Gaining Skills for your Career

Lately I have had a number enquiries about our courses from, hmmm how do I say this without sounding like I am an old woman (which I am not!), well let’s just say from people younger than me; ie people in their early 20’s (ok, people quite a bit younger than me!).
Ok now that we have established that, the enquiries have come from people who are really at the start of their working lives, some of them have found themselves out of a job and others are employed, but know that what they are doing is not what they want to be doing.
I can really relate to the second group because when I was in my 20’s I was employed by the National Bank and for most of the 11 years I worked there, I did not like it.  However, at a point during that time I came to realise that the ‘job’ was teaching me important skills.  So I came to see the employer and the job outcomes as separate from the skills I was gaining.  One of the most important of these was customer service, but there were others, such as an understanding of how to be organised and disciplined in your working life.  I was also exposed to excellent marketing techniques.
At the point where I realised this, the job actually suited the lifestyle I was living but I knew that would change.  So I sat down and wrote out my goals for my future and looked at what I needed to do to achieve them.  For me this was to work hard at the job I was in and to study towards what I wanted to eventually do.  So in the years since then I completed a degree and my Diploma of Wedding and Event Planning with the Academy of Wedding and Event Planning.  Now I am doing what I imagined myself doing all of those years ago; working for myself in my own business and in the Events industry.  It did take time, but I can’t say it was that difficult and I guess that is because it was right for me.
One of the things I find difficult when I am faced with an enquiry from someone who is younger is how to explain to them that building your career takes time.  The girl who makes a million dollars in her own business at 20 is rare…very rare.  Just as rare is the 20 or even 25 year old girl who is making a 6 figure salary doing anything.  This means that initially and maybe well into your 30’s you are probably going to have to take on jobs that seemingly have nothing to do with where you envisage yourself being.  If you are smart you will look for jobs which will enable you to develop skills that you can apply to your chosen career.  So if for example you see yourself as an Event Planner, anything that involves customer service, hospitality and even general administration in a large company, could expose you to experiences you will later draw on…even if that is just feeling comfortable speaking with executives.
As you build up experiences you can start to target companies you would like to work for and if you have also been doing some study in that area you will find that you will be taken a lot more seriously by employers.  You also should look at how you word your Resume.  If for example you are like I was, working for a bank, or in another type of office job, but would like to work for an Events company as an Event Planner, highlight the skills which you consider transferable from one role to the other; such as your organisational skills, your attention to detail, your creativity and strong customer service focus. 

In the spirit of this approach to your career, here is my thought of the day (borrowed from a friend of mine). 

 “Living the life of your dreams is a lot like sailing.  You pick your destination, hoist up your sail, make minor adjustments while the journey is underway, and let the wind do all the hard work.  In other words, imagine the end result, do what you can and make minor adjustments while the journey is underway,”

I guess what this means is that you should try your best, do what you can to succeed but also remember that there are things you cannot control and you need to work with that too.