Artwork for podcast Beyond the Smile
Finding Your Career
Episode 226th February 2024 • Beyond the Smile • Marylayo
00:00:00 00:42:26

Share Episode

Shownotes

Summary

In this episode of "Beyond the Smile" with host MaryLayo, we delve into the intricacies of finding not just a job, but a fulfilling career that aligns with one's interests and talents. Career and talent strategist Stephen Shortt, CEO of Career Fit, unpacks the importance of job satisfaction and how it contributes to overall happiness and good mental health.

Listeners will explore the idea of passion versus enjoyment in career choice, the growing phenomenon of career burnout, and the evolving landscape of jobs that may not even exist yet. Stephen Short emphasises the value of career guidance in schools and how parental expectations can shape—and sometimes limit—a child's career aspirations.

The episode also discusses how individuals can navigate career transitions, whether early in their work life or in their later years. It reassures those at career crossroads that happiness in their profession is not just attainable but deserved.

Concluding with a touch of spiritual wellness, MaryLayo offers a reflective tip from Psalm 37, inviting listeners to join her next time for more insights on mental health and spiritual wellbeing. Take a moment and delve into what may be 'beyond the smile'. Remember to follow, like and share if you enjoyed the discussion on the critical relationship between career satisfaction and overall life satisfaction.

For help in dealing with mental health related matters, please seek specialist advice and support if needed.

#BeyondTheSmilePodcast #FindYourCareerPath #PassionVersusEnjoyment #MaryLayoTalks #MentalHealth #SpiritualHealth

Timestamps

(00:00:01) Introduction to Mental Health and Spiritual Well-being

(00:00:45) Aligning Career with Interests

(00:04:01) The Cost of Misaligned Career Choices

(00:14:11) Career Guidance in Irish Schools

(00:16:31) Teen Readiness for Career Choices

(00:18:32) Future of Work Discussion in Schools

(00:24:49) Multiple Career Changes in a Lifetime

(00:26:01) Insights from the eBook 'Your Next Career'

(00:30:09) Transforming Passion into Career

(00:33:47) Identifying a Career Focus

(00:36:01) Biannual Career Trends Update

(00:38:30) Advice for Career Crossroads

(00:41:52) Spiritual Wellness Tip: Psalm Chapter 37

Guest details:

As a Career & Talent Strategist, Stephen is deeply committed to helping individuals and organisations in devising and achieving their career aspirations through a blend of career counselling, talent assessment, and strategic planning. His work with ETC ConsultCareerFitTalent SelectSuccessful SuccessionDelta Events and Distributed Training is centred around helping to match the right people with the right careers. Stephen’s upcoming books, “Your Future Career” and “Your Next Career,” are further examples of his commitment to helping others at different stages of their career journeys. “Your Future Career” is geared towards students and young professionals, while “Your Next Career” offers guidance for those seeking to change or enhance their career paths.

Marylayo's spiritual wellbeing tips

  • Meditate on Bible scripture: Psalm 37:23-24
  • Meditate on song: Open My Heart, Yolanda Adams

Transcripts

1

::

Speaker A: Welcome to beyond the smile with

me, MaryLayo, a podcast that discusses mental

2

::

health and spiritual wellbeing.

3

::

If you like what you hear, please do remember

4

::

to follow and share.

5

::

But before we jump in, there may be episodes

6

::

that are particularly sensitive for some

listeners.

7

::

And if that applies, then I hope you'll join

me whenever you feel ready and able.

8

::

In today's episode, I'm talking to career and

talent strategist Stephen Short, who, as CEO

9

::

of Career Fit, is on a mission to make the

world a better place with happy people in

10

::

fulfilling, rewarding careers.

11

::

I first asked Stephen why it was so crucial

12

::

for individuals to find a career that truly

aligns with their interests and aptitudes.

13

::

Let's join in the conversation.

14

::

Speaker B: Well, I mean, you're going to spend

most of your adult life, you're going to spend

15

::

most of your waking days in your career.

16

::

You're going to be working on something.

17

::

I mean, the normal office hour, the normal

traditional office hours, from nine to five or

18

::

eight to six or whatever it is.

19

::

Between sleeping, traveling, you'll spend more

20

::

time with your colleagues than you'll spend

with your family when you really break it down

21

::

and think about it.

22

::

So why would you spend your time doing

23

::

something that makes you miserable or doesn't

fulfill you, just to try and squeeze some of

24

::

those bits of fulfillment out in the couple of

hours that you have?

25

::

Outside of that, my contention is that people

in general are happier doing something that

26

::

they enjoy doing and are more productive doing

that thing.

27

::

Whether they might be saying, okay, I can be

an engineer and make 100,000 a year, or I can

28

::

be a podcast host and a consultant to make

80,000 a year, but I'm actually doing the

29

::

stuff that I love doing.

30

::

So rather than chasing that extra 20,000 and

31

::

being miserable for the year, I can do

something I'm passionate about and feel the

32

::

energy of it.

33

::

So my thing is always find what you're

34

::

interested in, find what you're good at.

35

::

Spend your time doing that, but don't follow

36

::

your passion.

37

::

Speaker A: Don't follow your passion.

38

::

Did you say?

39

::

Speaker B: No. So this is stuff that I hear a

lot.

40

::

It's really well meaning, it's well meaning

advice, and the idea behind it is absolutely

41

::

correct.

42

::

Find something that you're passionate about

43

::

and continue doing.

44

::

But unfortunately, for a lot of people, when

45

::

they hear the phrase follow your passion,

you'll never work a day in your life.

