Telling her story live and uncut, Rachel Schofield, author of The Career Change Guide, Five Steps to Finding Your Dream Job” reminds us we are constantly evolving. There is so much of our careers that is down to being in the right place. We’re human. Careers are messy things. That’s what makes them interesting. Career shifts whether these are big or small are not necessarily monumental.
What do I want to do with these precious years on earth? What feels meaningful? What will help me earn money that I need? What will help me feel I’ve done something useful on this earth? “Where does what I do intersect with my interests. What might that mean for my career?”
Rachel proffers a new campaign “Lets campaign for being ordinary and go for micro ambitions. Start with some kind of micro ambition, micro goal, micro idea and take it from there. Discover where your micro steps lead. “
| Micro ambitions
1. What would be a really fun thing to do this week?
2. What would move me forward in my thinking?
3. What would be a really small goal to set myself just for this month?
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“I’m not a great believer in the world of Instagram quotes that make everything sound easy. Walt Disney clearly is a creative genius. There’s a quote often attributed to Walt Disney “if you can dream it, you can do it”. It’s motivational. It’s exciting. But, when you’re sitting in a tiny bedsit and things are one huge struggle, this may not help.”
Career communication is one of the skills that will help you take control of your own career is. Being able to talk about what you do and what you’re good at and your career journey convincingly, can help you show up well in conversations, interviews, LinkedIn and on your CV. Career storytelling and career communication gives people confidence.
Rachel cautions on being carried away by social media “Things aren’t always perfect. You’re seeing someone else’s highlights – their curated version of their life. Be honest with each other and with ourselves. What do we want? Who are we? We shouldn’t be afraid to say, I’m not enjoying this, or I’m not sure I’m as good at this as I thought I was.
| “We’ re fumbling away in the dark a lot of the time. “We need to have that honesty and authenticity rather than thinking everybody else seems to be so sorted and perfect. However it looks on the outside, most people are stumbling along, trying a few doors, stepping through, making some detours and track backing. |
Sometimes things go really pear shaped through no fault of our own. At other times, gifts can land beautifully in our laps that we don’t necessarily deserve.
Be honest about your fears, how often you’re fighting yourself and your circumstances. How are you being brave? What are you trying? What risks are you taking? What are you getting wrong? How many time are you worrying what other people think?
| Rachel offers this piece of advice from her personal experience, “Instead of holding back, stick your hand up. Try new things. Offer to do things. That’s how you’ll learn about yourself. That’s how you will get noticed. We grow new skills and develop new aspects of ourselves by having a go at stuff.” |
To her younger self, Rachel says, “I wish I had been more experimental. Don’t be scared to try out more things”.
“There’s only so many spaces on Graham Norton’s sofa and sometimes my sofa at home is just as nice.”
Rachel has turned her journalist passion for asking awkward questions onto the field of work, helping individuals think creatively and embrace the discomfort of change, while trying to figure out what fulfilling and impactful careers look like in our rapidly changing world.
Through her coaching, workshops, and speaking, she helps people become efficient and confident drivers of their own career development and address both the practical barriers and behavioural patterns that hold them back.