’t have a choice. Your job goes away. Or your health, family, priorities and/or dreams fade away, change or grow stronger.
There are lots of people out there who want to help you. I’m one of them. When you read through this blog, you will get a sense of my style and you’ll know whether I’m the best resource for you at this time. I offer career consulting as well as a series of ebooks you can download right away.
My name is Cathy Goodwin. I have a PhD in business from UC Berkeley and an MBA from the Wharton School. As a certified corporate maverick and 20-year college professor, I’ve been fascinated by careers ever since I can remember. I’ve published research careers and life transition, worked with dozens of clients and gone through career changes myself. You can download my published book on Relocation Strategy.
Originally from New York, I am fast and direct. My favorite question is, “What’s the bottom line?” I don’t waste time on fluff. I don’t hold out the promise of easy answers in a career test. And I won’t answer a question with a question (90% of the time).
Truths I’ve Learned About Careers and Career Change
There are no cookie-cutter solutions. You can hire someone to be a sounding board. I can make suggestions and often help you avoid costly details. But you have to find your own way and tune in to your own intuition.
Tests are almost always a waste of time and money, if you’re a mid-career professional or executive. If you’re looking for tests, click away now – you won’t find them here. Your career test will show you are ideally suited to the job you have now.
The major predictors of career change success are motivation and time. You have to really, really want to change. Usually that means being so miserable you’re willing to take risks and give up some comfortable parts of your life.
Finally, if you have emotional baggage – a tough divorce, death in the family, depression, anxiety – trying to change careers won’t help. In fact, any emotional baggage you carry around will just get heavier. Work with a licensed therapist first. Some people also benefit from life coaches but that’s up to you.
The most important truth about career change is… the decision may not be up to you.
If you really, really hate your job, recognize that the problem won’t go away. You may start to sabotage yourself. I’m not a therapist so talk to a professional for the Real Deal. I’m just speaking from experience and observation. I’ve seen perfectly smart, competent people make dumb, foolish mistakes. They get sick. They lash out and lose control. And then it’s too late to be proactive and take charge of the situation. You’re branded as a loose cannon or worse.
I’ve written a whole ebook on “10 Things To Do If You Really, Really Hate Your Job.” Click here to learn more.
I’ve got lots of tips and ideas here, from free messaging to one-to-one consulting. I’m not a trained coach, therapist or counselor. But if you like my down-to-earth, no-nonsense style, maybe we should talk. Learn more here.
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