46

::

They start to think about the things that

they're passionate about, which tend to be

47

::

their hobies, their outlets, their ways of

doing the things that they enjoy doing.

48

::

And then when they try to make that pay their

bills, then it stops being enjoyable, it stops

49

::

being an outlet.

50

::

It stops being a way of venting, and it starts

51

::

to be something which they have to put lots of

time and energy into.

52

::

And then they don't even have that thing as an

outlet when they get stressed from work.

53

::

So for me, it's not follow your passion.

54

::

For me, it's find out what you're passionate

55

::

about in a professional context and go do that

and then still have your passions, whether

56

::

that's archery or pottery or playing cards or

movies or whatever, have those areas as well.

57

::

And those are your passions.

58

::

But find something that you're passionate

59

::

about doing and that you're interested in and

you're good at.

60

::

Speaker A: Okay, that's quite an interesting

take.

61

::

And it does make sense, actually, because I

learned the hard way, and that was one of my

62

::

first, or it was my first adult lesson,

because I was so miserable in the work that I

63

::

was doing at the time.

64

::

And I thought to myself, I want to do

65

::

something where I'm not miserable at work, I'm

not miserable going to work.

66

::

I'm not miserable after work because I know

that I'm going to have to go to the same work

67

::

the next day.

68

::

I need to do some things that I'm actually

69

::

going to enjoy and have that interest in.

70

::

So kind of leading to that, what are the

71

::

common signs that you've come across that

someone's in a career that doesn't truly align

72

::

with their strengths, it doesn't align with

their passions, or let's call it interest.

73

::

Speaker B: Yeah. The quickest and the easiest

thing to see is burnout.

74

::

I mean, people get burnt out really quickly

because they not only have the energy that

75

::

they're putting into doing their job and doing

their job well, because most of the people who

76

::

are doing these jobs, they're still highly

professional, they're still very dedicated

77

::

people.

78

::

They're doing everything they can to be

79

::

successful in the job, but then also trying to

keep up that energy or not have that outlet to

80

::

be reinvigorated and inspired by what you're

doing or from outside or having enough time to

81

::

have that work life balance where you're able

to follow all of your passions outside, you

82

::

don't have that.

83

::

So you expend even more energy and work doing

84

::

something to a certain degree, but really

having to force yourself into doing it.

85

::

So you get burnt out really quickly, which

leads to we've all seen people who have, like,

86

::

we all have this kind of jar of dealing with

stress and dealing with anger and dealing with

87

::

annoyance.

88

::

And when the level is quite low, we can

89

::

tolerate all kinds of stuff, and we can not

flip out and not shout at other people or not

90

::

lose it with our spouses or our partners or

whatever, but when that starts to get higher

91

::

and higher, we've seen people, we've all seen

people like this in our life where a little

92

::

thing will just set them off because their

level of stress is already so high.

93

::

And the reason that their level of stress can

be so high is because they're not only doing

94

::

the stress of the job, but also the stress of

forcing themselves to care about the job or

95

::

forcing themselves to push through the job.

96

::

So their tension and their stress is higher

97

::

and higher, which means that they explode much

quicker and they get burnt out and they get

98

::

frustrated and they get annoyed and they get

grumpy and they get depressed.

99

::

And it's just a horrible spiral of a place to

be in.

100

::

Speaker A: So given that, especially when it

comes to young people, given that schools,

101

::

even universities, their role is to equip

students to understand and work out and be

102

::

prepared for careers or potential career

paths.

103

::

So how can schools, how can universities, how

can those educational establishments, how can

104

::

they better equip students, really, when it

comes to that?

105

::

Speaker B: So, again, this is something we see

all the time.

106

::

It's very well meaning and it's very

structured.

107

::

And when you think about why schools were set

up originally in the day, schools were set up

108

::

like factories, to train people to work in

factories, but we don't do that anymore.

109

::

So the world that schools are training people

for now, they're not the same as the world

110

::

that schools were training people for when the

system of education and school systems were

111

::

set up.

112

::

And there's a great talk by Sir Ken Robinson.

113

::

He's passed away now.

114

::

He's TED talks where.

115

::

He talks about, really, the only thing that

these kids have in common with each other as

116

::

they're going through school is they're

manufactured by date.

117

::

So their date of birth or they're stamped.

118

::

They come in, they go through 18 years of

119

::

college, 16 years of college, whatever, and

school, they're stamped with a created on

120

::

date, and then they're off in the world.

121

::

But we all know people in school that were

122

::

brilliant at some subjects and not good at

some subjects, or there are different schools

123

::

that are looking at maybe streaming people in

different ways.

124

::

So instead of just classing them by their age,

they're starting to look at ways that they

125

::

might be able to class students by their

ability in that subject so some people might

126

::

take longer to click with mathematics, and

they struggle because they're just moving

127

::

through the years, whether they click with it

or not.

128

::

And they're just at a lower level.

129

::

And then you're on the scrap, not on the scrap

130

::

feet, but you're not living up to your

potential.

131

::

The other thing that I see a lot, and it

causes an awful lot of burnout and it causes

132

::

an awful lot of stress and anxiety in

students, especially when they get to college,

133

::

is, well, you studied this in school, you were

good at this subject, history, politics,

134

::

mathematics, whatever.

135

::

So you should study that in college.

136

::

And then they go to college and they do the

course, and then they realize, I would

137

::

actually hate to do this on a day to day

basis.

138

::

I don't want to do this for my job.

