384: Creating A Path To Your Ideal Career (And The Tool You Need To Make It Happen)

Scott Anthony Barlow 00:00
When it comes to finding or creating your ideal career, it starts with really understanding what it is that you want or need, both in your life and in your career. For years, I've been using the tool that I call the ideal career profile with our clients to help them hone in and understand what they really want. If you're wondering what an ideal career profile actually is, well, guess what? You're about to find out.

Introduction 0:30
This is the Happen To Your Career podcast, with Scott Anthony Barlow. We help you stop doing work that doesn't fit you, figure out what does and make it happen. We help you define the work that's unapologetically you, and then go get it. If you're ready to make a change, keep listening. Here's Scott. Here's Scott. Here's Scott.

Scott Anthony Barlow 00:54
There's one thing we mentioned on the show again, and again and again. But we've never actually talked specifically about it, or about how to use it, at least not on the podcast, even though it's one of the most impactful things that we work with our clients to create. And that tool, which I created for myself, many years ago, at this point, to try and articulate what great looks like for my life, my work, my career, way back when I was trying to answer many of those questions as I was making career change to career change, well, now we use that every single day, to be able to help people do the exact same thing. That tool is what we call the ideal career profile.

Sharissa Sebastian 01:39
Sometimes, times go into the ideal career profile. And they do look at it as like this tool where they have... you know, they put the input in and then it's going to spit out these perfect options for them in terms of career, like giving ideal career at the end of it, you know, one week later, it's like, now you can go look, for a very specific job.

Scott Anthony Barlow 01:56
That's Sharissa Sebastian, she's one of our coaches here on team Happen To Your Career. And we're bringing her on to be able to share behind the scenes look at what an ideal career profile or an ICP, what that actually is, how it makes career change that fits possible and what some of the challenges are along the way, when you're making the change and how it helps alleviate many of those pains.

Sharissa Sebastian 02:22
Okay, so one of the things that's so important, as we go through this process is telling the end in mind, like you've got to know what you're aiming at? Or do you have an idea of what it is that you really want in order to be able to feed a friend to get to this. So I think that's why this whole idea of being here and having that level of clarity is so important in this whole journey. And getting that as soon as possible, like I wanna be starting to what's early on, really helps to move that process forward in the direction that's going to be the most beneficial.

Scott Anthony Barlow 02:51
That's amazing. And you and I have had the opportunity to see the impacts of being clear about, as you say, where you're going, or you know, beginning with the end in mind. And I'm really curious, as you think about some of the people that you've worked with recently, where have you seen the actual tangible impacts show up? When you do all the work, often it's a fair amount of work to get clear on where you want to go? What does that look like?

Sharissa Sebastian 03:20
So yeah, that's a great question. So one of the things that I've noticed going through this process is we really help a ton, even though this part of it can be a lot, like you said, a lot of work. That's the coaching companies like... is that having those coaching conversations can really help to uncover some of these things. But once you do that, it makes it so much easier to be very specific on those next steps. So going into like the career compensation. So we talked a lot about career compensations, offers ideal career profile, what that is, is basically just reaching out, doing your research on some potential opportunities that might be a good fit. And then reaching out to people who already are in those roles, or who work at companies that you're interested in working at and those kinds of things. So when you do the ideal career profile, and you spend the time and effort that it takes to get as you can possibly be, then it just makes it so much more efficient. The process afterwards is so much more efficient. So you can really target the you know, the jobs, the companies have more beneficial, I guess conversations with people that are going to get you closer to where you want to go. But without knowing, without having that clarity of what's going to be right for you, what you're looking for, all those other concerns that go into the ideal career profile, you can spend so much time doing research, and you're doing all of those things and having a ton of compensations and it's not going to get you that much closer in the amount of time... in a short amount of time. So I think that's one of the biggest benefits that I see is really shortens that time frame. I'm getting from who you are now, to who I like to be.

Scott Anthony Barlow 04:43
And you and I throw around that word all the time, the ideal career profile, or that term, I should say, all the time. But for those people who... it's a newer term for, what does that actually mean? In your own words, like how would you describe what an ideal career profile actually is? Let alone what it does for you.

