Things I Wish Everyone Knew

​​​While you're here, I'd love to share a few bits of wisdom that I've gathered with people over years of talking and thinking about work together. It's a laundry list of things that I wish more people knew:  

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• It's Not Too Late - ​​Most people worry that it's too late to make career changes (even teens!). Unless you're retired, it's not. Depending where people are in their career, they can have more limited options than people just starting out and commitments that prevent them from dropping everything on the spot to make a change, but change is possible 

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• It's Ok If You Don't Know Where to Start - Many people feel paralyzed/overwhelmed and don't know where to start. It's ok, I do! And, I've discovered that people tend to get their bearings faster than expected​

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• It's Ok If You Don't Know What's Important to You - Many people start career counselling without knowing what they are looking for or what's important to them. There's usually a good reason (some common ones are growing up in survival mode, being impacted by someone else's very strong opinions about your life or trying to come to terms with your identity). Most people know more than they think and it's possible to start figuring out what's important together

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• ​Careers Aren't One Size Fits All - People have very different opinions about the importance of money, fulfillment and work-life balance. I don't have an opinion about what people should treat as important. I help people understand what's important to them and brainstorm ways to maximize those things

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• ​Non-Traditional Careers - Some people aren't sure if career counselling is flexible enough to accommodate them because they don't want to have traditional career, sit at a desk or climb a corporate ladder. You're absolutely welcome in career counselling - I'm thrilled to help people no matter what their goals are and consider myself lucky when I get to work with adventurers

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• Being Honest in Counselling - ​It's ok to be you in career counselling and actually it's important - the more honest you can be, the more likely you'll end up in a workplace situation that makes sense to you. Over the years, I've noticed people initially hesitate to talk to me about the following work-related topics that I'm very open to addressing with people:  

  • discussing discrimination 

  • discussing polarizing topics (like vaccines or politics)

  • being honest about the importance of money/status to you

  • being honest about interests/passions that feel too nerdy or unacceptable in some way 

  • discussing faith, spirituality & other ways of navigating the world that people question  

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• ​Trying Counselling Again - Some people aren't sure if they want to give counselling another shot after unhelpful experiences (like sitting through career lessons that feel pointless in school, getting off-putting career advice from someone who was supposed to help or taking frustrating tests that tell you things you already knew or that recommended career paths that made little sense to you). You're welcome to come in for a few sessions to see what you think  and tell me what hasn't worked well in the past so we can avoid those things 

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• Feedback is Welcome - It's ok to give counsellors feedback (including me!) and say things like "this part doesn't feel like it's helping" and "can we try something else?". Different things work for different people and counselling is kind of like a suit that can be tailored. It's sometimes hard to speak up, but counsellors don't want to waste your time and money!

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• Career Testing - It's normal for people to hope career tests will provide quick and easy answers, especially when people feel lost, stuck and defeated. Testing isn't a magic bullet, but "doing the legwork" can be engaging, energizing and not as hard as people expect it to be 

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• ​​Fantasizing about Quitting - When people are ready to quit their jobs on a weekly basis or they need to regularly convince themselves to stay or find reasons to be grateful, it's a telltale sign of people trying their best to ignore something important (and understandably so because work decisions can be high stakes). The good news is, it's counter-intuitive but often helpful to face issues head on because solutions aren't necessarily as drastic or as impossible as they feel in moment when we want to run away and never look back   ​

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• Job Search Discouragement - Job searches are hard work and often demoralizing (you definitely aren't alone). If you're applying for tons of jobs to feel like you're accomplishing something, feeling desperate and believing your worst fears about yourself or the world are true or you're going through the motions to keep someone off your back, these are often signs of a level of discouragement that's hard to pull yourself out of alone. Believe it or not, there is some good news when it comes to job searches: practice makes a big differences and you control 3 key things that are key to landing jobs (your attitude, appearance and ability to tell relevant stories about your career)​​​