139

::

I enjoy the subject, but it has no relevance

140

::

to what kinds of a career I want.

141

::

And we have people who, I've met so many, I

142

::

have actually, people on my team who studied

science, loved science, loved biology, but

143

::

actually hated the job of being a biologist

and hated the job of working in a lab.

144

::

But the bits about the science and the biology

that he really enjoyed, like the process and

145

::

the structure and following through and taking

an idea and following the steps and having all

146

::

that allows him to be amazing in our business

as our general manager, as our coo, because he

147

::

puts structure and puts orientation on the

business, and that's how he's finding a

148

::

rewarding career, doing things, elements that

he loves without necessarily having to do the

149

::

science of it and working in a lab.

150

::

Speaker A: Yeah, I get you.

151

::

In the sense that I too, kind of robotically

152

::

went for subjects because I was good at it.

153

::

But did I love it?

154

::

Did I see myself, for example, being in a lab

at the end of studying so many years in

155

::

pharmaceutical sciences?

Definitely not.

156

::

I get it.

157

::

And so I guess what you're saying is schools,

158

::

universities need to have a bit more a

comprehensive way of advising students, not

159

::

just necessarily by subject, but basically

almost like those transferable skills or

160

::

natural graces that those students will have,

and to look more widely rather than this

161

::

subject, that subject.

162

::

Speaker B: My mantra with students is always

career over course.

163

::

So what's the end goal of the career at career

fit?

164

::

Like, we help people at all levels.

165

::

We have a whole package for schools with

166

::

school dashboards where the school counselors

or the year heads can actually manage their

167

::

whole school and their whole class.

168

::

But we tell the students, we're not really

169

::

interested in the next four to five years of

your academic career.

170

::

We're interested in the next 45 years of your

actual career.

171

::

What's the ultimate career for you?

What's the ultimate career path for you?

172

::

And how can we reverse engineer that back to

today?

173

::

Whether that's subject choices or college

courses, or if you're already finished

174

::

college, how can you start looking at your

transferable skills and moving into that

175

::

direction that's more aligned with what you

want to do?

176

::

Because what we want to do is, and I think you

mentioned this already, I'm on a mission to

177

::

make the world a better place with happy

people in fulfilling, rewarding careers.

178

::

That's all I care about.

179

::

That's all I want to do.

180

::

And we do this from a career guidance point of

view.

181

::

We do this from a selection point of view.

182

::

But all I want to do is make sure that people

183

::

are in the right careers for them.

184

::

Because every career that exists, there are

185

::

ideal candidates for those careers.

186

::

There are people who would.

187

::

A career that you and I, or you might think,

and I might think is, jeez, that's so boring.

188

::

Who would want to do that?

There are very process driven people who

189

::

really enjoy those types of careers that maybe

more strategic or more long term thinking

190

::

people get bored by.

191

::

But then the people who are more strategic and

192

::

the people who are more process driven and

structure driven, they get really nervous and

193

::

anxious thinking about what's going to happen

in nine months time.

194

::

They don't want to think about nine months

time.

195

::

They want to think about nine weeks time.

196

::

So there are absolutely amazing places for the

197

::

right people to be able to work together and

to be able to gel together and complement each

198

::

other in a workplace.

199

::

And that's the ideal for me, to have a group

200

::

of people who are fulfilled and rewarded

working in the right direction.

201

::

Speaker A: So those who are career guidance

counselors, they have a very specific role,

202

::

almost like, I won't call it responsibility,

but certainly a role in guiding and shaping

203

::

and helping many students try and figure out

what are they going to do in their life when

204

::

they're older.

205

::

Speaker B: It's an ion impossible for a 16

year old.

206

::

And this is the other thing that I think

sometimes parents lose a bit of sense on that

207

::

with a 16 year old, you're asking them to go,

okay, what do you want to do in ten years

208

::

time?

They've only been on this planet for 16 years.

209

::

They've only really been able to think for

themselves for about five.

210

::

So you want them to take their entire five

years of life experience and double that into

211

::

the future without knowing anything about

really what's coming down the line or what the

212

::

world of work is actually going to be like.

213

::

So that's why career guidance counselors and

214

::

career guidance specialists and career

guidance tools and everything else are so

215

::

beneficial to people of that generation,

because they have no idea what kinds of

216

::

careers exist yet.

217

::

And there's plenty of times when people have

218

::

discovered their ideal career in their, they

go, my God, this is amazing.

219

::

And they've stumbled into it and they've found

their way to it.

220

::

And that's phenomenal.

221

::

But what if we can actually help these people

222

::

to find that career at an earlier stage?

Because we know what it takes to do well in

223

::

that career, what kind of interests are

required to be engaged in that career?

224

::

And we can actually start to showcase to

people, you know what you're thinking about

225

::

this, but actually just have a look at this

career and you drop down the career with the

226

::

description and they start reading the

description, oh my God, I didn't even know

227

::

that was a thing.

228

::

Like, how do I do that?

229

::

That's amazing.

230

::

And in career fit, we have a database of 1269

231

::

careers that exist in the world.

232

::

There are adults that don't know half of those

233

::

careers or a third of those careers or be able

to explain those careers.

234

::

So how is a 16 and 17 year old in 6th form or

in their final years of school before they go

235

::

to college, how are they going to know those

courses, or, sorry, those careers to know

236

::

which courses go into it?

So that's why having conversations with career

237

::

guidance counselors and having conversations

with people who specialize in this area is so

238

::

beneficial to people, to get themselves on the

right track, to be focused and happy as they

239

::

go into their professional career.

