Christian Jobs, Church Employment - Advice, Tips, Help

Get guidance on Bible study from C.S. Lewis - Free Course!

10 Ways to Reinvent Your Career

10 Ways to Reinvent Your Career

Are you one of the 71% of Americans who are not engaged in their work? Do you long to find work that is meaningful, purposeful and "on track" with how God has designed you? Below you will find some important steps for reinventing your career.  

1. Sharpen your personal direction. Eighty percent of your success in reinventing your career will happen by being clear about your career goals. So how do you become clear about where you should be heading? The place to begin is by having a thorough understanding of your God-given design which includes your transferable skills, personal skills and content skills. It also includes your interests, abilities, values, preferred roles, motivations, personality traits and spiritual gifts. You can learn about your design through evaluating life experiences, feedback from others, and professional career testing and assessment.

2. Describe the environments in which you would do your best work. Everyone feels more comfortable and "at home" in specific types of working environments. For example, one person may find working outdoors most appealing; another in a classroom; and, a third, working in a busy professional office. Identifying your best working environment(s) will enable you to find a work setting in which you can perform best and be most motivated.  

3. Be flexible in identifying job options which will use your unique design. Most people see themselves as a job title (e.g., "I'm a nurse.") instead of a unique combination of skills and abilities. Once you have identified the component pieces of your design, you will be able to see how they can be utilized within different types of careers. Resources like the O*NET online can help you to learn about various careers. Having flexibility and versatility in the job market—knowing which different career options best fit your design and being able to market your skills and abilities for each of them—will be keys to success in the job market in the 21st century.

4. Set appropriate goals and exercise good stewardship of your gifts. Your work in identifying your God-given design and knowing about appropriate options in the job market will help you to effectively determine the steps needed to reach your goals.  

5. Increase the chances of finding what you really want. Most people never find what they want in life because they've never taken the time to determine what it is they are looking for. Taking time to identify your gifts and the working environments that fit you well will guide you in the process of identifying what will bring you joy, satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment in your life.

6. Target higher level positions than you may have previously considered. Most people make a false assumption that if they change jobs, and particularly if they change careers, they must start "at the bottom." While you may need to learn new skills to make a career transition, there are many situations where you can use transferable skills and knowledge to show an employer that you are qualified for the level you have targeted.

7. Prepare more effectively for interviews. It is generally easy for employers to find workers who will show up for a paycheck. If is much more difficult for employers to find workers who know what kind of work they should be doing and can articulate how their skills can meet the employer’s needs. The work that you do in understanding your God-given design and world of work become the “homework" needed for your eventual job search. Developing a thorough understanding of yourself and the job market are two keys to presenting yourself effectively in an interview.

8. Listen to God instead of the naysayers. The media and others around you may tell you this is not a great time to reinvent your career. Listening to all the bad news may cause you to feel that you are just stuck in a job that pays the bills but brings little meaning to your life.

9. Don't try to do it on your own. To balance the challenges of changing your career you must have the proper amount of support. Support can come from family and friends. It can also come from working with a career counselor who has the experience to help you take difficult steps in the process of reinventing your career.

10. Create a life with more meaning, purpose and satisfaction. The heart of reinventing your career is creating a life for yourself that is rewarding and fulfilling. By investing time and energy to identify career goals and work to achieve them, you will be taking important steps toward further becoming the person God created you to be and doing the things he designed you to do.

© Article copyright by Kevin and Kay Marie Brennfleck, www.ChristianCareerCenter.com. All rights reserved. The above information is intended for personal use only. No commercial use of this information is authorized without written permission.

Kevin Brennfleck and Kay Marie Brennfleck, National Certified Career Counselors, are the authors of Live Your Calling: A Practical Guide to Finding and Fulfilling Your Mission in Life. Their websites, www.ChristianCareerCenter.com, www.ChurchJobsOnline.com, and www.ChristianJobFair.com, feature hundreds of job listings from churches, ministries, and Christian employers; a resume bank; and many other career/job search resources and articles. They also offer career coaching and testing to help you discover work that fits your God-given design, as well as assistance with writing a powerful resume, interviewing effectively, finding job openings, and other aspects of a successful job search. You can schedule a career services consultation today!  

Publication date: April 29, 2014