10 January 2010

Week 1 of Life Coaching

Week One went well. I've decided to start from the big picture and work my way down as a job search strategy. I'll start with a city, see if I like what I read about as far as lifestyle, and then research industries and sectors. I'll troll the local newspapers, job boards, and specific companies.

I came to understand my underlying hopes and fears about this job mission. I felt overwhelmed by the amount of choices I have and disappointed that I most likely will not be able to overseas in my chosen field immediately. Thus, having to stay in the U.S., I have to decide where might best suit my lifestyle and a place that I will enjoy living in (not an easy task). I need a "holistic" approach--thinking of my whole life, my whole mind. I do not want to compromise on just getting a job just to get one. I want something that I'll be happy with.

I read over 800 job postings last week just to get my feet wet and compiled a list of employers in Boston that are in capital markets or management consulting. I focused on Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) just to start somewhere. I found one post of particular interest.

As I applied on-line, I realized a flaw in my plan. I had yet to receive any letters of recommendation nor did I have any references. That's not to say that I have not actually asked people, I just have not followed up for some reason. Sometimes, I just think about other things and did not think about that I had nothing tangible to give potential employers. I was able to obtain one letter by the end of the week, but my goal is to have two for the application. It's only a minor setback.

Using the momentum of week 1, I feel that week 2 will also go well. After completing my goals for week 1, I feel better, more upbeat, and more confident that this process will go better than expected. I think that my most hated task is looking for a job. With my life coach's help, I think that I will actually enjoy the process.

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