240

::

Speaker A: So, you know, Stephen, like X, many

years ago I was a beneficiary of a tool like

241

::

the one you're talking about.

242

::

So I know how valuable and helpful it was for

243

::

me.

244

::

So how regularly used are these types of tools

245

::

in schools, perhaps, or perhaps even in

colleges?

246

::

Yeah.

247

::

Speaker B: How common is it in Ireland, every

school, every secondary school, the equivalent

248

::

of a 6th form college, has a dedicated career

guidance counselor as part of the curriculum.

249

::

In the UK, you don't have that.

250

::

Now there is talks.

251

::

I was at an event in London a couple of weeks

ago and I did meet some people from the

252

::

mayor's office in London.

253

::

And I understand that Ofcom is really starting

254

::

to try and push that and use the irish model

as an example of how it can be superbly

255

::

beneficial to these young people to help them

get on the right track.

256

::

And for people who have no direction, once

they have a view of actually, that's what I

257

::

want to do.

258

::

It can help them to improve their studies,

259

::

improve their retention, because they see the

point of instead of just going, the world is

260

::

huge, I don't know what to do.

261

::

So I'm just going to drift.

262

::

When they actually have a direction and a

focus, they can align to it.

263

::

I'm going to be at a couple of events in

London again in the next couple of weeks, in

264

::

the next couple of months that are geared

towards secondary schools, because we can help

265

::

them to actually implement these things to get

their young people onto the right tracks for

266

::

them.

267

::

And it means that the career guidance

268

::

counselors and the teachers can actually spend

their time having much more in depth

269

::

conversations with the students about the

careers in the report, as opposed to trying to

270

::

juggle a norm table and another interest

inventory that they get online and something

271

::

else in their studies.

272

::

Whereas all of our psychometrics pull

273

::

everything into one place and one report so

they can have a conversation about that, to

274

::

have a really strong starting point.

275

::

Speaker A: So basically, depending on the

country where someone is based, will depend on

276

::

how easily they can access such a tool or even

person to help.

277

::

Speaker B: Mean, from our research in the UK,

there are hundreds if not thousands of people

278

::

who are counselors who can help with careers.

279

::

They might not have the same experience and

280

::

tools, but they can use our tool.

281

::

In Ireland, there are lots of career guidance

282

::

counselors.

283

::

In America, there are lots of career guidance

284

::

counselors.

285

::

Sometimes, though, people can.

286

::

I think people feel that they don't want go to

career grounds counselor.

287

::

They feel that they can figure it out on their

own, and they might, but it could take them

288

::

ten years instead of spending a couple of

hundred quid with somebody who knows exactly

289

::

what they're doing to help you to get on the

right path, to actually move you in the

290

::

direction to have a fulfilling, rewarding

career and be a happier person.

291

::

Speaker A: So, like earlier, you were talking

about how parents, they kind of need to

292

::

understand how almost like the child, their

child, their teenager may not be ready to

293

::

make, to be able to kind of say, this is what

I want to do.

294

::

Yes, this is the idea that I have in terms of

the direction I want to go in.

295

::

So how can parents almost, I won't say, take

their foot off the gas, because it is

296

::

important to have those conversations with

your child and try and steer them and support

297

::

them, direct them, perhaps.

298

::

So how can parents, what advice would you give

299

::

them in terms of not putting that pressure on

the child, but actually being that effective

300

::

ally, that supportive, almost like playing

that supportive role when it comes to their

301

::

kids and pursuing the right career path,

because that's a challenge.

302

::

Speaker B: Absolutely.

303

::

Now, some of it is.

304

::

Also, parents might have a preconceived idea

of what a successful career is, so they might

305

::

have an idea that actually you're going to

have to be a lawyer, or you're going to have

306

::

to be a doctor, or you're going to have to be

an engineer, and nothing else matters.

307

::

And they don't understand the concept of you

can actually make money and you can make a

308

::

very good living doing 100,000 different

things in this world.

309

::

There are podcasters who are making a load of

money.

310

::

Who'd have thought, when we were kids, now I'm

older than you, but when Super Mario first

311

::

came out and everybody was playing the

Nintendo's and not the Ataris, the game boys

312

::

and all these games, and parents go, oh,

nobody's going to pay.

313

::

Going, you're not going to make a living doing

that.

314

::

And now we see all these esports and people

who are making hundreds of thousands of euros

315

::

and pounds and dollars twitch streaming, and

because people are feeding that enjoyment.

316

::

So these are kind of careers that parents

don't even really know about, because it's not

317

::

their job to know about those careers.

318

::

So I give a talk in schools called what's the

319

::

future work?

And I list out ten different careers that

320

::

didn't exist when these students started

primary school.

321

::

So that's, I mean, they haven't even finished

school yet, but the jobs that the school is

322

::

purporting to prepare them for didn't exist

when they started school.

323

::

So like app developer, drone operator, even

social media influencer, none of that existed

324

::

ten years ago.

325

::

So these are careers that exist that can be

326

::

very fulfilling and rewarding for students,

but the parents might not see it.

327

::

The parents might see all those influencers,

all those people, they're just shaking their

328

::

backsides on social media or whatever, they

don't get the cultural concept of it.

329

::

So there can be unconscious biases in that.

330

::

And parents only want the best for their kids.

331

::

They only want them to be successful and happy

and all the rest of it, and maybe produce

332

::

grandkids or whatever it is, but it's well

meaning.

333

::

It's the same as follow your passion, never

work in day life.

