After 10 years of working with mission driven professionals to navigate career transitions and job searches, I can earnestly say that it's never been particularly easy.
But it's definitely been easier.
When I first started, clients struggled with some common challenges: imposter syndrome, illness, carework, burn out.
In the last few years, we’ve added a few more challenges to the mix:
Layoffs, Covid-19, environmental catastrophe, political instability and violence and AI, just to name a few.
Now, don’t get me wrong.
I don’t think that the world is actually ending, per se.
But I do think that the version of a world many of us imagined building a life and career in is shifting.
And the crises and challenges we can expect are rapidly replicating, rather than being resolved.
So what does this mean?
How do mission driven professionals make decisions, navigate risk, and craft a career that meets their needs AND aligns with their values?
What do the political changes coming our way mean for mission driven jobs - and those of us who occupy them?
I’m not sure I have too many answers - but it seems important to ask these questions, initiate these conversations, and share insights among those of us who are trying to do important work.
This is a recording of my signature webinar, How to Job Search at the End of the World, recorded in October 2024, where I shared advice for job seekers on adopting their process in light of the current challenges, including a very competitive job market.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be breaking down some of those thoughts here.
But in case a mission driven job seeker has happened to stumble over this post in the meantime, there is one, critical tip I’d like to share here, today:
There isn’t one aspect of the job search that isn’t at least slightly remedied by immense amounts of self-compassion.
Self judgement, I find, is much easier to come by.
It will have you thinking you’ve made the wrong decisions and aren’t good enough for the roles you want, that you aren’t doing enough to move yourself forward.
But self-compassion gives us permission to reflect on the context and circumstances beyond our control, to start small (rather than not at all!), and to be a cheerleader for ourselves.
From my perspective, that’s much better fuel for this process.
I’d love to hear what you think!
Want to learn more about my work? Check out our website and podcast, Careers at the End of the World.
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