Gaining Career Clarity: How to Define What You Really Want Next

In this week’s episode of the Work It Like a Mum podcast, we’re sharing the first session from our Momentum Career Summer Series, designed to help women build clarity, confidence, and keep their careers moving forward. Elizabeth is joined by Kim Holland, a career pivot coach with 12 years’ experience, to explore how to get unstuck, understand what you really want from your career and start figuring out what comes next. 

What we cover:

•  Why jumping straight onto job boards could be keeping you stuck. 
•  The biggest barriers to career change – fear, confidence, finances and flexibility. 
•  How to uncover your professional DNA and what really matters to you. 
•  Why a career change does not mean starting again. 
•  Practical exercises to help you get clear on what you want next. 
•  How to focus on what you’re moving towards, not just what you want to leave behind. 

Key takeaways:

• Clarity comes before applications – know what you’re looking for first. 
•  You have more transferable skills and experience than you might realise. 
•  Your next move doesn’t need to solve your entire career. 
•  Think about the work that will fulfil you, then explore how flexibility can fit around it. 
•  A good next step simply moves you further from what you don’t want and closer to what you do want. 

Why listen:

If you know something needs to change but have no idea what you want next, this episode will help you cut through the noise, recognise the value you already bring and start moving forward with greater clarity and confidence.

Show Links:

Connect with  Elizabeth Willetts on LinkedIn here

Connect with Kim on LinkedIn here

Visit Kim’s website here 

Boost your career with Investing in Women's Career Coaching! Get expert CV, interview, and LinkedIn guidance tailored for all career stages. Navigate transitions, discover strengths, and reach goals with our personalised approach. Book now for your dream job! Use 'workitlikeamum' for a 10% discount.

Transcript

Welcome And Sponsor Message

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey, I'm Elizabeth Willis, and I'm obsessed with helping as many women as possible achieve their boldest dreams after kids and helping you to navigate this messy and magical season of life. I'm a working mum with over 17 years of equipment experience, and I'm the founder of the Investing in Women Job Board and Community. In this show, I'm honored to be chatting with remarkable women, redefining our working world across all areas of business. They'll share their secrets on how they've achieved extraordinary success after children, set boundaries of balance, the challenges they faced, and how they've overcome them. Find their own version of success. Shy away from the real talk. Money, struggles, growth, loss, boundaries and balance. We cover it all. Think of this as coffee with your mates, mixed with an inspiring tech talk, sprinkled with the career advice you wish you'd really had at school. So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, make sure you're cozy, and get ready to get inspired and chase your oldest dreams. Or just survive Mondays. This is the Work It Like a Mum podcast. This episode is brought to you by Investing in Women. Investing in Women is a job board and recruitment agency helping you find your dream part-time or flexible job with the UK's most family-friendly and forward-thinking employers. Their site can help you find a professional and rewarding job that works for you. They're proud to partner with the UK's most family-friendly employers across a range of professional industries. Ready to find your perfect job? Search their website at investinginwomen.co.uk to find your next part-time or flexible job opportunity. Now back to the show.

Momentum Series And Meet Kim

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Hello, welcome to the first session of our Momentum Career Summer Series. Thank you so much to everyone that is joining today as we are looking on. For this session, we have got the brilliant um Kim Holland, and we are going to be talking all about how you can gain career clarity and define what you really want to do next in your career. But our Moment Summer Series is a six weeks program that's hopefully going to give you the clarity and the confidence to keep your career moving this summer. So today we are joined by the brilliant Kim Holland. As people are logging on, do let us know if you can hear us all okay. Let us know as well where you're watching and if you've got any questions as we're going through, it's always so much better when these sessions are interactive. Um yeah, thanks so much, Kim, for joining us today. I know you've got some slides. Um, before I add them, do you want to give people a little bit of an intro as to who you are and what you do?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yes, of course. Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining us. Um, for those that don't know me, I'm Kim Holland. I am a career pivot coach. Um, I've been doing that for about 12 years now, previously working with professional athletes, helping them transition out of professional sport and finding a brand new career. Um, and I now specialise in helping parents predominantly but not exclusively, to who are feeling a bit lost or stuck in their careers. And I help them to discover a new career path that lights them up and just makes time away from their family feel worthwhile.

