Career Consulting
Anticipate accelerating change will affect your self-sufficiency, confidence, or contentment
Want to be intentional about how you live now and later
Know your present situation is not a good match or vulnerable
Search for greater meaning, purpose, and appreciation in your life and work
Are in transition
Let’s collaborate to describe, find, and create what you want to do now and in the future, whether you:
- Are in transition and want the motivation that passion, perspective, and persistence provide
- Anticipate accelerating change will affect your self-sufficiency, confidence, or opportunities
- Propose to intentionally design work you do, now and later
- Know your present situation is vulnerable or want a better match
- Wish for greater appreciation, meaning, and purpose in your career
Whatever aspects relate to you, the following consulting process with Ruth Schimel will help you make progress:
In focused, lively conversation, your hopes and ideas, concerns and experience are clarified first. Ruth then shows you how to use original, proven guides to choose among a range of specific topics for improved focus and insight. They include your preferences about values, subjects, and issues. Also identified are transferable (soft) skills, colleagues and other connections, as well as work situations or venues that appeal.
Ruth then shows you how to integrate the results of your responses into an authentic description of work you want to do. That leads to testing the description against internal and external realities and possibilities. In the process, consideration is also given to going deeper and wider with your thoughts, emotions, and assumptions. The resulting clarity will be your catalyst for reaching out to potential opportunities and people. During all these steps, Ruth will provide continuing guidance, including access to related handouts, leads, and information, as well as empathy.
This inside-out approach starts where you have more control and choice: within yourself. It avoids narrowing yourself with conventional testing and job titles or by cramming your assumptions and vision first into just what’s “out there” or familiar. The process also helps transcend unnecessary detours, distractions, and disappointments such as:
- taking whatever comes your way (unless necessary for short-term self-sufficiency)
- settling for what’s only comfortably familiar
- following uncritically advice by well-meaning people whose suggestions are based on their experiences and assumptions
Using this process of six to seven meetings over three months or less, will give you the tools, encouragement, and experience to express what you want and how to get it. The benefits from that practice, effective self-management, and action will also prepare you to deal independently with naturally shifting circumstances in the future.
Throughout, this process is flexible, contingent on your needs, timing, and goals. Most meetings with clients in the District of Columbia area, throughout the US, and abroad are by phone and online, with some email.
TAKEAWAYS
When you complete your work with Ruth, you’ll be able to:
- Describe work you want to do based on current credibility, professional development choices, and visions for your future
- Use effective strategies to deal with internal and external obstacles to progress
- Cultivate and assist current and new connections and colleagues
- Apply learning from practice presenting yourself confidently, distinctively, and effectively, including interviewing
- Write well-focused, powerful resumes as well as create other means to believably and impressively show others how you bridge your past and future
- Prepare for continuing accelerating change to support success, as you define it
Explore further for five other career development opportunities.
FIND OR CREATE SPECIFIC WORK YOU ALREADY HAVE IN MIND
Using a process that usually benefits from three to four meetings, expect to
- Explore and confirm accessibility and viability of your current ideas for work using common sense evaluation, critical thinking, handouts, research, and focused conversations.
- Identify necessary related skills, abilities, and experience that show linkages with previous experience. Appropriate learning needs are also identified to create a plan for follow up.
- Design a viable plan for action with specific steps and attention to how you will bring your idea to fruition. That includes testing receptivity, gathering resources, and engaging others in helping you move forward.
PLAN AND CREATE NEW PURPOSE FOR YOUR SECOND HALF OF LIFE
You can be the author of the next exciting chapters for your decades ahead. Work with Ruth to turn dreams or aspirations into plans and actions. Do it incrementally or for current applications. Whether you want to consider planning for post-retirement or avoid that concept entirely, Ruth will guide you in creating a new portfolio with as many leaves as you want.
In addition to conversations and explorations, Ruth will provide access to a wealth of materials to spark your curiosity beyond initial thoughts. One example is a design grid with over 30 options to consider. Examples in the two-page grid include a portfolio of work, play, learning, volunteering, and starting a business, along with timing options.
Start the adventure now. At least the journey will make the present more acceptable, at best the exploration will lead you to new opportunities and vitality, now and later.
Depending on what emerges, the process can benefit from three to six meetings with enough space between each for doing the work without losing momentum.
IMPROVE LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT EFFECTIVENESS
Regardless of your current level, Ruth will help you identify how to expand, strengthen, and deepen your management and leadership skills and abilities with the two steps below. This process usually benefits from four to five meetings for describing your situation for skill use, defining action planning strategies, practicing, and making concrete, incremental progress.
Together, we will use critical thinking, common sense, our fertile imaginations, and experience to:
- Interpret the provided and completed self-assessment of leadership and management skills and abilities to appreciate your strengths and identify aspects for attention and improvement. That will include specific action steps based on Ruth’s guidance, free handouts, and agreed upon benchmarks.
- Test the plan, process, and progress through practice and feedback, To strengthen the process, supporting and detracting tendencies are identified for strategic follow up. Using Ruth’s guidance and feedback, action steps for the future will be agreed on to stimulate and sustain progress. Other experts, contacts, and opportunities will be identified and engaged for possible mutual mentoring to sustain success over time.
ADDRESS MAJOR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL MATTERS THAT HOLD YOU BACK FROM CAREER PROGRESS
This process usually benefits from four to six meetings that include these four steps, goals, and results:
- Describe, analyze, and address within your chosen time frame a few significant, actionable issues that hinder your main work goals and aspirations
- Choose specific steps to address problems and issues
- Apply guidance, use skills practice, and evaluate experience, supported by free materials and feedback
- Test and fine-tune plan through specific, consistent action, including agreement on your plan for later independent steps and possible partnerships with others for follow up
EXPLORE WITH RUTH YOUR BECOMING A CAREER COUNSELOR
After you have the experience of using the career consulting process yourself, you may be inspired to guide others in applying this inside-out, proven approach. Since it transcends the limitations of tests and job titles, you will have seen its special relevance to the future of work as well. That unpredictable dynamism is best addressed by starting with each person’s uniqueness as a foundation for action instead of merely projecting the known into the unknown future.
At no cost, feel free to discuss your interest and ideas for doing this with Ruth, regardless of formal education and your own titles.
MEETING ARRANGEMENTS
Once you choose the services you want from the options above or other versions and possibilities that make sense to you, we can agree on effective phone, online, and email arrangements. Do call me to discuss possibilities and timing at 202.659.1772.
