Helping Career Changers Around The World

November 2011

Hello!

Welcome to the November 2011 edition of The 5 Minute Career Coach.

What's in this Issue

• Article of the Month - Lessons from the Used Car Salesman
• Something To Think About
• Cherry Recommends – Be Your Own Life Coach
• About Cherry

I was working with a client recently who was struggling with a pattern of negative thinking she had got into and we spent some time exploring different ways of stilling the negative voices and focusing her attention on the positive things in her life. This is a conversation that I suspect many of us could benefit from.

There is no quick, overnight fix for this negative thinking habit, but the key step in the process is simply to start noticing when the negative thoughts kick in and instead of trying to fight them or beating yourself up for going to that place, just acknowledge that they are there. This means you can begin to notice without judgement and then the next step is to make the conscious choice to pop the unhelpful thoughts into a box on a high shelf for safe keeping, because you haven't got time to pay attention to them right now.

Once they are tucked away out of sight, you can refocus your attention on something positive about you or your circumstances which will lift your mood and help carry you through the day.

Being clear about your positive qualities and strengths is a great way to counter the negative voices, so you might like to try the Strengthscope Assessment to identify your core strengths.

Free Career MOT
By the way, did you pick up on my offer of a Free Career MOT worth £125 that I sent out a couple of weeks ago? There has been a lot of interest in it, but I still have a couple of places available so if you move fast you may be able to snap one up. Just click here to find out more.

With very best wishes

Cherry

Cherry Douglas
Your Career Change Guide

How To Change Careers

What are Your Core Strengths? Do you sometimes wonder what you are really good at? Do you wish you could clearly identify what qualities would allow you to work at your best? If you understand your core strengths you can: Work more effectively and productively and enjoy what you do Identify the kind of work that will allow you to perform at your best Promote yourself effectively when applying for jobs Know that you are using your natural potential Have the confidence to challenge and still the doubts and negative thoughts that crop up from time to time. If you would like to try the Strengthscope Assessment to identify YOUR core strengths, then just click here or on the image below to find out more.

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Could you sell used cars?

Now you may be relieved to hear that I am not suggesting this as a possible new career option for you to consider – although of course it is the perfect job for some people, so I don't want to knock it!

It takes a range of skills to do this job successfully, skills which can be useful in other arenas.

What I'd like you to do is to think for a minute about what the used car salesman or woman has to do.

Essentially they are selling something that has some good points and some bad points. It may not be the latest model, but it doesn't suffer from all the teething problems you can get with a brand new model.

Their job is to present their product in a positive light and do their best to play down and divert attention from any weaknesses.

To the typical car purchaser, this is often seen as a rather underhand exercise and to be sure if the supposed 'good points' are out and out lies and the bad points are serious faults then nobody would condone this approach.

But there is nothing wrong with highlighting the positive features of the car and drawing the attention of the buyer away from minor details like a tiny spot of rust on the left wheel arch.

The most effective salesman will also take time to think about who they are selling to and will draw attention to points that they know will be relevant to the potential purchaser. They might highlight fuel economy, green credentials, extra luggage space, engine performance or price, all according to what is likely to be of most interest to the buyer.

And above all, a good salesman will have an upbeat attitude, showing confidence and enthusiasm for the product and a desire to engage positively with potential clients, getting to know their needs and building a relationship of trust.

If you can forgive me for comparing you to a used car for a moment (!), I am sure you can already see that there are parallels with the world of career change and job applications.

It is important to remember that when you are pitching for a new job, it is a sales exercise and you are both the salesman and the product. Your task, like the car sales person, is to promote your strengths and to play down your weaknesses.

So take your time to think about what your key 'selling points' are. How can you emphasise them, provide evidence to show when you used them and demonstrate how relevant they are to your potential buyer – I mean employer?

What are the weaknesses in your work history that you might wish to play down or deflect attention from. How will you do this?

What is your potential employer looking for and what does that mean about the particular focus you need to place on certain aspects of your skills and experience?

And particularly if you are having an informal first meeting or are networking as a strategy for exploring new career options, your first step will be to build up the know, like and trust with the contacts you meet, way before you ever begin to pitch your product.

So you may not want to become a car salesman, but you could find that a few tips from him could make all the difference to your approach to new jobs and careers.

I think this was one of the very first books I read on life coaching, and it opened my eyes to a much more positive and forward looking approach to my life and career.

Fiona Harrold does not mince her words, but her straight talking approach will certainly make you sit up and pay attention. She focuses on the lack of self belief that holds so many of us back and prevents us from pursuing the life and work we will love and which will fulfil us.

The book is full of practical exercises that will encourage you to see just how special you are and to recognise and celebrate the qualities that make you unique.

She will challenge you to rethink how you see yourself, how you can build your confidence, become self-reliant and take positive action towards creating the life and career you want.

She opens the book with a description of the moment in her life when she realised just how awful it would be to reach the end of life with regrets for what could have been. She decided not to let that happen and this book will help you make the same positive choice about your own life.

Just click here to pop over to Amazon and get a copy and take up the challenge!

More recommendations
If you would like to see more recommendations for books and similar resources, follow the link to the Career Change Books page of the How To Change Careers website. Do keep popping back to it as I am adding to it all the time.

And if there are books, websites and other resources that have inspired you and that you would like to recommend, there is a place for you to do so on that page.

Cherry Douglas is Your Career Change Guide. She is a UK based professional career coach and career change consultant.

Cherry has been supporting people like you, with career choice, career change and job search issues for nearly 25 years. As a highly successful career change consultant, and having made career changes herself over the years, Cherry really understands the challenges and difficulties that you may face in dealing with our own career – and can help you too, to overcome your own problems and obstacles.

Over the years, Cherry has been privileged to work with hundreds of clients, helping them to find their way forward with their careers…with anything from a quick CV review to a complete career change.

To learn more about Cherry, visit the How To Change Careers website.

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