SPEAKER_01 3:40

Absolutely. Brilliant. So I'm going to add your slides now. Um, but if anyone's got any questions as we're going, we can see we've got some people from London. Sorry, I know me, we're sorry, aren't we, Kim? Yeah. Um, yeah. And let us know in the comments what you're hoping to get from this session as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Yes, that'd be great. And Liz, if you let me know, because I might not notice if questions come in whilst we're speaking, if you just flag if there's any that you think need answering at the time, that's fine.

What Career Clarity Looks Like

SPEAKER_00 4:09

All right, so gaining clarity. So whether you are a parent or not, if you are sitting there thinking things like, is this really it? What is next for me? And how do I even begin thinking about how to get there, then you are in the right place. So in today's masterclass, we are going to be looking at what is pushing you to want to make a change, and on top of that, what is stopping you? So if you know that something needs to change in your career, what is it that's getting in the way between what you want to do and actually getting there? Then I'm going to talk you through the number one mistake that I see people make when they want to make a change. And I would imagine many of you have probably done this, are currently doing this, or have done this previously. So I'll be interested to know how many of you resonate with that mistake. Um, I'll then talk you through what to do instead, and I will talk a lot about your professional DNA, which is what underpins absolutely every career decision you make, but most people aren't clear on it. And that's why when people are scrolling job sports, they don't know what they're looking for. Then I will talk about my career roundabout exercise. So I will just share with you a couple of tools that you can use at home and you can do these yourself to get clarity on exactly where you want to head next. And then I will share my career clarity speed strategy, which is a one-pager that gets you really clear on everything that is most important to you in this next step.

What Pushes Us To Change

SPEAKER_00 6:12

So, what's pushing you? Now, this could be a whole host of things, and it's different for everybody. But there's often some personal things that might be pushing you. So things like, and for many of the people I work with, becoming a parent can change our perspective on what we want from our careers. It may be a change in financial circumstances. So, for the better or the worse, you know, that could change what you want and need out of your career. Maybe it's illness, either yourself or someone in the family that you're caring for. Um, and another one that comes up quite often, actually, that I haven't listed here is hormonal changes. So perimenopause, menopause, that often is a trigger point for people wanting to make a change in their career. Or it could be professional reasons. So things like being made redundant, perhaps you have missed out on a promotion opportunity that you really wanted, and that's left you feeling deflated. And actually, you think, well, if I didn't get that opportunity, I think I want to move in a different direction. Or it could be something like a change in personnel at work that just isn't working for you and has prompted you to want to make a bit of a shift. So just have a think about what that might be for you. What it for some of you it may be obvious. For others, just sit and reflect what is it that is driving this feeling of wanting to change something about your career.