334

::

It's extraordinarily well meaning, but it's

just not useful.

335

::

So having that conversation, and with parents

as well, it can be their kids, especially at

336

::

1617, they're going through all this angst,

they're going through all this other

337

::

difficulty anyway, that if we actually

remember back to when we were 16 and 17, we

338

::

didn't want to talk to our parents about

anything either.

339

::

Speaker A: Definitely not.

340

::

Speaker B: So having the awareness that it's

not a detractor from your relationship with

341

::

your child to actually have a career guidance

counselor talk to them, and also maybe you

342

::

have a look at their report.

343

::

I remember we did a career guidance for a kid,

344

::

and referee was one of the careers that he got

because he had a massive interest in sport.

345

::

He did the ability and all the rest of it.

346

::

And one of the 16 careers on the report was

347

::

referee.

348

::

And his parents were extraordinarily insulted

349

::

that that was something and rang us and were

giving out yards, feet and inches to us.

350

::

And at one point in the conversation we

actually said, have you spoken to your son

351

::

about this?

No, I haven't.

352

::

I've just read the reports.

353

::

Well, I tell you what, look, sit down with

354

::

your son and go through it, and then we'll

have a call in the next day or two and we'll

355

::

see what we do.

356

::

And if you want him to come back in and we can

357

::

do a rejig and we can do everything else.

358

::

And to be fair, the father rang us back two

359

::

days later and said, actually, the son has

shown me what a living people can make, how

360

::

much he enjoys it, what he would like doing,

because he doesn't want to be a football star,

361

::

but he likes the process and he likes all

this.

362

::

And he rang us back, actually, this sounds

like an ideal career for my son and a good

363

::

career path for him to enjoy and make a decent

living out of.

364

::

So there's all kinds of things that are out

there, and sometimes parents, not that they

365

::

need to have, it's very difficult for them to

have the mentality of what is going to be

366

::

facing their children as they go out into the

world.

367

::

I had another conversation with a principal of

a school about his daughter who was in the

368

::

final year of school, and he was saying that

she wants to do a course that just allowed

369

::

whatever course and career she's picking, it's

to allow her to travel.

370

::

And I was saying, okay, that's great, but

actually you're limiting a huge number of

371

::

careers that you might enjoy that by the

nature of remote work and hybrid work.

372

::

Now you can travel with those as well.

373

::

So she was thinking about teacher and language

374

::

teacher and things that were very specifically

in that educational sphere that allowed her to

375

::

go from place to place.

376

::

But actually you can be a web developer, a

377

::

software person, you can be an engineer, you

can do all kinds of things with a laptop and a

378

::

good Internet connection.

379

::

The Bahamas is a great example of this.

380

::

They're the first country in the world to

issue nomad visas where digital workers and

381

::

remote workers could go to the Bahamas, not

have to register for local taxes and all the

382

::

rest of it.

383

::

They live based on their taxes in the country,

384

::

their residence in.

385

::

And all of this stuff is going to become just

386

::

more and more prevalent.

387

::

So a lot of the students that are in secondary

388

::

school now and 6th form now, by the time they

finish college, the world of work is going to

389

::

look drastically different from the world of

work that the parents knew, even post pre

390

::

Covid.

391

::

Speaker A: Like even just the other day I was

speaking to, I was having a conversation with

392

::

someone who was talking about how they want to

basically do feather studies.

393

::

They want to basically be a data analyst.

394

::

Speaker B: Huge area.

395

::

Speaker A: So then I was kind of thinking

about how wouldn't machines be doing that kind

396

::

of work and taking out the human element in

terms of the need to do that analysis in the

397

::

near future or not so distant future.

398

::

The world of work is changing so much because

399

::

of the technology advancements that we are now

seeing.

400

::

It's evident.

401

::

So how much of that should people be taking

402

::

into consideration when they're thinking about

going on a course, maybe moving into a

403

::

different career?

Especially when those roles, I'm not saying

404

::

they're traditional, but they are somewhat

traditional.

405

::

Speaker B: So when it comes to things like

data analytics and AI, first of all, I'm an AI

406

::

optimist.

407

::

I truly believe, like every other technology

408

::

that has come out that people railed against,

that says going to replace jobs, I think that

409

::

it will create more jobs than it removes.

410

::

I think it will replace certain jobs the same

411

::

way as the tractor when it first came out,

replaced a lot of jobs the first way that a

412

::

computer replaced some jobs and people had to

be trained and people learned new ways of

413

::

doing things.

414

::

So I fully expect that there will be a

415

::

plethora of new roles and new jobs that will

be somewhat niche and somewhat specialized,

416

::

but there'll be branches of existing trees,

there'll be branches of existing career

417

::

opportunities.

418

::

Great example is a friend of mine is a

419

::

sustainability specialist in a big company.

420

::

She's in her late fifty s. That role did not

421

::

exist, that job, that whole idea did not exist

when she entered the workforce.

422

::

But she got into recycling, she got into stuff

in the office and trying to get those

423

::

initiatives, and she tended to be in the ho or

l and D kind of area of the company, and

424

::

that's what she focused on.

425

::

And she was very happy doing it.

426

::

It filled an awful lot of the criteria for her

to be interested in it.

427

::

She had the ability to do it.

428

::

And then as these new careers started coming

429

::

on stream, like a sustainability specialist,

she was in the right place to position herself

430

::

to move into that career.

431

::

The kids.

432

::

The kids, I hate saying kids, but the 16 year

olds that are like sitting exams now in the

433

::

next couple of years and going to college,

studies have shown that they're going to have

434

::

six or seven or eight careers by the time they

eventually retire.