Sharissa Sebastian 05:02
I think if I had to summarize that one of the things that it really does is provide that level of clarity. But part of it is also that introspective work. So right, before we do the ideal career profile, we were deleted the standard setting. So by the time our clients get into the ideal career profile, they already have a good idea of what we call a signature spin ball. So those spin fest that, you know, they're really say, the top five, that are really aligned with who they are, the person where they function best. And so knowing that going into the ideal profile, gives them that much more clarity on the type of work that's going to be, you know, that like, what skills sets that they want to use or leverage in finding the ideal job. And then the other part of the ideal career profile is what they want at a minimum. So it can be in a number of different areas, it can be in terms of salary, it can be in terms of company, like either looking for a specific company, culture, or environment. And I've seen some of my clients get and actually the clients, they get the most out of this ideal career profile is very specific. So they talk about what they want in the ideal boss, what do they want in their ideal, you know, coworkers, and the environment, all those types of things, what type of work that maybe based on past experience, or based on their interests and things like that? What type of work do they really want at a minimum, and then also their ideal. So there's absolutely nothing holding them back, no barriers, like what is an ideal that we would like to experience and that's what I want to add this ideal career profile. It's not just about career, but I love it, it also talks about the life, you know, because I really believe that your career needs to fit into your life and not the other way around, when it comes to your life or on your work, but you want to make sure that both of those things are working very well for you to get. The ideal careeer profile also gives all kinds of opportunity to think about it and reflect from that standpoint, like ideally, and then you do division, as well, which also feeds into this and ties in really well. Because it's like envisioning, ideally, what you want your life and your lifestyle and your work and all those things to look like. And so when you get a little bit more clarity on all of those things, it's a lot easier to come back to the ideal career profile and say, okay, so at a minimum, here's what I want, my what's with my kids, the type of lifestyle that I want, life with balance, for example, is something we talk about a lot, a lot of my clients really want that. And that's one of their top priorities. And so that comes into play with ideal career profile. So again, it's your signature spin, how they type and the type of work that other people on how they want to use those things. And then it's also at a minimum, what they're looking for. And then ideally, what is it that they would like, even if it seems completely out of reach. And that's something that as a coach I really stretch my clients with. Like, even if it seems like you have no idea how you will possibly get to that ideal situation, just go ahead and do that. Because I've seen incredible things happen when people just put it on paper and at times, put it on paper. And then all of a sudden, they start to realize that it's actually more possible than they realize, and of course, going into the conversations with people that actually type work and things like that... as well, and based on through realize that, a lot of what they thought was not possible at all. So that's very...

Scott Anthony Barlow 07:50
What's an example where you've seen that happen? That's one of my favorite parts of this work, by the way that you just mentioned, where you know, they have this idea, and then all of a sudden, you know, it's put down on paper, and then from there, it starts to become possible. That's really fun for me, but what's an example of that, that you've experienced?

Sharissa Sebastian 08:09
So actually, one of my clients, Judith, I think, is a good example of this, because she does such a phenomenal job of the ideal career profile and got very very specific. So she had a lot of interest outside of work and it kind of, she wanted a very unique type of opportunity, that a lot of flexibility to be able to travel and to have time to do the other things that she had going on outside. And so once she paint an ideal profile, she then decided to actually prepare for those conversations by going through the interview process and things like that, because she knew what it is that she wanted. And so she knew how to ask the right questions to be able to give her that flexibility, to be able to negotiate, you know, that flexibility and even salary that she wanted that would allow her to do the things that she... what were really important, even outside of work. And she was able to do that and also in that position that gave her a three day workweek. She went from five to three, and should be able to just negotiate so much more into that package that a lot of to have basically the best of both worlds, and didn't even realize it was possible until we did this exercise and was like, why not after...?

Scott Anthony Barlow 09:08
It can't it be possible. 'Cause everybody else wants to work a five day work week doesn't mean you have to.