The Four Biggest Career Barriers

SPEAKER_00 7:59

And once you've had a think about that, think about what is stopping you from doing it. And you may not know what's stopping you. So I'm going to just talk you through four of the most common barriers I see that people come up against when they are wanting to make a change. So the first one is fear. Now you'll know that fear can stop us taking action in lots of different areas of our lives. But when it comes to your career specifically, it's often fear of the unknown. You know, our brains are programmed to keep us safe, not to make us happy. So if we are unclear of the outcome of what we're going to do and this change that we're going to make, our brains will tell us that might not be safe. And it brings us back to what's familiar because familiarity feels safe. So fear of the unknown can be a big one. Also, fear of failure, which most people do experience. You know, we all experience that fear of failing at something that we really want to do, but what happens if it doesn't work out? Um, or it could be the fear of starting again. And I um I'll talk you through this when I get to one of the exercises later. But trust me, none of you are starting again. And I'll show you exactly how you can unpick that for yourself and work out why you're not starting again and what it is that you can take with you into this next step. The second thing that stops a lot of people is not actually knowing how to do it. How do I make a change in my career? How do I work out what else it is I want to do? How do I work out what's going to suit me better than what I'm currently doing? So that's a hurdle for a lot of people. The third one is permission. Now it sounds silly, but often we don't give ourselves permission to do the thing we want to do. And if you think about it this way, if you had a friend or a family member who was saying to you, look, I'm feeling a bit deflated, a bit misaligned, a bit, whatever it is, I'm not feeling comfortable in my career, I'm not enjoying this about it, I don't know what to do about it. It's unlikely that you would say, just ignore that and just carry on. What you would probably say is you would give them the permission to at least explore what else might be out there and what might suit them. But we often don't do that for ourselves because we think, oh, it's selfish, um, I shouldn't put all that time into myself, what I'm doing maybe isn't that bad. And we talk ourselves out of it. So just simply ask yourself, are you giving yourself permission to explore other things? And the fourth one, which I would say I see in 99% of my clients when we first start working together, and that is a lack of confidence. And it's understandable because if you look back to those factors, the what's push pushing you factors, probably most of those do have the knock-on effect that they will dent your confidence a little bit in some way. Um, so yes, have a think about it, and maybe let's share in the chat box now which of those do you think are most prominent for you? Which of those are stopping you from making the change that you want to make in your career? Just wait a second and see what people say. Or if there's something else, share something else. If there's if you think actually I haven't put in there the thing that's stopping you from taking action, yeah, feel free to share that as well.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

So we've got confidence, financial security.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Yes, yep, that's a big one, financial security as well, especially when people are thinking, well, if I change what I'm doing, I'm gonna have to go back to the beginning and start again. As I said, nobody's ever starting again, but it is a big consideration, you know. Can your finances handle a change? Um, yeah, I can't obviously answer that right now for everybody, but it is it is definitely something to consider.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Yeah, we've got confidence age, age and finances.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Yes, I mean, age age is one that comes up, but I really would say age is not something that should hold you back. It is never ever too late to make a change. Yeah. Because when we're talking about making a change, and obviously, when I use the word pivot to your career, that sounds like a drastic change, but it doesn't need to be. There might be smaller changes that you can make. Um, and age shouldn't come into it. Honestly, I have seen people make changes in their careers at all ages. Yeah, I've got fear of rejection as well. Fear of rejection, yes. Fear that the new job won't have the flexibility that I need. Yes, now flexibility is a big one because, as you know, Liz, it's something lots of people strive for and lots of people want. And what I see when people come to me is it's often one of the very first things that they mention, especially the parents out there because they need school hours or whatever it is. Um, and the thing that I always say to them is right, we're gonna put flexibility to one side initially, because flexibility is a way of working. What you need to get clear on first is the nature of the work you want to do. So get clear on what it is you want to do, and then you can start exploring what are the different ways I can access this sort of role. Yeah. And then you look for, you know, ways in which you can get the flexibility in that role, but understanding what the nature of it is and what is going to fulfill you first is the key. Um I've just got one from Lucy here. I feel underqualified for every job I see. I do everything in my current role, but have never specialized in anything, not entirely sure what I even do. I think there's a lot of people that have jobs like that. I totally get that. Yeah, and I think a lot of people do. When we get to the um career, the roundabout exercise that I'm going to show you, that should make it a bit clearer as to how you can use everything that you've done previously and channel it in the right direction next. Okay, let's move on then to the biggest mistake I see people make when they want to

Why Job Boards Come Too Soon

SPEAKER_00 16:06

change their career. And that is jumping straight into scrolling jobs boards and even applying for jobs. Now that might sound a bit counterintuitive because you're thinking, well, if I don't look on jobs boards and apply for jobs, how am I ever going to make a change? Yes, you may well use jobs boards eventually, but that as the first step is very dangerous. Because at that point at which you are jumping onto those jobs boards, you are often completely clear on what you're motivated away from. Usually it's lots of the things that are in your current role that you're not liking. But what you aren't clear on is what you're motivated towards. So when you're scrolling through, you don't actually know what you're looking for. And even if a job that was perfect for you smacked you straight in the face, you might not even realize that that's the perfect job for you because you aren't yet clear on what it is you really need from this next step. Um, and I think, Liz, you'll probably agree when you're looking at applications, it can it's really clear if somebody's just firing stuff off and they're not they're not um clear themselves on why that's the right role for them and why they want the role. Um so what can we do instead? The very first step in any career change, however big or small,

