It’s not your CV that's the problem - are you applying for the wrong jobs?
Many prospective clients come to me when they’re not getting the invitations to interview for jobs they feel sure they’re well-suited to. They put this down to three main things:
problems with their CV
not presenting themselves effectively
or not knowing the right people on ‘the inside’
While all these factors can play a part, I strongly believe that the best fit between an applicant and an advertised role goes much deeper than that.
It’s actually about the purpose behind the role meeting the why that drives the applicant.
It is when those often implicit factors are explicitly connected, that a true match takes place. This approach, however, is often counter to what we’ve been taught, especially if the situation we find ourselves in feels urgent.
Some people are in a desperate hurry to secure their new job - and of course there are many compelling reasons to do so, not least of which is being to pay their bills! But if you’re looking for greater fulfilment in your career, it’s important to build in time for deeper reflection and a strategy that stands a chance of delivering work that offers meaning, satisfaction and balance.
What I’m urging here is part of the long game - aiming for fulfilling work that aligns with your values, plays to your strengths and expresses your deeper purpose.
Rather than starting with tweaks to your CV and applying for jobs you can do (rather than ones you really want to do), try something very different:
understand what YOU need for a happy life and fulfilling work.
3 steps to opening more fulfilling doors
To make a fulfilling career transition, you may need to go deeper than you think. Here are three stages on the path to career fulfilment:
Understand your WHY - values, strengths, purpose
Getting a much clearer view of who you are at this point in your career, what you need your work to do for you and what you expect in return, will provide you with invaluable clarity.
When you have your own values in mind, and use them to guide you towards meaningful work, you’ll be in a much stronger position to connect with potential roles and organisations on a deeper level.
Similarly, bringing your own purpose into the foreground adds much more to the equation - what feels like meaningful work to you?
When values and purpose are in clear focus, you can then think about which of your strengths you really want to use in your work. This moves you away from the less rewarding ’what can I do?’ proposition to ‘What do I want to use my favourite skills in service of?’
Combine values, purpose and strengths to give you the WHY behind your work.
Can you see how this allows you to connect more fully with roles you’re aiming for?
This becomes incredibly powerful when linked to the needs of the organisation and the role itself.
2. Discerning the WHY of the role, the organisation, the customers, the stakeholders
Once your own WHY is clear, you are primed to recognise common ground with your target role or organisation.
Ask what values are clearly expressed within the organisation. What are they doing to express these? Do they chime with your own values or will there be potential conflict? Is the culture one that accommodates your values? For example, if growth is absolutely central to your career fulfilment, how much evidence is there that you will be encouraged and supported to develop, learn and grow?
Is their purpose clearly expressed, perhaps as a mission statement? Again, is there resonance rather than tension with your own purpose?
Does the role allow you to use your favourite strengths? Will these be at the heart of your work?
Who are their customers, clients or stakeholders and would they motivate you to provide excellence in your work? Would you care?
Who are the other stakeholders that could impact your role? Think about wider goals and commitments against which the organisation has to deliver. Can you foresee tension with what matters most to you?
Being clear-eyed about these things can help you make an informed choice about whether this is the best role or organisation for you. When there is a strong connection, your application will be driven by enthusiasm, energy, purpose and excitement. These will shine through and elevate your application.
3. Connecting the dots - through meetings, LinkedIn, events, applications
When your own WHY is front of mind, you will not only be more confident and authentic, but you will be better able to find like-minded people, common ground and connect from a deeper place.
If you are targeting a specific role or organisation, setting up career conversations with insiders will feel more possible because you have a goal in mind - gathering information to fuel your career change towards greater fulfilment. If you need some guidance on how to go about this, contact me for my free guide ‘Connections to fuel your career change.’
Involving yourself in relevant events, conferences, or professional organisations that connect to your WHY is also a great way to move in a meaningful direction and to start feeling that you belong as an insider.
Platforms like LinkedIn make it easy to connect with your target career - through professional connections, events, messaging, conversation threads, and groups. It’s a great way to carry out some research and get a stronger sense of what the current hot topics are in a new field.
And when you come to the point of applying for a specific role, you’ll be armed with invaluable information about the organisation, its mission, sub-agendas, and values - thus making it so much easier to make a powerful connection in your CV and application.
Help is at hand
Get in touch if you’d like guidance or coaching on any aspects of transitioning towards a career that is just more YOU.
For more guidance on connecting with organisations, successful CVs and applications, and developing a strategy to deliver greater fulfilment, try these articles:
How to Write a career change CV
Dare to be yourself at interview
Landing your dream job - even with no direct experience
Is fiddling with your CV sabotaging your career change?
What to do with your CV to give it wings
And if you’d like some help to get started, contact me to arrange a free 30-minute career consultation using this button ..