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Ruth Sternberg | Confident Career Search

Ruth Sternberg, Confident Career Search

Specializing in interview-attracting resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Talk to a career search professional at 614-746-4587!

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Feeling Wobbly About your Career?

Filed Under: Uncategorized

I recently talked to a client about the work she’s doing.

She is in HR, and she found a dream job where she is using her creative mind to improve employee engagement and build community.

It is a joy to listen to her talk about the ideas she is implementing and the wonderful relationship she is building with her boss.

She told me that she is a little apprehensive as she moves forward in her career, because so much of it is new to her. She had been doing human resources work, but without the label, before she found this opportunity. She sometimes feels like an imposter.

She also feels somewhat out of control at times. She lives with a certain amount of the Unknown, since, as many of us learn, building a family comes with a lot of variables. (Oh – I should mention that she is about to have her first child. And she and her husband also just moved to a different city. She is now working remotely.)

So, this has led me to think about uncertainty.

If COVID taught us anything, it is that we know only what we know at any given moment, but we need to believe something, or we feel completely rootless and directionless.

The reactions to the isolation and lack of control that have permeated the planet have been catastrophic.

But it’s not all bad news.

Uncertainty can also be a good thing. Not knowing is a driver of discovery.

I ran across a podcast by the humanities college at EFPL, a Swiss technical university, in which scientists discuss the role of doubt and uncertainty in their work.

The short version is that skepticism “provides a crucial stimulus” for research. The scientific process is rooted in doubt. Scientists suspect something is true, but they have doubts about it, so they test their hypotheses, get results, but don’t quite 100% trust them, and they do more research and test it again.

Even if the answers finally seem conclusive, there is always some percentage of doubt. Tomorrow, someone could come along and revise the findings. And that’s okay. That’s how discoveries happen! Without this permission to explore, nothing would get solved.

And the same is true about our own life paths. Nothing in our lives stays the same. We are always changing. To cope with that, we have to give ourselves permission to explore, or remain trapped.

This isn’t easy, especially when it comes to our careers. So often, my clients express their fear about taking a step beyond what they already know; what the degrees on their diplomas say; what they have been doing for a while; what they are known for doing.  

And yet, they know they have to do something, because internally, they just don’t feel exactly right. Even many people who have quit during the Great Resignation still are feeling uncomfortable with that decision to step into the Void.

But wobbliness is actually a good thing. I view it as the gateway to discovery. It’s a sign that you are open to possibility and that you are ready to challenge yourself. Being uncomfortable means that you are not complacent, and you are ready for a change.

Here are some things you can do if uncertainty has you in its grip:

Give yourself permission to explore. Start with a simple list. What do you imagine yourself doing? Forget the salary. Forget the training required. For now, just write down what you see yourself doing; what you hear yourself telling your friends that you’re doing. Allow yourself to see it and make it real in your mind.

Take the leap and check it out. Read about the areas where you envision yourself working. Talk to people who are doing that work right now. Tell your close friends and professional mentors what you are considering.

Find out how you can make it happen. Compare your skills and achievements thus far with what’s expected in this new role, and see where you might already match up. Got gaps? What’s needed to fill these? It might be doable!

I’ve done all of these things myself, and as you keep reading this column, you will find out a bit about what I did, how, and what happened, and what’s next! (I’m still exploring.)

But in the meantime…

Here are some things my client is doing to prepare herself for any professional moves she has to make:

1. Networking with people in her industry. She joined an industry organization, made new friends, and keeps in touch.

2.  Mentoring. She has been shadowing her boss to learn new skills.

3.  Staying curious and learning. She is taking courses in her field and starting a certification program.

But more than all of this, she is staying open to possibilities and recognizing that she might have to shift her decisions, and it’s okay.

She is optimistic that all this will lead her somewhere great. I am, too!

I’m confident you can easily pivot and find your Next Great Thing, too! Just let go and let yourself embrace uncertainty. You probably will be surprised at what you discover.

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Ruth is a gifted master of words. I hired Ruth because I needed someone who could clean up and reorganize my resume and LinkedIn profile. Ruth took in my career… Read more “Maria Blauvelt”

Maria Blauvelt

I was really struggling during COVID after getting laid off. I just could not seem to break through and get noticed.  I had used Ruth’s services before and gotten a… Read more “Sam Lewis”

Sam Lewis

I am truly honored to have the privilege of working with Ruth. She took the time to reach me on my level, and assist me in honing my interviewing skills… Read more “Randall Johnson”

Randall Johnson

Ruth is passionate about her clients. She truly cares and loves to see us find our next “Big Step” on our career journey. She is engaging in conversation and she listens. She… Read more “Karen Diehl”

Karen Diehl

Ruth worked to help me understand my strengths, weaknesses, likes and dislikes. She not only built a great resume and LinkedIn profile for me, but also coached me to believe… Read more “Matthew Knouff”

Matthew Knouff

Ruth is a tremendous resource for help in overhauling a resume and building a LinkedIn profile. She is very knowledgeable about what it takes to get noticed by recruiters. Ruth… Read more “Dan Carson”

Dan Carson

I highly recommend Ruth as a career coach. She provides clients with concrete tools and advice to create a plan of action. Ruth truly understands the job search process, from… Read more “Francesca Fuerman”

Francesca Fuerman

Ruth became passionate about my professional experience immediately. She knew I was struggling to effectively portray my depth of experience in writing for effective recruitment by employers. Once I had… Read more “Anthony Bahr”

Anthony Bahr

I felt so confident in myself after working with Ruth, after I was able to take a step back and look at my résumé and see just how accomplished a person I… Read more “Logan Weissler”

Logan Weissler

When you said to me, ‘Okay, we got this. We are going to figure this all out and get you into these companies,’ I felt my whole body relax and… Read more “Cathy C.”

Cathy C.

Ruth took the time to get to know me and understand my strengths and abilities. She overhauled my résumé, which was essentially a list of job tasks, and created an attractive, compelling… Read more “Jillian O.”

Jillian O.

Ruth is an amazing, thorough, and professional résumé writer with an eye for bringing out your hidden story and value. Over the course of a month we were able to transform my résumé from zero… Read more “Craig M. Chavis, Jr.”

Craig M. Chavis, Jr.

Ruth has a gift for listening to her client’s needs with real empathy, and for translating their background into words that accurately reflect relevant talents. Moreover, Ruth is the kind… Read more “Cory Joyrich”

Cory Joyrich

Working with Ruth was an excellent experience. Coming out of the military, I spent several years working with resumes that never seemed to achieve the goal of interviews. After realizing… Read more “Calvin Jones”

Calvin Jones

Ruth fit a wealth of resume advice and career guidance into a one-hour video-call! She led me through my resume and showed me exactly how to reformat its content for… Read more “Veronica Dye Johnson”

Veronica Dye Johnson

I worked with Ruth to gain a different perspective on my resume and LinkedIn profile. Her process is in-depth, starting with a questionnaire that pushes you to really consider the… Read more “Mike O’Brien”

Mike O'Brien

In preparing for my nursing career, Ruth was super effective in organizing the details of my education and work experience. So effective that she helped me secure a position in… Read more “Alexandra Reynolds”

Alexandra Reynolds

My experience with Ruth was amazing, I would highly recommend her to anyone for that personal and professional touch. Ruth is great at listening and helping you find out what… Read more “Marcia Johnson”

Marcia Johnson

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