Build Your Professional DNA

SPEAKER_00 17:43

is to understand your professional DNA. Now that's a term that I have coined, so you probably won't have seen that anywhere else. But essentially, what I'm talking about here is understanding exactly who you are, who you are at your core. And that won't have changed that much, to be honest. That is set from pretty early on in your life, but we often just get removed from it because our career takes a path, it goes, you know, off in various directions, and we can actually lose sight of really who we are and what's important to us. So that's the first thing, reconnect with who you are. The second thing is understanding exactly what you need from your career. So, what is it that is going to fulfill you? And this will have changed a lot throughout your career. So, this is the bit that often needs the most attention, and it's often good to think about and ask yourself, what role does my career play in my life? Because that's the bit that will have likely changed several times. For example, for some people at some times in their career, the purpose of their career in their life is financial, it's purely financial. They want that job because they want that money to do what they want to do outside of work, but at other times, maybe your career, its role is to give you purpose outside of the home, fulfillment. Maybe for others, it's a challenge. Maybe you need your job because you need that intellectual challenge. That's what you thrive off, and that's the role that your career is playing in your life. So just have a think about that question. What is it that you need from your career? And then, thirdly, what can you offer? Now, this one is the most important one for actually landing the job, because an employer really doesn't care too much about the first two. That's what you need to know and you need to understand in order to identify the best roles for you. But what the employer needs to know is what you can offer to their business, and this is not just your skill, don't just think about your skills or your strengths, and that's why I say what you can offer rather than just your skills and strengths, is because you need to consider what skills you have, but also and really importantly, what skills you enjoy using. Because if you just build your next move around the skills that you have, rather than thinking about which ones you actually enjoy using, you're probably going to stay in something very similar to what you've always done. Because let's face it, that's probably what you're good at. You've done it for years, you've built up that skill set. But look within those skills, what are the microelements that you really enjoy about those things? And that's what you can use to build your next step around. And that's what will come across at interview. If you're really good at something and you love doing it, that's going to be much easier to sell than just, I'm really good at this because I've been doing it for 15 years. So please let me do it for you. Okay. Um, I've put a little table at the bottom here called your move makers. This is just a little snapshot of some of the things that might make you think when you see it in a job description, yes, that makes me want to move into that role. So the things that are going to make you want to move. So have a look at that table, take a screenshot of it if you like,

The Career Roundabout Exercise

SPEAKER_00 22:57

that's fine. What are the things in there that jump out to you? And when you've had a think about that, I would write your own definition of what that actually means. So, for example, you and I might both say that responsibility is really important to me. I feel fulfilled when I feel like I'm given lots of responsibility for my own work. But my definition of responsibility may be very different to yours. So get really clear on what those things are and what you would define them as, because then you start to have a little bit of an idea of what you're looking for when you are do get to the point of searching job sports. Okay, the career roundabout that I've spoken about quite a bit. Previously, many people would talk about the career ladder. That's probably what we were all spoken to about at school. You know, the expectation is you get your qualifications, you get your first job, you're on the ladder. And then you just from there progress up the ladder, getting more responsibility, more money, until eventually you hit stop and you retire. That is becoming increasingly less the case. Um, so I'm going to give you another way of thinking about this. If you imagine your life on this roundabout, so that's you in the middle where I've put that sunshine. So imagine that is your favorite place on earth. Wherever that is, imagine that. You're sitting in that place and your values are in there. You know, you at your core is in the middle of that roundabout. And every job that you have held to date has been a branch off of that roundabout. So you've gone down a road into that role, you've done it for X amount of years, you bring everything you've learned on that road back to your roundabout, and then you go off down another road. And these roads could be very similar if you have had quite a um ladder kind of career so far. That's fine. The roads can be similar. But think about labeling each road with the title of your job. So, for example, head of marketing, and underneath the road, the um employer, so Google, for example, and then braindump on that road everything that you gained whilst in that role. So think about the knowledge that you gained, the experience, the ideas that came to you, the skills that you used, the network that you gained whilst you were there, um, the self-awareness that you gained around what your preferences are for the type of work, the type of environment, the type of people. Just bring down everything you can about that role into that road. And then repeat that exercise for all of the other jobs that you have held. Leave one road blank for the motivated towards bit. Once you've filled out all of those roads, you will start to realize that you are not starting again. Wherever you go next, you're not starting again because you have collected all of these things from your previous roles. So then bring all of the things that you've put into your roads back into the middle of your roundabout. And I can guarantee you will struggle to fit everything onto that roundabout because there will be a lot. Once you have your roundabout filled, you can then start to understand how much value you can bring to the next role, and you can start to cherry-pick some of the things from that roundabout and put them into the motivated towards road. And then you are starting to build up a picture of exactly where it is you want to go and what you are motivated towards. So you see how when I said at the start, scrolling jobs boards as your first step, you're clear on what you're motivated away from, but not what you're motivated towards. This is a great starting point, and like I said, something that you can do on your own at home to start to understand what it is you're motivated towards, and also what you are bringing and what you can offer to the next role. So have a go at that. Um another thing that you can try out on your own at home is the career clarity speed strategy.

