Do you have a plan for a career make-over or a complete
change? I know that many people are
looking to change jobs, start a new career or just get away from the current
job they have. I wanted to encourage you
all to make sure when you are looking at doing this that you remember that the
skills you learn from one job can be useful in the next. The skills can even make the transformation
easier. I want to share with you how the
transitions in my life have followed the same pattern even though they were very
different results. What I learned from
being a substance abuse counselor will take me from counselor to Job Coach and Trainer
via ex-offenders.
There are a lot of skills that a person needs to have to
make a transition and I feel my path is shaping up well for my next transition
and hopefully landing me into the final transition. What are the skills that I learned I had to
make this transition work?
1. 1. Learning to read people is the first and
foremost skill I developed. If you do
not know how to read people either in person or on the phone you might not be
able to make the transition into the place you want to be. I learned to read people when I was a
counselor, I took that skill and it has helped me read the ex-offenders I deal with
today. Learning to read verbal and
non-verbal language is a key aspect to learning what is expected of you from
others. Helping individuals while being
a trainer/job coach will utilize that skill to make sure the information being
presented is being understood and internalized by the other person. I developed a strong “gut feeling” year ago
and it succeeds more often than fails.
2. 2. Communication is a major key to life. When I am providing my trainings I try to
make sure I am walking around keeping eye contact with everyone, talking loud
enough to be heard and communicating the information using life events that
most if not everyone can understand due to personal experience. I have been to trainings where the presenter
stands in the front of the room, just flipping through slides and they put no
humanity into it. Make a training/job
coaching session almost like a counseling session, bring real life experience
into it, ask the participants what experience they have had with the
topic. Engagement through communication
is a Win-Win.
3. 3. One
thing I have learned through being a counselor is that everyone makes a
mistake. That has come in handy when
working with the ex-offenders. People
make mistakes on the job and can benefit from some good strong job coaching. If everyone in the world refused to give
another human being a second chance, there would be no one in our lives, we
would all be hermits living under our solitary rock. Mistakes can be fixed and individuals can be
remorseful of the mistakes, which leads to a better employee or trainee, but
once others see that individual as a mistake, the damage is done and getting
back in the good graces is nearly impossible.
Just look at the ex-offenders I work with, without a chance to show life
changes, they will re-offend just to get back to a safe place.
4. 4. I
have heard of this concept of six degrees of separation, mainly around Kevin
Bacon, but I truly believe that we are all just about 6 degrees of separation from
each other. We all have similar life experiences;
we can draw off the experiences of another to make a point. One example I use is about anger
management. Who has never been angry or
let down. Reaching a group and bringing
a group consciousness around a topic while making it personal enough to make
sense to everyone is a talent I developed which I know will help me become a
great trainer/job coach.
5. 5. Coaching
the coach is a lot like training the trainer, but my concept is around everyone
has a story to tell, everyone has a lesson to learn, everyone has a lesson to
teach. When I started out in the
counseling field, all I had was a degree, no experience, but a desire to help
individuals. The lessons I learned while
being a counselor helped me develop my skills, learn from those who had been
there and done that. Listening to the
life lessons of others will help you in your own life, as long as you listen.
6. 6. I
learned over and over again to listen for the meaning under the meaning, sort
of like the question under the question.
Dissecting the discussion before I respond helps me understand the true
meaning of what another person needs.
Looking into the reasons a person does what they do is one of the
greatest life teachers an individual can run into.
Looking at your skill set’s from past jobs, and the skill
set’s you use with those closest to you, I know you can find a way to better
your job search, better your career and enhance your life.