435

::

They're going to live much longer lives and

they're going to have many more options.

436

::

And this, to me is how that's going to happen.

437

::

So they're going to go in one direction and

438

::

then new careers are going to emerge.

439

::

But it's not like somebody's going to be an

440

::

accountant and then something over here is

going to pop up in sustainability, for

441

::

example, and they're going to have to make

this massive leap over.

442

::

It's going to be in similar veins where people

are able to branch off and specialize off to

443

::

find even more fine tuned areas of interest

that they can take part in.

444

::

Or they might go, okay, I've done as much as I

can now in marketing.

445

::

I think I'd like to have a go at teaching for

a bit, or I'd like to have a go at

446

::

engineering, or I studied engineering, but

I've done it for a bit.

447

::

But actually I want to do something a little

bit more outdoorsy.

448

::

I want to do something because we have

different facets of our personality that

449

::

different careers will speak to.

450

::

So there might be times when people, it will

451

::

seem like a huge jump, but it's actually two

areas of the same person's personality that

452

::

are of interest, and they're going to go along

the path this stage.

453

::

I wrote a book, an ebook last year called your

next career, which is aimed at actually

454

::

helping people who are in careers that they're

either burnt out from, that they don't love

455

::

anymore, or that they never loved, and how can

they move into their next career and what are

456

::

the things that they can do to make sure that

they're understanding what they're actually

457

::

bringing to the table and what experiences are

transferable and maybe what courses they might

458

::

need to do to bridge that kind of stuff

because life is too short.

459

::

Why would you spend the next 40 years doing

something that you really don't like doing?

460

::

Speaker A: So what about if someone is nearing

the end of their career because they're older

461

::

and they're not happy or satisfied.

462

::

They haven't really had that job satisfaction.

463

::

So I would say many people who aren't happy

per se in their roles, but are in a fairly

464

::

good job in the sense that it's bringing them

that security, that income, that regular

465

::

income.

466

::

What are your thoughts in terms of how that

467

::

compares to being in a fulfilling, rewarding

career and whether they should actually make

468

::

that move, especially?

I don't know.

469

::

Especially since there's that maybe this

stereotype that when it comes to the job

470

::

market, employers, they don't necessarily

favor older candidates.

471

::

Yeah.

472

::

So what's your thoughts on that?

473

::

Speaker B: So again, as we get older, as human

beings, we tend to be like, psychologically we

474

::

tend to be more risk averse because when we're

in our 20s, we're not risking much because

475

::

we're not making a lot of money.

476

::

We don't have a mortgage, we don't have kids,

477

::

we don't have all this other stuff.

478

::

As we get older and older, we perceive that we

479

::

have more to lose.

480

::

We feel that if I gave this up, I wouldn't

481

::

have this quality of life or I wouldn't have

this that or the other.

482

::

That's a decision that only an individual can

make.

483

::

Like, how comfortable are they with this idea?

And going to a career guidance counselor and

484

::

going to somebody who specializes in career

change later on, even just to have a

485

::

conversation can be really clarifying for

these people to actually get well, maybe there

486

::

aren't positions, but if I've worked my way

up, if I've worked my way to a certain level,

487

::

middle management or something like that, with

my experience and my age, maybe I can change

488

::

industries, maybe I can do something else.

489

::

Because management and leadership and EQ and

490

::

dealing with people and all that is necessary

on all levels.

491

::

And personally, I would always say if you're

financially able to do it and comfortable

492

::

taking that risk, to say, look, I want to try

something new, even at 55, 60, because 65 is

493

::

the old retirement age.

494

::

Because our life expectancy was 60, we're

495

::

living into our eighty s and ninety s now.

496

::

So 65 is not the end game anymore.

497

::

And by the time the students that are coming

through, they're not going to be able to get

498

::

pensions by 65.

499

::

They're going to be working till they're 75

500

::

anyway.

501

::

And medicine is keeping us healthier and

502

::

happier.

503

::

So having that quality of life and having that

504

::

challenge doesn't mean that you need to just

sit back and do nothing.

505

::

My parents are in their late seventy s and

they're still involved in our business.

506

::

They're still involved they don't work day to

day in it like nine to five, but they do stuff

507

::

all the time.

508

::

Because I believe that you don't retire

509

::

because you get old.

510

::

My belief is you get old because you retire.

511

::

If you don't have something that you're

passionate about, if you don't have something

512

::

that is a purpose for you to do, then you

start to sit and just wait for the inevitable.

513

::

So I'm a big proponent of people in their

third age actually getting out there and doing

514

::

stuff and still having a purpose to get up

every morning and having something to do that

515

::

keeps them going and keeps them active and

mentally young.

516

::

Speaker A: Yeah.

517

::

Speaker B: And that is not an excuse for

parents to just pike off their young kids on

518

::

their grandparents to look after them.

519

::

It's about having what the grandparents want

520

::

as well.

521

::

Speaker A: So earlier you mentioned about

being interested and enjoying a role rather

522

::

than being passionate about a role.

523

::

So how can someone basically differentiate

524

::

between, this is something I really enjoy and

love doing and it being something that is a

525

::

hobby or could actually translate into a

career?

526

::

Yeah.

527

::

Speaker B: So again, it depends.

528

::

It's a very consultant, the answer, but it

529

::

depends on the person, it depends on the

situation.

530

::

So, I mean, there are people who have turned

their passions into careers and they're able

531

::

to find the little switch to be able to push

that in.