The One Page Clarity Tool

SPEAKER_00 28:07

Now, the thing I love about this document is that it is a one-pager, so it's nice and simple, but you can start anywhere you like on this document. And again, feel free, I'm not precious, feel free to take a screenshot of this and um use it in your own time. But so, for example, the most obvious place to start may be where am I now? So have a think about what your circumstances are, whether you're in work or not in work, there may be some people on here who are on a career break. Just detail what you're what you're doing. So I'm working in X company, or I've been on a career break for this many years. Um, I'm earning X amount of money, I'm commuting two hours a day, I'm uh I have two children at home, I whatever it is. Okay, so detail where you are right now. And then you can jump really anywhere else you like on this on this page. So maybe the next best place to start, let's go down below that. What's going well would be even better if. So start with the positives and think about, okay. So you might not love what you're doing, but if you really think about it, there's probably some elements of what you're currently doing or what you've previously done that have gone well. And then think about what would it have made it even better? Because sometimes it's about identifying the things that have gone well, thinking about why they went well and doubling down on those, looking for more of those rather than just looking for the opposite of everything you didn't like. And then perhaps you might want to jump to the bottom right-hand side. What do I want to let go of? So, what is it about where you are right now that's not working for you? Is it that two-hour round trip commute that you're having to do four days a week? Um, is it the micromanaging boss? Uh what is it? So, have a think about what elements are you wanting to let go of. Then you can jump anywhere you like. Perhaps, and this is the good thing that often when you start filling out these boxes, they will spark other ideas for some of the other boxes. So perhaps when you've started thinking about what you want to let go of, that might then spark something for what are my career deal breakers? So, my deal breaker is that I don't want the two-hour commute or whatever it is. So, start then putting into there your deal breakers, and they could have come from the things that are going well, or the things you're wanting to let go of, or they could be completely new things, but what are those things that you absolutely wouldn't want in your next move, or you absolutely need to have in your next move, and and try to. I know again, this will come up for a lot of people, things like flexibility. I would encourage you at this stage to try and think about the nature of the work you want to do, not just the practicalities of the job. Even though, yes, I'm sure they are very important to most people. Let's face it, it's very difficult to do everything in life. So the practicalities are going to be important. So I'm not saying we don't think about those, but we think about those later. Um, then you can jump uh, well, maybe you can jump into where do I want to get to. Maybe once you've filled out those four boxes, you've started to get a bit of an idea of where it is you think you want to get to next. And I'm not saying that's going to have a job title written in there, but you can start to build a picture of what that might look like. Think about in the middle top, what do I enjoy learning and talking about? This is one that a lot of people struggle to answer. They're like, oh, I just don't know. I've not got any hobbies anymore. So if you are that person that's struggling to identify what it is you actually enjoy learning about or talking about, imagine yourself at a dinner party with your friends, um, maybe some people there that you don't know. What is the conversation that if you were to overhear another group of people having, what's the conversation point that you would think, I want to go and join that conversation? Because that sounds interesting. And just start to open your mind to other things that interest you. You know, think about if, and there's a big if here because not many people do this anymore. If you were going to walk into a library, for example, what section of the library are you instantly drawn towards? Is it the history section? Is it fiction? Is it science? So start to think about things that aren't directly related to work. Because often we get so tied up in the same loops thinking about our jobs that we forget to broaden our horizons and think about what do we actually enjoy? What have we enjoyed previously in our lives? What did we enjoy learning about when we were at school? So think a bit more broadly for this one. Um, and then I think the only one we've got left now is the one at the bottom. What strengths do I want to be known for? Um, the reason I word it like that is again because I want you to think about what you are good at, but also what you enjoy doing. What are the things that are important to you and you would like to be known for? You know, you want people to say that about you when you're not in the room. So have a go at that and see how you get on. As I said, if you haven't already, feel free to take a screenshot of it. And if all of that is making you feel like, oh my god, Kim,

