Creating Career Clarity

Before you begin, take a few minutes to reflect on the following questions. Keep them in mind as you progress through the training.

• What do you want out of your life and career?

• Twenty years from now, what would you like to say you’ve accomplished?

Welcome to the training module on Career Clarity. I'm thrilled that you're here.

I'm Maura Sweeney from the class of 2007, director of Alumni Career & Professional Development at Holy Cross.

In this training we will use the Ignatian practice of discernment to help you develop a clearer idea of where you want your career to go in the future. By taking the time to reflect on who you are and where you've come, you are able to better discern what you enjoyed, what you still long for, and what you'd like to try next.

The following exercises offer a step-by-step guide to creating career clarity. I encourage you to take as much time as you need on each one. The better we know ourselves, the easier it will be to craft a career and a life filled with joy, satisfaction and meaning. Enjoy!

What kind of switch are you looking to make? In her book, "Switchers", author Dawn Graham introduces a great resource to help you better understand the type of change that you're looking to make, along with the amount of effort that is needed to successfully make that change.

Identify what type of switch you're trying to make. Even if you don't know what you want to do next, you probably know what you don't want to do anymore. That's the first step toward creating career clarity.

4 types of Switchers:

1. Non-Switcher or Traditional Candidate (least challenging): You are seeking a new role in the same functional area and industry that you're currently working in.

2. Single Switcher- Industry only (moderately challenging): You are seeking a new role in the same functional area, but in a new industry.

3. Single Switcher- Function only (very challenging): You are seeking a new role in the same industry, but in a new functional area.

4. Double Switcher- Function & Industry (extremely challenging): You are seeking a new role in a new functional area and a new industry.

In order to move forward, it's helpful to understand how you arrived at the place where you are now. Often times, there's a common thread that weaves its way through all of your past experiences. It might be a skill that you continue to develop and utilize. It might be a particular audience that you desire to serve. It might be a certain type of professional challenge or opportunity that you continue to seek. We are all unique, and so the possibilities are endless.

Today, I encourage you to reflect back over your past experience and identify the most significant positions and activities that you've pursued thus far in your life and career. For each position, identify 4 things:

1. Why did you pursue it? What were you looking for?

2. What did you like about the experience? What did you gain from it?

3. What did you dislike about the experience? What would you want to watch out for in a future opportunity?

4. What do you need in order to be successful and happy in life and work?

After you've complete this activity for a few different experiences, look at it as a whole.

• What are the common threads that run through each opportunity?

• Does one distinct pattern shine through?

• What are you looking for?

Now it's time to better understand your motivations and energy. Reflect on the breadth and depth of experience that you’ve gained in your lifetime. Think about your activities, environment and the people who have come in and out of your life. Where do you get your energy from? Why do you work hard? How can you incorporate more of those things into your daily life?

In life,

• What gives you the greatest energy and excitement as you think about your future?

• What depletes your energy? When do you feel a sense of dread?

At work,

• When are you most excited to come into work?

• When does the time fly by?

• When does time seem to stand still?

• When are you most frustrated?

What do you really want to do, and how does that differ from what you feel you should do?

What is your mission in life? For many people that's a big question to answer. Part of the challenge is due to the fact that our mission likely changes as our circumstances change, and as we encounter new people, places and things.

As you're here with me today, I want you to reflect on your mission today. Use this to help you craft the mission that will carry you forward; the mission that will guide your life and career in the direction in which you want to go.

Reflect:

• Why do you work hard?

• Who are you at your very best?

• What kind of leader do you want to be?

• How do you want others to see you?

• What mission drives your life and work?

We make decisions for lots of different reasons. We feel best about our decisions when they align with our values and the impact that we wish to have on others. Today I encourage you to reexamine and reconnect with your values.

Different values tend to rise and fall in importance as our lives change. This is particularly true after significant life events. What values are guiding you today? And what values do you want to guide you in the future?

• Review this list of values (pdf). It is in no way comprehensive, but simply a starting point. Add additional values that are true to you.

• Put a star next to your top 10-15 values. These are the values that are most present in your life right now.

• Circle your top 3-5. These are the values that reflect your core. These are the values that you filter everything else through.

This is a really powerful tool. Keep these in mind as you consider different opportunities. In order to feel happy in life and in work, it's important for your skills, interests and values to align.

We've explored a lot together during this training. I encourage you to look anew at everything you’ve discovered today:

• Dream

• Type of Switch

• Common Thread

• Motivations & Energy

• Mission

• Values

Now, reflect and define what you want next for your life. Hopefully you have gained some clarity along the way. Remember that we are all a work in progress.

• What have you learned about yourself?

• What do you really want to do, and how does that differ from what you feel you should do?

• What do you want out of your career and your life? What don’t you want?

• How does your current career path fit into that dream?

• What is getting in your way?

Thank you for participating in the training module on Creating Career Clarity. I hope that you enjoyed the journey and either learned something new about yourself, and/or remembered something significant that you had forgotten about and want to explore again.

In life, the only constant is change. Our careers evolve as we evolve as people. I hope that you revisit this module whenever you feel stuck or uncertain about what you want out of your career.

We all have many talents to share with the world. I hope that you leave this module with a better understanding of how you choose to share your talents with others and the needs of the world.

See you again soon!

Keep yourself moving forward toward accomplishing what you desire in work and life.

• What is the smallest first step that you can take toward accomplishing your goals?

• Identify 3 things that you will do in the next 2 weeks to work toward your professional goal.

Hopefully this training has sparked new ideas and gotten the wheels turning on your career search. What new questions are on your mind?

Please email alumnicareers@holycross.edu and include "Career Clarity Q&A Forum" in the subject line. A reply will be emailed back to you, and the Q&A will be featured anonymously in this forum to benefit future learners.

Maura Sweeney is a career development professional with 14+ years of experience connecting people with meaningful opportunities. As the Director of Alumni Career & Professional Development at the College of the Holy Cross, Maura’s mission is to create space to help alumni discover meaningful lives. She provides direct career advising to alumni, and employs in-person and virtual programs to engage alumni at scale. She creates opportunities for alumni to advance their careers by connecting with the Holy Cross Network through professional groups, events and networking resources. Prior to joining the Alumni Relations Office, Maura spent 10 years working in roles that spanned student advising, employer engagement and recruiting. She earned her bachelor’s degree in French from the College of the Holy Cross in 2007, and her Master of Education degree in Adult and Organizational Learning from Northeastern University in 2010. She became a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach in 2021. She is on the board of the Alumni Career Services Network, an active member of the Career Counselors Consortium NE, and a volunteer for her town's PTO. She lives in the Boston Metro West area with her family.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurahsweeney/