As a specialist in career transition, I know that the likelihood
of a successful transition is very low without a revised story.
I encourage my clients to devote considerable energy to their
stories, i.e. to focusing on those times in their lives when
they are doing what they enjoy most and feel they are doing
well.
This is the central link between their "old" self--the
one you leave behind in a transition--and the "new"
self--the one you are trying to create for a better jobfit,
a better future, a better life.
Until that is solved, until that link is made, it is very
difficult to move forward in transition.
Who and what we are in terms of our right work can be mapped
clearly and accurately. However, that "knowledge" is not enough.
It is important to explore possible selves.
There is not one "perfect" job that suits you. There are many
possible job identities that should be explored as you try
to answer the question: "Whom might I become?"
The most successful career changers are those who give themselves
enough time and space to bounce back and forth between what
they have been and what they might become.
It is hard to let go of an "old" identity. It is
challenging, even scary, to embrace a new identity in the
face of everyday realities, such as marriages, mortgages,
duties, obligations, responsibilities--not to mention all
the expectations others have of you. Changing identities in
mid-life can scare a spouse and risk a relationship.
It is best to go slow, to refine the questions that need to
be asked, to list the possibilities, to talk to people who
have made similar changes.
While this is going on, it is inevitable to change goals and
objectives, to see through cherished illusions and assumptions,
to live with the doubt or anxiety that goes with any challenge
to our self-conceptions.
In short, we must live with contradictions as we linger between
the "old" and "new" self. It is a hard
place to be. I've been there myself. And I've been there with
many clients.
Mining Gold from JobJoy Reports
What is the connection between JobJoy businesses and JobJoy
Reports? Everyone who completes a JobJoy Report is entered
into our proprietary Database. The JobJoy Relational Dbase
Project was completed by six Final Year students Algonquin
College Computer Science program in April 2004.
We use it to match the natural talents and motivations of
clients with business opportunities. This could be your ticket
to jobjoy and career success.
My core service is to produce a "JobJoy Report." I analyze
your stories and prepare a comprehensive detailed report about
20-30 pages that will identify and define your Key Success
Factors.
In my Report, I answer the questions: What are the natural
talents you use and consistently bring satisfaction to you
when you are doing what you enjoy most and doing it well?
What is the subject matter that you gravitate to without even
trying? What circumstances or conditions have to exist in
the job environment to bring out the best in you? How do you
naturally build relationships with others? From this analysis
I generate an Ideal Job Description and match it with specific
opportunities in the real world of work.
The JobJoy Report is like a road map for your right work.
We are committed to building JobJoy businesses with individuals
who have this road map. Even if we can't find a jobfit for
you with a JobJoy business, we can help you find or create
your right work through one of our unique and proven services.
JobJoy Success Stories
That is why I was keen to produce JobJoy Success Stories.
You can read them on the website. These are real people with
real stories who have made some kind of transition. No other
career consultant (that I know of) has published such stories.
They testify to the courage of individuals and to the effectiveness
of proven transition methods.
But we are going even further at JobJoy. We realize that our
clients need to PRACTICE their new identities. They need to
achieve small victories with their "new" self, to
break away with confidence from their "old" self.
It became very clear that some people, even when their talents
and other critical job factors were pointed out in a JobJoy
Report, had not had an opportunity to use them in a conscious
manner.
Without validation, some clients have no confidence that they
even possess a certain talent or that it has any value in
the world of business - both of which are entirely false.
JobJoy DBase
That is why we created the JobJoy Database. Everyone who completes
a JobJoy Report has their Key Success Factors entered into
the database. We are constantly mining that database to match
clients with new business opportunities so that they can put
their talents to work creating their own job and long-term
opportunities.
Never having been validated for their talents in the past,
the simple fact that they are pointed out does nothing to
help people begin to change their actions in the present.
They needed support on how to do this.
Participants-In-Action
That is why we started the Participants-in-Action program.
Wherever possible in JobJoy, we create an opportunity for
them to use their talents by crafting experiments with real
business activities. We want our clients to be doing their
passions, being validated and seeing that their talents are
real, valuable, and enjoyable for them to use.
JobJoy is not a Fortune 500 company so the number of opportunities
we can provide is limited, so Jobjoy is also willing to provide
its services and support where any JobJoy person is doing
their talent either in work with a charitable organization,
or in a valid unpaid situation.
However, many clients are not able to use their talents in
any of these situations. They may be one of many people who
are not able to research and to seek out potential employers.
Or, they are unable to communicate their unique value proposition.
But there are many employers who want people with talent!
We know because we have seen the value to JobJoy of our Participants--in--Action
program. This program has been so validating for participants
that we have developed another service.
JobJoy Incubator creates jobs for you
Have you picked up a copy of Ottawa's first FREE sports magazine The Sports Nut at one of 250 outlets in the National Capital Region?
The Sports Nut is a JobJoy business. It is the manifestation of our vision to use JobJoy as an agent for transforming the world by incubating new businesses organized around the natural talents and motivations of our clients. This magazine operates as a vehicle that provides employment to several individuals that are truly passionate about what they do here as writers, editors, salespersons, layout designers, and others. They work only in their talents. We will not compromise this principle.
Claim-IT is an electronic content evaluation service that sub-contracts with insurance adjusters to determine the amount of loss a property owner has suffered in a disaster such as fire or flood. Pete Daoust, President of Claim-IT has created a database that contains almost every item people could lose in a disaster. All you have to do is enter the item onto a Web-based database and the amount of loss is displayed. It saves the homeowner at least 30 days of very frustrating work at a time when they have already gone through a painful experience. It also saves the insurance companies time and money. Pete is keen to build a team of data collection technicians, content evaluators, data entry processors, and regional managers--who can grow with their talents and motivations.
Our goal is to demonstrate how a business built on these principles is better or at least as good as businesses built on more conventional business practices. We are currently incubating two more businesses, one is a memory game to improve the study habits of students, and the other is a large, safe, durable toy block for use at daycare centres.
No other career consulting organization in the world is doing what we have already begun at JobJoy. It's new, it's different, it's exciting!
We've launched a small boat on a big sea. We hope you'll climb aboard.
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