Coaching with NLP For Dummies®

Chapter 15

Smoothing Career Peaks and Troughs

In This Chapter

• Taking ownership of your career
• Planning for the unexpected
• Developing an attractive professional reputation
• Connecting with others online and in the real world

Work has always been a defining factor in people's identities: the first question on meeting someone after you say hello is inevitably ‘What do you do?’ While the precise nature of work is different for each generation, change and uncertainty have always concerned anyone with a working life. Just now the levels of unpredictability in work are the highest in decades. Cutbacks and redundancies in both the public and private sectors have led to mergers and outsourcing in an effort to reduce costs. Such moves have far-reaching impacts on jobs, services and those just entering the workforce.

As a coach, you support clients whose working lives are likely to extend far longer than many expected when setting out on their careers. Additionally, technology and globalisation are making the world a smaller place, and in this digital age, everyone is continually available, on the move and online. You're as likely to be coaching a client about his career in Bangalore or Buenos Aires as Birmingham or Brighton. Change brings amazing opportunities in its wake.

These economic and social contexts affect the specific challenges your clients bring to coaching, especially where career issues are concerned. Jobs for life don't exist for most people, so your clients are likely to ...