Progress: The Quarter-Life Career Crisis

Progress: The Quarter-Life Career Crisis

Sooner or later a crisis comes to our affairs, and how we meet it determines our future happiness and success- Robert Collier

Crisis- for just a few letters it’s a big big word. But what does it really mean? A lot of people say things like catastrophe or disaster but when you look it up in a dictionary, one definition is ‘a turning point or time for decisive action’.

As many of you know, I’ve recently embarked on a market research campaign, Project 121. The result so far is that many of the participants are experiencing what I fondly call The Quarter-Life Career Crisis.

The most common experiences described have been:

1.      Just out of school and college and stuck in the ‘I need to get experience to get the job but I need the job to get experience’. It’s frustrating because you’re at a turning point in your life, between college and the working world and you just want someone to give you a chance! Bottom line, you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed and confused.

2.      The second most common experience of The QLCC are the people who have been working in a job or industry for a few years and although they had enjoyed it in the past, they’re beginning to ask themselves ‘Is this it?’ If you’re in this group, you tend to get caught up in the detail and in managing day-to-day life, you find it almost impossible to see a bigger, better picture which would allow you to create a plan to move yourself into something more rewarding. Plus, you don’t feel like you can really talk to anyone about it because you’re afraid the response will be ‘You should be grateful you have a job’. Bottom line, you’re feeling stuck, underwhelmed and confused.

3.      The third most common group are those who are currently job-hunting and may have been for a while. Your confidence and optimism levels take a dive any time anyone even has the courtesy to send you a rejection letter never mind the number of applications that go unanswered! As time goes on, you see your chances of securing employment getting slimmer and slimmer. You have no idea what you’re doing wrong and no idea what to do next. Bottom line, you’re feeling stuck, both underwhelmed and overwhelmed at the same time and of course, confused.

And all of these individuals are aged between 20–35 (The Fun Age!!) So, can you relate personally or does this sound like someone you know? If so, read on and/or forward this to anyone you think may be interested!

So what happened to Career Planning?

I’m sure you’ll agree that career planning is an area we tend to avoid. Let’s face it, most of us spend more time planning and researching a holiday destination than we do thinking about our career. It’s incredible the amount of people who drift from job to job with no clear idea of the way their career is heading.

This is one of the ways that the Quarter-Life Career Crisis crops up! We get ourselves to the point where we’re thinking ‘I must get out of here, my heads going to explode or I’m going to kill someone. I have to find work now. I have to completely change career.’

Too many of us are passive when it comes to our careers and we end up going with the flow. We don’t set boundaries with our bosses, we sell ourselves short on our CV’s and at interviews, we ask ourselves ‘who am I to apply for that promotion or that job?’ We end up being directed by the environment, external pressures and expectations instead of by our own values- the things that are most important to us. We stay like this until we hit our crisis- our turning point, our time for decisive action.

For me, the heart of career coaching is helping people figure out what they feel called to do and developing a step-by-step plan to get them there. It’s all about shifting from passive to in control. The normal, routine straight line thinking we normally do in life rarely works here. Exciting career change usually involves taking at least one risky step, which often begins with the question ‘What if......?’

What’s your ‘What if..............?

 I hope you enjoyed this issue of Progress! Please feel free to get in touch and share any of your thoughts or ideas with me via email/facebook/twitter! I’d love to hear from you! Also, if you have a topic or question you would like me to address, please just let me know!

 Until next time,

 Love and Respect,

 Paula

 Note: PROJECT 121

 Project 121: Quarter-Life Career Crisis

 I am looking for 121 individuals aged 20-35 to share their views on their career with me. I want to find out what it’s like for you right now in your career, whether you are just out of college and finding yourself in the catch 22 situation of ‘I need experience to get the job but I need the job to get experience’ OR if you’ve been working in a job for a while but it’s just not doing it for you anymore and you yearn for something more meaningful and rewarding OR if you’re currently job hunting and are completely frustrated.

I set up my Career & Life Coaching business, The Aspirations Coach, to serve quarter-lifers (20-35 age group) and the purpose of this project is to really identify the needs of my clients so that I can offer the best possible service and products at a realistic price level. Needless to say, your input is invaluable to me!

This is a hugely important project for me as it will have implications for the viability of my business and its future development. I would really appreciate your help with this and also if you could pass the message on to others, it would be fantastic! The interviews can be conducted face-to-face, via telephone approx (30 mins) or online and all answers will remain completely confidential.

As a ‘Thank you so much!!!’ I will also be gifting each participant with a 40 minute private coaching session with me if you are based in Dublin or via telephone if you are outside Dublin.

If you would like to take part in this project, please contact me for further details through my email info@theaspirationscoach.com or call/text me on 0868745157.

 Thanks in Advance,

Paula