532

::

But I've also met equally a number of people

who have, especially since entrepreneurship

533

::

became this sexy term in the last 1015 years,

that everybody wants to be a startup and to do

534

::

something and to have a side hustle or

whatever, and they end up resenting having to

535

::

do what they enjoyed doing before to pay the

bills.

536

::

So for me, it's your passion and the things

that you're passionate about that allow you to

537

::

vent, that allow you to let off steam, that

allow you to exercise that creative part of

538

::

your brain if you want, but you don't

necessarily need that all day, every day.

539

::

It's just a way for you to maybe do bits and

pieces.

540

::

You might have a small etsy store that you

decide, I'm making a bit of money, but I'm

541

::

just doing that on the side.

542

::

I would think long and hard about turning that

543

::

into a business because what I would encourage

people to do is actually look at the functions

544

::

within that hobby or within that passion that

you enjoy doing on a day to day basis.

545

::

So if it's the process that you like the idea,

let's say it's candle making, and you like the

546

::

idea of being able to cut and measure and mix

and do things, and then you work the process

547

::

and the process and the process and process.

548

::

That process is for you to let off steam.

549

::

But actually in your work, you might be a very

process driven leader and you might be in

550

::

something which requires a lot of structure as

opposed to in marketing.

551

::

And you're coming up with ideas all the time.

552

::

You might have an interest in marketing, you

553

::

might have an interest in process.

554

::

So you might actually be the executive person

555

::

who's looking after the posts and the

structure and how the blog gets done and how

556

::

the photos are done, and making sure that

things are on time, that the video assets are

557

::

coming in and making sure that all that is

happening.

558

::

And then you have the process of the candles,

which you're also interested in and giving

559

::

away as presence to be an outlet, but it's

still fulfilling the process side of it.

560

::

So the passion and the interest is not the

candles.

561

::

It's actually the process of making those

candles.

562

::

With sport, if your passion is sport, it could

actually be what you like is the camaraderie.

563

::

What you like is the working in a team as

opposed to working on your own.

564

::

That's the bit that we can take and look at.

565

::

Okay, in a workplace, this is the kind of

566

::

culture that you need.

567

::

You need a more camaraderie.

568

::

You need people to be working in a team as

opposed to be isolated.

569

::

There are other times, other hobies, which

might be gardening, which actually what you

570

::

like is the solitude.

571

::

What you like is actually being away and

572

::

seeing things grow over time.

573

::

So maybe that's the type of career, that's the

574

::

type of thing that you should be looking at.

575

::

In a career where you're maybe working on your

576

::

own, you're more resilient to making sure that

things are happening and that you're working

577

::

to see something grow and see a project go

from start to finish.

578

::

Speaker A: Because obviously people tend to

have more than one skill set, more than one

579

::

gift.

580

::

How would someone know what to focus on for

581

::

that to then lead to a pathway that they

follow?

582

::

If I'm not going to say they've got competing

gifts, but they've got multiple gifts, and

583

::

let's just say they enjoy doing many of them,

how would you even get to that point?

584

::

Or how would you guide or what would you

suggest when it comes to being in that kind of

585

::

situation?

586

::

Speaker B: So from a purely academic point of

view, so we're just thinking about this

587

::

without real tangibles.

588

::

If you have all things being equal and you

589

::

say, I would love to do this, or I would love

to do this, or I would love to do this, and

590

::

you have three things that you say, I would

love to do all three of those.

591

::

Then, in theory, it doesn't matter which one

you pick, because you'll never actually know

592

::

if the other two would have been the right

decision.

593

::

And people sometimes squirm under this, go,

well, what if I make the wrong decision?

594

::

And what if I make.

595

::

The great thing about this is you'll never

596

::

know.

597

::

If you spend five years getting really good at

598

::

the one in the middle, you'll never know.

599

::

It might be not as big a trajectory as if

600

::

you'd picked the one on the left and you might

have been more successful on the one on the

601

::

right.

602

::

You might have gone to work and met the love

603

::

of your life or something else.

604

::

You'll never know.

605

::

But also, just because you've spent 510 years

doing something and doing it to the best of

606

::

your ability, you're ten years down that path.

607

::

You have a lot more information about you,

608

::

about the marketplace, about what's involved

in these things.

609

::

Then you can look at the one on the left and

one on the right.

610

::

Do I want to pivot?

Do I want to change?

611

::

Do I want to move?

There's plenty of time to do all of this.

612

::

And when you're doing that, you're bringing

your experience and your knowledge of that

613

::

industry fresh eyes into a new industry or a

new business or a new way of doing things,

614

::

which gives you extra experience, which you

wouldn't have necessarily had if you'd just

615

::

gone straight down to the one on the left

anyway.

616

::

So picking one and going with it, no matter

which route in a forest you pick, you will

617

::

eventually find the way out, but you'll never

know if you started off on the right one until

618

::

you actually start off on it.

619

::

And then you can change directions if you need

620

::

to.

621

::

Speaker A: True. Something that popped into my

head when we were talking about how, like, for

622

::

example, you mentioned those, let's just say

in school you give these talks where there's,

623

::

like, about ten jobs or roles that didn't

exist when they were in primary school.

624

::

So I guess, how does it work in terms of

updating your tool, the one that you use so

625

::

that it's actually up to date?

And maybe it knocks off the ones that aren't

626

::

necessarily careers anymore, career choices

anymore as well.

627

::

It adds new ones that many people don't

realize exist.

628

::

Speaker B: So that's something that we do on a

constant basis.

