Free Career and Job Search Advice

Supersecretary · Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 1 Career Advice: +0/-0

I have been working as the assistant to the owner of a small company for 10 years. I have worked hard here and basically I first started picking flowers! Now I have a lot of responsibilities and manage other people in the company.

However I feel the need to go and work for a blue chip company, it is not a pay issue it is more experience!

My boss found out that I am looking for a job. (Found my resume on my desk!) He gave me an instant wage increase and extra holidays....

His big issue is that if I am not around his (during the week) golf course trips will be gone!

I am not sure what to do now. I am earning a very good pay for what I do, there is not much stress but I want to expand and get some personal growth.

_________________________

7days · Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 6:35 am Post subject: Super Girl

Sounds like you have a terrific boss who truly appreciates you, he offers you a raise and benefits, he is good to you, you've been there a very long time. Do not let go of all of the benefits.

When and if you leave and work for some place else, what happens?

No vacation and no time off for at least a year or so.
Probably a probationary period to pass of a few months.
You start off answering the phones and filing a
No job security.
You'll have to learn new things. (Yes that is good, but look at the risks involved).
You can't go back to your past employment to work, if you do not like your new job.

Someone will train you and watch over you (do you want that after being independent and at the same place 10 years).

Cameron

Hi Supersecretary,

I do not give answers so quickly as my colleague above. I believe uninformed advice can do more harm than good. It sounds like you have a very good case for career coaching, and I can tell you, therefore, what I would tell a client, at least in the first session:

You need to clarify your values. What is important to you? What is not? To what extent does your current job fulfill those values, and to what extent do you think you could them fulfilled elsewhere? I'd discuss with you the reasonableness of your beliefs in this area, including any self-limiting beliefs you may have that hold you back.

You need to consider what else you could do. And more importantly, what you could do that you would also enjoy. I didn't see joy and fulfillment in your note, but I have a hard time believing it's of no importance to you. More likely is that you have not given yourself permission to consider doing what you could really love.

Once you have a better sense of your values and whether your current job definitely does or does not satisfy them, you can know whether it's time to begin looking around. I disagree that you should do nothing. You owe it to yourself to satisfy yourself that you have done all that you could. You do not want to lie on your deathbed full of regrets of the roads not taken. Particularly when it is really so easy, and expanding, to try a new path once in a while, see where it goes, how far you want to walk -- and if you decide to walk on, how far it takes you.

I'd be happy to discuss this with you in a free consultation. I'm confident you'll come away with a lot more clarity than you have now. How's that for return on investment!?

Yours truly,

Richard · Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:54 am Post subject:

I only have one motto in life and I've used it ever since the first time I heard it about 15 years ago. It is simply, "Follow Your Bliss" (I think the full quote comes from Joseph Campbell and goes something like "When you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else.")

It's a simple personal philosophy that has never failed me yet. I don't know anything about it more than those words and I interpret it as 'be instinctive and don't be afraid'. It's valid even if instinct says 'use common sense' by making a list of pros and cons. I'd never just toss a coin and it's a little bit more than just gut reaction. Sometimes it helps to have a crutch like this to fall back on if, like me, you're one of life's vacillators.

It seems to me as though you've made up your mind to go and are backing it up with good reasoning. Personal development is good and money isn't everything; I gave up a good job for love 3 years ago and moved to the other end of the country without a job to go to. It's been hard financially but I've come out of it a better person and happier.

Cameron's advice is going to be extremely sound but, and I hope he doesn't take this the wrong way, there are occasions when you have to do exactly what you want without deviation. It's like resisting the urge to change queues in the supermarket because yours is slow. I'd say go for it - damn the torpedoes!!

Richard

Carole · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:26 pm Post subject:

I agree with both Cameron and Richard on this issue as they're both offering what I see as very sound advice but from the two sides of the coin.

Only you can really know what's best for you. If you're truly unhappy in your present job and you're not dependent on the money (I take it you're earning more at the moment than you would be elsewhere), what's to keep you there apart from your feelings of commitment towards your boss?

You're obviously a loyal employee and whoever is lucky enough to have you on their team will soon see this and, hopefully, utlise your potential. I seriously doubt that with your experience, any company would start you off answering phones and filing, as "7days" suggests. As for vacation, I'd say make sure you negotiate with potential employers before accepting a positon with them. It's not as if you're desperate for a job, after all.

The only sensible advice I can see in what 7days wrote is that you probably will have somebody training and watching over you for a period and that could be difficult to handle after all those years of independence but I'm sure you're already aware of that. It certainly wouldn't be forever and learning new skills is often what keeps us going. Work can so easily become a chore, otherwise.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do. You sound like an intelligent woman who will go far, wherever you decide to go.

Carole

Carole · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 3:26 pm Post subject:

I agree with both Cameron and Richard on this issue as they're both offering what I see as very sound advice but from the two sides of the coin.

Only you can really know what's best for you. If you're truly unhappy in your present job and you're not dependent on the money (I take it you're earning more at the moment than you would be elsewhere), what's to keep you there apart from your feelings of commitment towards your boss?

You're obviously a loyal employee and whoever is lucky enough to have you on their team will soon see this and, hopefully, utlise your potential. I seriously doubt that with your experience, any company would start you off answering phones and filing, as "7days" suggests. As for vacation, I'd say make sure you negotiate with potential employers before accepting a positon with them. It's not as if you're desperate for a job, after all.

The only sensible advice I can see in what 7days wrote is that you probably will have somebody training and watching over you for a period and that could be difficult to handle after all those years of independence but I'm sure you're already aware of that. It certainly wouldn't be forever and learning new skills is often what keeps us going. Work can so easily become a chore, otherwise.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do. You sound like an intelligent woman who will go far, wherever you decide to go.

Carole

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