Sharissa Sebastian 09:15
It was negotiated in and so, within two weeks, two months of working at the company, she didn't even have to ask it, they put it into the contract.

Scott Anthony Barlow 09:23
Oh, interesting. I didn't know that part of her story. That's super interesting.

Sharissa Sebastian 09:27
And so it was in writing and she knew, growing in, that she was set up, you know, she had set us up so well to step into that situation where all the way around. She, you know, created that ideal kind of opportunity for her. That was a really fun experience for me to be on that journey with her. But she actually was able to do some incredible things. And it really did start with this process of gaining clarity. And science believe that it's even possible and then taking the steps to set that up.

Scott Anthony Barlow 09:51
Well, it sounds like, had she not done that initially and had she not potentially had the prompting from you like, yeah, let's put that... if that's really what you want, let, yes, let's put that down, of course. But that type of extra encouragement and coaching and direction and guidance, just getting to the point where you can declare that that's something that, yeah, I want that. It leads to later on, we're all leads to a whole series of events, right? It doesn't just happen overnight, but leads to then the possibility of it happening. And then later on, in Judith's case, it actually happening. That's pretty cool. That's fun. You know, as we talked about an ideal career profile. And I know that's a term that we made up. I mean, I made it up in conjunction with other people that I was working with way back when, but it's taken on a life of its own in terms of it being a tool. And I'm curious, what do you feel like ideal career profile is really best for? And what do you feel like are some of the limitations by using that tool or what is not made for?

Sharissa Sebastian 10:57
Interesting. It works really well, when I see works especially well, when people are looking to make some kind of transition. So they're not looking for like a lateral move, but they're looking to focus on a transferable skill, and they maybe move into something a little bit different than what they have done in the past. And this really opens up some possibilities and opportunities for them that maybe they weren't able to see before going through this exercise. Because it goes back to that clarity, without really being intentional about creating that level of clarity, it makes it here, especially when you're not sure what that next step is going to be. It makes it so much harder to get through if you don't have a process set up. So I will say, those kinds of cases, it's even more important if, times when I'm not sure, like, where do I go next, and how do I even figure this out? This is really that, kind of like a wanting point. That's what I think like going through this coaching process.

Scott Anthony Barlow 11:45
That's interesting. Can I ask you about that really quick? You said it sounded like especially when they're not really super clear, initially, it's even more important. Why do you feel that way?

Sharissa Sebastian 11:56
If they know... if they starting to spot it, and they're already pretty clear on what they want. Either this going through this exercise is going to validate for them that they're on the right path, or if they're not sure, and they're like, you know, there's so many options, I'm not sure which way I should go. And this is gonna help to narrow that down, and to help them to evaluate the possibilities. And actually, especially with my multi potential clients, who, you know, they're so good at so many different areas, and they're like, Ah, this is overwhelming, this is so many things I could do. This really helps them to narrow it down and say, Okay, let's look at it through the lens of the ideal career profile, because that's going to help you to focus and it doesn't mean you eliminate everything else, it just means to give us a starting point. And then from there, there's the other thing... there's option that can be open to them that maybe they weren't aware of people. Going through and looking at, what is it that I want at a minimum? What is it ideally that I want? And then some of those options are gonna fall off at that point, so you're gonna realize that, oh, wow, like some of the options that I thought maybe a possibility, I don't even need most of my minimum. So that's an example of how going through this process can help to take away some of your... take off the things that are not supposed to be there. And they also help them to really focus in on the areas that are going to get them closer to having that career. This is some of the cases that I've seen, works really, really well to get them really focused and getting in the right direction. The actions that they take, also that, are much more intentional, rather than just kind of throwing spaghetti at the wall.

Scott Anthony Barlow 13:20
I can totally appreciate that. I'll never forget where it's at about seven years ago, seven and a half years ago or so, like really early on, and having your career days. And I remember describing, even before I called it an ideal career profile, it sort of made this prototype of the tool for myself just to be able to make decisions. I remember describing it to this client, she was in the UK, she in the wonderful British accent goes like, "oh, yeah, you're using it like your filter for decisions. And if it doesn't make it through the filter, then you don't pursue those." I'm like, "yeah, that's totally exactly how I'm using it." That always stuck with me afterwards. It's like... and she was right. That was kind of how I was using it at the time. But since then, it always... I hear her voice in my head where it's like, yes, it's the filter only I can't do the you know, great British accent that goes along with it. So yeah, but that's I mean that what you make me think of now like, especially for people that have so many options, like you're talking about, or there's so many choices or feels like there's so many choices, it helps to narrow down or even remove things off the table that you might consider, or what do you find are some of the limitations on the other side of this? Like, it's not magic, as it turns out. It's, what kind of sorcery is this? What are some of the limitations that you've seen or where it's actually not that useful?

Sharissa Sebastian 14:41
So... there not useful but what I have found, though, is that sometimes times go into the ideal career profile. And they do look at it as like this tool where they have you know, they put the input in and then it's going to spit out these perfect options for them in terms of career, was getting to the ideal career at the end of it, you know, one week later, it's like "tadah! Now you can go look for a very specific job."

Scott Anthony Barlow 15:02
You're gonna be the beekepper. Yey!

Sharissa Sebastian 15:05
No question of this, what it is, you're gonna go for it. But, yeah, I have that recently where... you know, some of my clients with confidence and they're like, "oh, I thought when you go to this part of the program, that's it's gonne give me this specific options for career." And actually, that's where the coaching comes in. And that's the beauty of having the coaching in, you know, combined with the ideal career proifle and going through this journey, because the coaching is going to help to unpack a lot of these things, and connect more of the dots than maybe just the documents has been. So it's one thing to go through the exercise and have it all on paper. But sometimes you just need to be able to like help you process it or have a coaching session around it to really get to nail that clarity to know like, oh, okay, so this is how this connects with me. And this is how it's gonna lead me down that road, it's not necessarily just the exercise itself, it's gonna all of a sudden split off this ideal career. But going through the coaching process can really help to refine that and help you to some of those options.

Scott Anthony Barlow 15:59
That's super important. And that's something that we actually don't talk a lot about on the show, we don't really get into the nitty gritty practice of coaching. And we just don't, we don't for a lot of different reasons. But I think what you point out is really super important. Because I mean, let's say that there was this magic thing. And there are actually assessments out there that like you go, and you spend 15 minutes taking the assessment and like, yes, you should be a chemist, and even if it was the case, where like they got to interact with you and at the end of that, you say, "hey, guess what? Your brand new career is..." and then you unveil it somehow. It doesn't actually have the same effect is if they're going through a process where they decide and they've come to that conclusion. Because when you come to a conclusion on your own, and you've gone through the thought process, and often experimentation, and other pieces along the way that it takes to get there, it makes it much more emotionally charged, it makes it real, versus if we do the Sharissa unveiling at the end. But it doesn't have literally does not have the same effect even if you were to move into it. And I think that's something that people miss. So I so appreciate that you point out that about what is actually going on, as it relates to coaching and working through this type of process.

Sharissa Sebastian 17:20
And actually, I loved what you say, which just reminded me of something else. But, when... about this being a launching point, it's really is, this is not the end of the process. It's not like you go through the ideal career profile. Now you have some options, and off you go.

Scott Anthony Barlow 17:32
Okay, we're all done here.

Sharissa Sebastian 17:35
This is just the launching point. And I think the other thing I want to go back to that he said, that's so important to this process is the experimentation phase off of it. So you have some ideas coming out of this process, but then it give you some ideas of some options of what to explore. But then you actually got to go through the work of exploring it and validating and having conversations and doing the research and all those things to make up, like you said, to for... the client to make up their mind on what's going to be right for them. Because it's such a personal individual thing. Like, I can't do it, like you said... They have to feel to be connected to it. And they have to be doing this because it's their life, they're gonna be doing the work and spending all of those kinds of things. So if they're not connected with it and then, it's not gonna work. So yes, I think that's another mini misconception sometimes going into the ideal career profile that all sudden, this is going to be the thing, you know, that's going to give them the options. And then there's easy peasy and then this one. But this is just a launching point to start to get really fun, which is like really experimenting.

Scott Anthony Barlow 18:35
This is something that I find is challenging for people who are in upper level or more senior type roles, this idea of exploring and taking the time yourself. And here's the reason why. Like, I'll just speak for myself as a moment by like, as a CEO, and I'm not the CEO of the largest company in the world. However, as a CEO, I am very used to hiring other people to get work done for me, right? However, if I did that, in this particular case, and went through and at the end of this, we had that Sharissa unveiling that we were talking about where, I don't know why I'm calling it Sharissa unveiling it out, but we're sticking with that, I can just see you like holding up a sign or something. It's like, here's your new career, it's gonna be fantastic. But even if that were the case, then it literally does not have the same effect as doing the work and going through this type of exploration. So I think that's something I've really found that we also haven't discussed on the show a lot for people who have more senior levels that just don't have a lot of time and are thinking about making this type of change because a lot of their time is consumed with their higher level role in being able to provide support to teams and leading teams and many other things that happens along the way. That's another misconception that I just wanted to air because it relates to what you were talking about here. But to bring us back, though, as you think about what do people really need to understand if they want to, regardless of whether they want to work with us, or whether they, you know, want to coaches help, if they were to try and create their own ideal career profile, what are some of the most important elements of that? And then let's finish talking about what you were starting to talk about in terms of experimentation too.

Sharissa Sebastian 20:23
I'm saying that the most important elements is just to get really clear on at a basic level, like your minimum and your ideals, At a minimum, what is it that you really want? And I know that they can seem very broad, but actually, when you provide, like some examples of maybe to clarify, what you actually mean by minimums? And what do we mean by ideals? Because I think is that we really... ideal career profile. We know some of our clients have really taken the time to break it down into very specific areas of their life, or areas of focus, or areas of interest, and things like that. Some of those examples are, like I've seen ideal career profiles, and break it down into like, spiritual, like, from spiritual perspective. At a minimun, what do I want that to be like? From a mental perspective, you know, whether that's learning, growth, development, all of those things, at a minimum, what is it that I want, and again, outside of just the career and what the company can offer, but on a broader level as well, what is it that I'm looking for, at a minimum? What do I need to be able to do in those areas? And then it's also about the work and the company and what the company has to offer. Secondly, in terms of what type of boss and what type of that I want? What type of coworkers do I want? What kind of company culture is going to be a good fit for me? All of those types of things. And then from a financial perspective, from a bring in the spins, right? So, what some of things that you really enjoy doing, what do you want to do more? So those kinds of things I've been looking at that the financial of like, you know, the minimums and the ideals can be so helpful to just go through and needs... And it doesn't have to take it's not, it's not something that you need to spend hours and hours on, but just that as a starting point... And then that way, you know, when you're looking at potential jobs, opportunities, or even like job postings, and things like that, you can look at it through that, I love that analogy, of the ideal career profile, or those two things like at a minimum, and then the ideal, doesn't match, doesn't fit those. So if you do a really good job with this excerise, it makes it so easier to meet up the opportunity that I'm not a good fit and to really gotten...

Scott Anthony Barlow 22:11
Or like with your example of Judith, it can take it from literally impossible to now possible and feasible in the real world. That's actually something that I've observed quite a bit, too, I can't tell you the number of times that I have seen that happen with our clients and our students in... the case where I would estimate is probably around 20 to 25-ish, I might be making that number up a little bit. But just my sense is that it's probably roughly a quarter of the people that we've worked with that would have missed, would have entirely missed the opportunity. Had they not done a great job of defining it, because one of the curious observations, I've had over the years is a lot of times it's actually pretty close to in front of you. And you're just missing it, not always, there have been many, many times where that's not the case. But I'm continuously surprised how many times the opportunity is just right there or within a couple of degrees of separation. And we just don't know it, because we don't know what to look for yet, and haven't defined what to look for.

Sharissa Sebastian 23:14
It's not that as well. They might know, it might be easy to get to the point of like, yeah, like, in an ideal world. A lot of times we don't even know my own experience.

Scott Anthony Barlow 23:25
Sure.

Sharissa Sebastian 23:25
Don't make the dots between the possibility and how to actually get to make that a reality. That possibility and reality, I think that's where the coaching can really come in. Because that's what I do with a lot of my clients like, even though sometimes it can be frustrating to... oh yeah, ideally have all of these things, but it's a matter of like, how do you connect the dots between, okay, that's great. Do you want that? Or do you actually make that happen? What are some next... let's think about them where that might actually be possible, and then it starts to become more real, it's like, "wait a second, you mean like this might actually be possible?" And I'm like, "okay."

Scott Anthony Barlow 23:55
Hold on.

Sharissa Sebastian 23:58
And that... it gets into that process of, oh, so this is how I can maybe ask for what I want, or how I can prepare for the conversation, you know, when I'm going through the job interview or prepare for the negotiation. And it really goes into that whole process, it's become so much more, it's like, "Whoa, I can really do something to set the document." And then it becomes more real and then we prepare them for that's another part of the journey, but we prepare them for those conversations, so that they feel good. It's not like... they're not extremely, like scared or nervous even go into that conversation, but they feel really good about how they're doing. So that's another part of the, you know, the preparation part.

Scott Anthony Barlow 24:32
Well, since you bring that up here, you know, I know that earlier you mentioned and we started talking about how the ICP the ideal career profile begins to interact with experimentation. A lot of times, not all the time, but a lot of the time when we're working with people, we'll have them go through some measure of test drive or experiment and you know, many times that can be what we call the social Goldilocks type of experiment where people are, it's an easy example but like reaching out to other people for short conversations, to be able to learn more about what a particular role is really like, you know, and that's a very easy example to point to. But it can be other types of experiments too. And we have six that we do more commonly than anything else. But help us understand here a little bit about how the ideal career profile interacts with different types of experiments.

Sharissa Sebastian 25:23
Oh, yes, that's very, because that is the next part in the process. And all does types together so well. So let's take social Goldilocks as an example, so with the ideal career profile, one of the things we like in it, once that's done, one of the things we work on in the coaching process is to start to have a coaching conversation around like, okay, now that we have the ideal career profile, how do we then come up with some possibilities, some potential options, and some areas that you can, all times be explore, so that it makes it easier to be able to reach the right people and contact the right people to have those conversations and to have a conversation around what to do? And you know, I'm curious about this area of what to do, and those kinds of things to make fun of. And some of the other things that we do as well, but ideal career profile really helps with is if they decide, as I was also going through this process, that they really want to focus in a certain area, and they want to be like a thought leader in a particular area. Now, part of that is like writing articles on LinkedIn, for example, or you're making sure that they are seeing as that expert in that area, on their LinkedIn profile, and because we see that as well. But that's just another example how going through this process of the ideal career profile, can help they really narrow like hone in on those things that they've been ones and are just so that passionate about and strongly about, because when they do that they have so much more momentum, they have so much more motivation to want to do these things and to take the next step. And then of course, with that level of clarity that happens as well. And there's a lot of other ways that we go about doing that. But those are just some examples of how the ideal career profile can really launch that process. And I've seen it happen in your life, it doesn't take long, there's no guarantee, about like how long it's going to take from this point in the process to when they land that job. That's what they want. But what it has to happen, it can be a slow process, sometimes they have a couple of conversations, and all of a sudden they're interviews gave up. So you don't get the work. Really like could go and so being open to that and like all times, you know, open to just being curious. And to having this conversation, just realizing that every step that they take, even though sometimes it might take a little bit longer, and depending on the situation, but it is definitely moving them closer to what it is that they really want. It's kind of a fun process to go through. But also get works, it does take work and commitment and dedication to get to ideal career profile.

Scott Anthony Barlow 27:33
You mentioned how sometimes it can be a short process, other times it's not certainly I mean, we've certainly had occasions where we've worked with people for, like 18 or 19 months or so. But that's an outlier. And we've also had occasions where like 30 days, but also an outlier, right? And not necessarily, neither of those are necessarily average. What it makes me think of though is I just recently, literally in the last few days, my son who we recently enrolled all of our kids in a homeschool program, necessarily, or recently, I should say, we really, really cool. That's another conversation in terms of like why we chose to do that. However, we made that decision. And one of the interesting byproducts of it was that now my youngest son, who's nine now is doing work that is really, really, really relatable to the real world. So he was asked to go and make designs for door knockers. So it actually very closely follows the same process that we use for creating an ideal career profile. And also, you know, putting it into experimentation, like saying, "hey, did what I put on paper, is that actually what I want?" and then going and turning it into something that is reality. So he's going through, like the first thing he decided is like a door knocker stupid, you're not gonna be able to hear that through the entire rest of the house. I want to make a doorbell instead because that's actually going to be inside. I'm like, okay, make a doorbell. All right, fantastic, whatever. And then, so he does these designs for doorbells, essentially. And then, you know, his first design is like, he's got all these different spoons, and they're supposed to clock together when somebody pushes the doorbell button, and basically it was not gonna work at all, right. But then by this third design, he's producing something that we actually turned into a real doorbell. And then, you know, he built the doorbell like, two nights ago, we were up really late. And he's like, got the power tools and nine year old power tools. It's a little scary, but he got this doorbell put together and then found that it didn't work as well as what he thought it was going to. It did work, but not as well as what he thought it was going to. So then he's like, "Oh my goodness, I could do this and this and this and this and this." And really this process that you're describing functions a lot like that. It is an evolutionary process. It's an iterative type process in order to go from literally an idea, something where at the beginning, he's like, "this is a stupid project, when would I ever use this?" He said that. And then all the way on the other end to now he's excited because he like made this doorbell out of an idea. And it's the same type of thing. So I'm curious, you know, what are some of the biggest misconceptions about this type of process that we've been talking about here?

Sharissa Sebastian 30:22
Oh, I think maybe, yeah, one of them, the first thing that comes to mind actually, is that enrolling in this process or saying yes to the process is going to magically fix. It's like... they're almost like, oh, now that I've been involved in this, all my problems are solved. And it's gonna be, not that I... I don't... work is gonna be easy, or what it is exactly, but it's like, they can meet this idea that, okay, once I enroll, and it goes through this period of time, that at the end, everything is going to be you know, unicorns, and rainbows and butterflies, it's gonna be perfect and this is like timeframe, everything's gonna work. And then at the end of the timeframe, it's gonna magically all come together. And of course, as we know, you know, as life is, it doesn't quite perfect all the time. Now, sometimes I can see it, sometimes we can. Sometimes that process does get kind of, you know, there's shortcomings, and there's ways that things work out a lot sooner than maybe we had anticipated or phasers work really quickly. And that's great. That's fantastic. I've seen that happen several times. And there's often times we like to say too, it takes a little bit longer. Now, again, there's this outliers, right. So it's always gonna take put it in 17, 18 months, but at the same time going into this process and having this idea that all sudden, at the end of eight weeks, you're going to come out and be already have a job interview or a job, that will be something that can take people up and coming in. It's just having this idea that somehow it's all gonna fit into this time frame that we signed up for. And then that's it, at the end of the process and...

Scott Anthony Barlow 31:44
We're done. No staying up late to make doorbells.

Sharissa Sebastian 31:49
That's maybe one of the biggest misconceptions that I come across, is that this is gonna fix anything. And then at the end of it, you know, I'm going to come up with what it is with that ideal career...

Scott Anthony Barlow 32:03
What have you found is a pleasant surprise for, you know, one, or maybe even many clients, as you've gone through and helped them create their own version of their ideal career and put that on digital or real paper, you know, what has been a pleasant surprise for them that they were surprised by, or something that you've been surprised by, as you've now done this many times over?