629

::

So right now we do it every six months to see

which careers are out there, which are the

630

::

emerging careers of which are the likely

careers that are going to start coalescing and

631

::

we add them into our system and then we go

through everything.

632

::

We haven't done a call yet because we've

really only been around for two or three

633

::

years.

634

::

So it'll take this version of our system has

635

::

only been around for two or three years, and

there isn't anything yet that is dying

636

::

straight away.

637

::

But there is a possibility that in the next

638

::

couple of years, things like truck drivers, if

automation, if self driving cars and trucks

639

::

come out.

640

::

And actually the truck driver in America is

641

::

the biggest employer, the biggest industry

employer in the country.

642

::

So that's a big, big problem to try and get

all of the truck driver, the existing truck

643

::

drivers, to retrain and to find other things.

644

::

But that's, again, what we can do with our

645

::

system.

646

::

We can find the elements in those individual

647

::

drivers that they actually enjoy doing and

their skill set and then help them to retrain.

648

::

So we constantly will be updating and we've

built our system to be updatable on a weekly

649

::

basis if we want, but the world doesn't move

quite that quickly, but we do update it on a

650

::

regular basis.

651

::

Speaker A: I guess.

652

::

Reassuring thing that.

653

::

One of the things you've said that's

reassuring is that even if someone's worried

654

::

about their role not existing in a few years,

there are other pathways.

655

::

Correct, that can still satisfy them.

656

::

All hope is not lost.

657

::

Speaker B: Basically, if all hope was lost, I

wouldn't be on a mission to make the world a

658

::

better place with happy people in fulfilled,

rewarding careers.

659

::

Speaker A: Absolutely. All right.

660

::

So for someone who's actually at a career

661

::

crossroads and they're unsure what path to

take, they're distressed about it, frustrated,

662

::

anxious, whatever we want to call it.

663

::

What piece of advice would you give to guide

664

::

that decision?

665

::

Speaker B: Is this somebody who's been in

careers for a while, or is this somebody

666

::

coming fresh into their career?

667

::

Speaker A: I would say they've been in a

career not necessarily for a while.

668

::

So, yeah, just someone who's got a.

669

::

Speaker B: Couple of years out of college or

whatever.

670

::

Speaker A: A couple of years, yeah.

671

::

A recent ish graduate, whether it be college,

672

::

whether it be university.

673

::

Yeah.

674

::

Speaker B: So a recent graduate.

675

::

If they're looking at their career now and

676

::

going, this isn't really what I wanted, it

probably is a case of they might have been

677

::

given the well meaning advice to study

something, study a subject that they enjoyed,

678

::

and when they've gone into the work, they've

kind of gone, this isn't what I thought it

679

::

would be, or this isn't as fun as I thought it

would be.

680

::

So have a look.

681

::

You can start by saying, well, these are the

682

::

things I don't like, but what are the things

that you do like about the career?

683

::

Is it people?

Is it ideas, is it process, is it structure,

684

::

is it travel?

Whatever it is about your career, what is it

685

::

that you enjoy?

And then try and find other things that you

686

::

feel are missing from the career, what are the

things that you would like to see?

687

::

And then start doing some research about what

kinds of careers have these elements.

688

::

Now, obviously you can go to careerfit.com and

get a report, but if you want to do it

689

::

yourself, this is how you should start going

about it, because you need to have a look at

690

::

what are the interests that you are looking

for, what are the things that you're looking

691

::

for in the career?

And if you're at a crossroads and you want to

692

::

get some free information, I wrote the book

last year, your next career, and it's

693

::

yournextcareer.com.

694

::

It's a free download.

695

::

You don't have to do anything and it's got

everything there to help you step by step.

696

::

But it also helps you with some interview

skills, techniques and rewriting cvs and

697

::

things like that.

698

::

But figuring out what you want to do.

699

::

80% of people can do 80% of the jobs.

700

::

From an ability point of view, there are some

701

::

jobs that are so technical or some jobs that

are so manual that they require certain mixes

702

::

of people in terms of their abilities.

703

::

Like footballers, for example, highly

704

::

technical brain surgeons, highly technical.

705

::

But 80% of people can do 80% of the jobs.

706

::

It all comes down to interest and then your

ability.

707

::

So you could be interested in all kinds of

things and then figuring out which is the one

708

::

which is going to switch you on the most.

709

::

That's the path to start looking at.

710

::

Speaker A: Thanks for sharing all these

nuggets.

711

::

I mean, even I found it helpful and I'm not

looking for direction at this point.

712

::

Thank you so much, Stephen, for sharing and

for anyone listening, do check out, certainly

713

::

the book, the website that Stephen's

mentioned.

714

::

Thank you, Steve.

715

::

Speaker B: No, really, for me, it comes down

to happy people in fulfilling, rewarding

716

::

careers.

717

::

That's the whole mission of every facet of our

718

::

business.

719

::

And life is too short.

720

::

If you're not happy in your career, you

deserve to be happy in your career.

721

::

Speaker A: Brilliant.

722

::

Thank you for joining me on Mary mayor talks.

723

::

Here's a spiritual wellness tip for you.

724

::

It's psalm, chapter 37, verses 23 to 24.

725

::

And it reads, the Lord directs the steps of

the godly.

726

::

He delights in every detail of their lives.

727

::

Though they stumble, they will never fall, for

728

::

the Lord holds them by the hand.

729

::

Thanks for listening.

730

::

Do follow and join me again next time on

beyond the smile with MaryLayo.

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube