The career change I want seems impossible!

Careershifter question

By Polyhymnia on 3 July 2008 at 23:34

What's your personal and career background?
I was a divorced single mom in Canada living in a remote town, attending university as a mature student (English/History major), working two and three jobs (retail, banking and office jobs mostly) to make ends meet.
I dreamt of working in publishing or some creative communications job because I love writing, but after living 1,700 miles away from family supports for a year obtaining a post-grad certificate in publishing back in 1997, I realized that I couldn't afford to make it happen until my son was grown. The industry is dependent upon unpaid internships for their entry-level workforce.

I went home and did a teaching degree (trying desperately to find something well-paid and practical). After graduating in 2000 (and discovering that I had to leave town to find a teaching job) I actually found a job as an ad copywriter in my hometown; I liked it and was good at it, although the pay was poor. Unfortunately, after four years, I was made redundant due to the poor economic situation in my hometown.
During the compulsory job counselling that all dole recipients have to undergo, the counsellor took one look at my CV and said, "You have to leave town".

A year prior, I had met my future husband on an online music forum, so I decided, with my son finally grown up, I'd move to be with him.

He lives in Holland.
But, I thought, I would be close to Amsterdam -- a big city with lots of opportunities (from what I could tell from the online job listings I saw). So, in 2004, at the age of 43, I sold what few possessions I owned, and moved there. I had nothing to lose, I thought.

What's your current work situation?
I'm now 47. I have worked as an administrator in an international pharmaceutical company since 2005. I took this job in desperation; I waited a year for a work permit due to a immigration backlog and we were heavily in debt and struggling. My American friend worked at this company and encouraged me to "take anything" because I didn't speak Dutch. I figured it would be wise to seek a better job without the stress of wondering how next month's bills would be paid.

However, I haven't been able to find another job.

My employer is looking to transfer me to their UK office to do the same job. I'm looking at this as my last chance to set my career right.

Where ideally would you like to be in twelve month's time?
In the UK where I can focus on my career direction and growth rather than on Dutch lessons that, at this late stage, would be of little benefit until I was fluent (and at the speed I'm learning, I wouldn't reach that point by retirement age!).

I'm being realistic...As a non-EU foreigner, retraining would be expensive. But at least I may have a direction, a goal or two, and a plan of action. I may be 50 before I can set it in motion, but at least I'll have regained something I've lost while living in Holland: hope.

Where are you currently most stuck?
Time has been my worst enemy, following closely by near poverty.
I have now been out of the industry for 4 1/2 years. I couldn't convince any English language agency to give me a chance even with great references and a portfolio. No one has heard of my ad agency; no one has even heard of my hometown! I didn't sell Coca-Cola; I never won awards -- I just did my job well.

I also discovered that expat recruiters in Holland will only judge you on your last job; one even told me that -- competition being so stiff for so few English-language copywriting jobs -- I would never be referred for one because the admin job was the first one listed on my CV. The successful job hunters, apparently, make their reputation through freelancing.

However, between a full-time job, a 90-minute daily commute each way (you go where the jobs are, after all) and government-mandated Dutch lessons, freelancing was not an option for me.

I did apply for jobs in the UK, my husband eager to relocate. But, with a ready pool of qualified people at their front door, why would an agency consider a foreigner living in another country?

So my dilemma is: how do I get my career back on track in a new country so I can progress beyond entry level, do what I do best, AND make a living wage so I can finally help my son through university, save for retirement and maybe one day own our own home?   

ShiftDoctor answer

By Jessica McGrego... on 30 July 2008 at 20:55

One step at a time is how you do this. If you put everything (new career, living wage, son's education, retirement and own home) on one decision, one ‘last chance', then you are asking a lot of yourself and of any situation. I get that you want all these things, but the steps you make now need to be towards those outcomes.

Break your goals down into steps, if moving to the UK is the first step towards your goal then how might the two of you do that? Does it mean an interim job for you until you are settled and then you can focus on the next career? What needs to happen to achieve the first step, then the second and then maybe the third if there is one?

At the moment it is simply too big an ask and hence the feeling of overwhelm. The trick in any change is to always break the goal into manageable steps. You decide the outcome of the goal and then the actions that need to occur to ensure that the goal is reached. Then when the plan is in manageable steps you feel less stressed and can begin to hear the inspired ideas that are always there. These often get blocked out by the mind chatter of how, what if, when, how, why, what, and so on. So, one step at a time.

My experience is that if you can show the passion and capability you have for the things you love they go a long way towards being noticed by the employers. You can take a look at a shift surgery response I wrote recently about writing CV's which will give you a new way of presenting what you do and showing that you have the capabilities to do the job.

On a mind-attitude level, instead of thinking of yourself as someone separate from the pool of qualified people able to get the job, start to think about being one of those qualified people. You have equal capabilities and loads of passion, and half of landing the job you really want is believing it to be possible. I suggest if you are really not able to shift your beliefs around this, that you do some work on it. NLP can really help you see the limiting beliefs and decisions you hang onto and help you shift them. Get your mind on your side, because if you are always thinking 'it's not possible', then believe me it won't be.

On a practical level do a true assessment of your skills and what you have to offer. Each application needs to be tailored to the company you're applying to and what they are looking for. Are there some areas in this sector that might use the experience and skills you have gained from life experience as well as work experience? Do the research on the companies and find out what their values are, how you'd fit, what you could uniquely bring to the company.

Think about where your skills might fit; throw the window open and think about all the different places you might use your writing skills. It doesn't necessarily have to be in the same place you've used them before. If you want to get some ideas of what different types of companies look for writing skills then just go to any internet job site and put ‘writing' in the key search. I took a look and I got 2050 jobs listed. Now obviously not all will be relevant but it should make your search pool a little wider. The pool of available jobs will also get bigger if you move to the UK. In Amsterdam you were fishing in a quite a small pond of English speaking agencies, here in the UK it is a much bigger ocean, more opportunity, more chance to find a match between what you want to do and what an employer is looking for.

Plan this out, get really clear on what you want, manage your beliefs and then start walking towards it, one step at a time.

 

Jessica offers a free introductory session to discuss how she can help you identify and make the move you want; if you would like to arrange a time for her to call you please email her at jessica@jessicamcgregorjohnson.com or call +34 958 639 593. For more information visit http://www.jessicamcgregorjohnson.com/

She works internationally as a Life Coach enabling people to follow their dream and gain fulfilment in every area of life. Using not only the traditional coaching tools of conversation, exploration and creating accountability she also adds in powerful processes of Christopher Howard Results Technologies® and Neurological Re-patterningTM that enables change to take place both internally and externally. She has worked with many career shifters and particularly enjoys using her own life experience, including her time in the corporate world, to support those making whatever move they choose.


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