Sharissa Sebastian 32:29
Oh, there's three that come to mind immediately, when I think about it. It's two minds in particular, that have made a pretty significant shift from what they were doing before, to what they now realize is like a much benefit for them. And they came in, they like despondent, they're like, I don't even know if I can make a change, like, this is all I've known, I don't even know, if anything else is possible, maybe I need to just stay where I am, like, I'm not even sure where to go. And then go into the process, go into the ideal career profile exercise. And they realize that there's actually options that are so much better for them than what they had experienced in the past. Not only that, but they also realize that they have a lot of transferable skills, and they start to see that light at the end of the tunnel. Like, it's not just something you have interesting to explore. But I actually have things from my experience, even though I haven't been doing this specific thing before. But there are a lot of things in my past experience and transferable skills, and all those kinds of things that can that can really tie in to this career that I'm receiving. And so there's one that one of my clients that has a legal background. And she's done, you know, a lot of incredible things in the legal field, she found her way quite fond of it. But she just kind of got to a point where it just wasn't working for her, there were a lot of things that they just weren't great based on experience. But what she did, and what she does, absolutely, truly passionate about is climate change. And so she was able to connect the two. And now she's going off to you know, climate change that actually never just had the legal expertise from the past, even though it wasn't necessarily specifically infringing. So that's one example. Then I've got another client who made quite a big shift as well, when from a retail background, not so excited, because she realized that a lot of the retail experience actually has a lot of elements of project management in it. And she's a lot more excited and enthusiastic about exploring different project management options than she ever was saying. And so those are some examples of like, once you start to see things, you know, once you go through the process, and you start to realize so much more as possible than what she was settling for me in the box. And so that's really exciting to watch, because they also make significant shifts that happen and they start to get really excited and like oh my gosh, I never realized that I even had those spins or that it was even possible for me. And now I see how this might actually be a reality. Like I can see how I can get even faster than I thought possible. So I think those are some of the things that like unexpected surprises that happen along the way which is...

Scott Anthony Barlow 34:48
That's fun. Those types of surprises are one of the reasons why I love doing the type of work that we get to do that. I appreciate you sharing and thank you so much for coming on and sharing about how this idea of ideal career profile or creating a profile of your ideal career, how that works, what it is, what it actually does, why on earth would be worthwhile to take the time to do something crazy like that in the first place, I really appreciate it, Sharissa.

Sharissa Sebastian 35:17
No problem. I love this stuff. Not a poblem. I really hope that this inspires you. Because if you're thinking about a career change, as what I'm saying so many times at so many people, what you really desire is so possible. So believe in that, trust in that, trust in yourself and trust the process.

Scott Anthony Barlow 35:37
Many of the stories that you've heard on the podcast are from listeners that have decided that they wanted to take action, and taking the first step of having a conversation with our team to try and figure out how we can help. And if you want to implement what you have heard, and you want to completely change your life and your career, then let's figure out how we can help. So here's what I would suggest, just open your phone right now and open your email app. And I'm going to give you my personal email address, scott@happentoyourcareer.com just email me and put a "Conversation" in the subject line. And then when you do that, I'll introduce you to the right person on our team. And you can have a conversation with us, we'll try and understand your goals and what you want to accomplish in your career no matter where you're at. And we can figure out the very best way that we can help you and your situation. So open up right now. And send me an email with "Conversation" in the subject line. scott@happentoyourcareer.com. Here's a sneak peek into what we have coming up in store for you next week.

Scott Young 36:48
If you can invest in this process of meta learning, you can often figure out okay, what would be the way that I would acquire this skill? Doesn't mean that you get out of doing the work, it's still a lot of work. But it turns it from a this is impossible to this is what would have to be done. And I think even if this is what would have to be done, if it's a lot of work, making that concrete and explicit really changes what's in front of you.

Scott Anthony Barlow 37:11
All that and plenty more next week right here on Happen To Your Career. Make sure that you don't miss it. And if you haven't already, click Subscribe on your podcast player so that you can download this podcast in your sleep and you get it automatically. Even the bonus episodes every single week, sometimes multiple times a week. Until next week. Adios. I'm out.