A Simpler Way To Decide Next

SPEAKER_00 34:42

that is too much, that is too um complicated right now. And it does, I know that changing career can feel complex. Um, and in some ways it is complex, um, but strip it right back and ask yourself this what if making this simple was your only option and maybe take that one step further and think about if you oh oh god, sorry, I thought someone was coming up. Um, so yeah, what if making this simple was your only option and strip out all of the other factors that are going on, all of the things that are going round in your head, and even strip back what I've just talked about today and think about this next move that you're gonna make, it really only needs to do one of it needs to do two things. It needs to move you further away from what you don't want, and it needs to move you closer to what you do want. That's all. So maybe take the pressure off this next step and don't feel like this next step has to answer all of your questions. It just needs to do those two things further away from what you don't want, closer to what you do want. And hopefully, after this session, and if you work through some of those exercises, you will be closer, you will be clearer on what things are that you do want. So ask yourself this question: what if making this simple was your only option? Okay, I think that is just about enough from me. If you have listened to all of that and feel like you want some more support with this, my parent career pivot

Coaching Options And Career MOT

SPEAKER_00 36:36

program, caveats, some people in there are not parents, so it's not um essential, uh, is a focused one-to-one um coaching program that gives you the clarity, strategy, and confidence to discover a new career path that lights you up and makes that time away from your family feel worthwhile. So it's a two-month program, and at the end of it, you will have a crystal clear vision on exactly where it is you want to get to, and a step-by-step plan as to how you are going to get there and how you're going to bridge the gap from where you are now to where you want to be. Um, if you are interested in that, places are limited because it's just uh me delivering all of that one-to-one. But if you are interested, then just uh get in touch on socials. I've put my little handles at the bottom there. I would love to hear from you. We can even jump on a quick call if you want to discuss what that looks like and whether it is suitable. Um, alternatively, you can take a career MOT. So that is a short workbook where you can map out, it's just a series of questions that helps you to map out where you currently are. It then allows you to open yourself up to new possibilities and start taking inspired action. And the exciting thing about this is if you share your workbook, your career MOT, with me by email, I will then jump on a video whilst I'm reviewing it and I will talk you through what I'm seeing and I will share my insights on your next steps and then I will email that video review back to you. So that is normally £27, but for you today, um, I have added a little discount code there, save seven. So you get seven pounds off. So if you would like to do that, um just scan the QR code there. And that is it. Thank you so much, everyone, for joining. Thank you. I do know that Liz has got some fantastic other speakers lined up for the rest of the series. So if you haven't already registered for those, make sure you do because it's an exciting one, isn't it, Liz?

SPEAKER_01 38:59

Oh, yeah, it is. Thank you, and thank you so much for this. It was absolutely fantastic, as always. So thank you. No problem at all. Thank you, and thank you so much to everybody that has watched today as well. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Work It Like a Mum podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. And don't forget to share the link with a friend. If you're on LinkedIn, please send me a connection

Closing Thoughts And How To Connect

SPEAKER_01 39:29

request at Elizabeth Willett and let me know your thoughts on this week's episode. You can also follow my recruitment site, Investing in Women, on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Until next time, keep on chasing your biggest dreams.