Welcome to Consult a Coach, our regular careers clinic for Bazaar readers. Send us your work dilemma, and we’ll ask our career agony aunt – the industry professional, executive coach and motivational speaker Jo Glynn-Smith – to answer it.
Here, Jo advises a reader who is stuck in a job that they know is wrong for them.
Explore the Consult a Coach archive, full of careers-based advice. Got a question you'd like answered? Email us at consultacoach@harpersbazaar.co.uk
Dear Jo,
I've worked for an accountancy company for five years now. I have nice colleagues and it's a good, stable job, but as time has gone on, I've realised that this isn't for me.
I studied accounting at university and thought that I wanted to do this as a career, but I'm outgoing and much more creative than I realised, and I'm yearning for something else. I'm scared of leaving a reliable job with a solid salary to do something new, but I need to try. Where do I start?
Thanks,
Louise, 31
Jo says...
Dear Louise,
Coaching clients as they navigate a career change is something of a speciality of mine, so this question is right up my street. It’s great that you have recognised that you may not be on the right path in terms of job satisfaction and fulfilment; five years into a career is enough time to have had a good run, but not too late to redirect, everything considered.
The situation that you describe isn’t untypical for many creatively minded people. Often, we don’t realise our creative preferences until much later into adulthood, as being creative can manifest itself in so many ways. So that leads us to your question: should you or shouldn’t you leave the security of your job?
When it comes to career change, anything is possible with the right intention, but it’s not easy, and I would never advocate for taking any risks without doing the exploration first. I call this the research phase.
I often start this phase by introducing a visioning exercise. This helps my client create an image of what they want more of in their mind and provides the basis for exploration. So, let’s have a go...
Find somewhere quiet and comfortable to sit. Take a few deep breaths so that you feel calm and relaxed and close your eyes. Keep breathing steadily and, as you fall into a more mediative state, start to imagine the feeling of being creative. Which emotions are you experiencing? What can you see around you? What can you hear? Who are you with? What are you doing? It doesn’t have to be an exacting vision, just identifying a feeling is good enough to begin with. When you feel fully connected to the state of being creative, gently open your eyes. Now write it all down. Notice what comes up in your mind, and try to be as honest with yourself as you can.
As you reflect on the visioning exercise, you will start to see more of what you want to do, or what you need to include in your life in order to connect to that feeling of creativity that you seek. It may start out as a hobby, or it may require you to do some sort of re-education.
Whatever you are beginning to piece together in your vision, the next step is to do some research. This could include speaking with friends or contacts who may be involved in something you are interested in, or signing up for an online course that you could do in the evenings or at weekends. The beauty of this phase is that you can complete it while not taking any risks with your current career, so take your time and enjoy the exploration.
The more you explore, the more you will discover about yourself and the right direction for you, and eventually it will become clear. Trust the process.
Good luck!
Jo Glynn-Smith is a transformation coach, speaker and personal-brand expert from London who works with leaders, entrepreneurs and businesses to help maximise their team or individual potential. Before becoming a coach, she spent most of her career in the fashion industry working at the highest level with some of the biggest global brands. You can follow Jo for more coaching tips and advice on Instagram (@jojoglynnsmith) or visit her website, joglynnsmith.com.
