From living for the weekends, to a job worth getting out of bed for

Jacob felt like he was stagnating, both professionally and intellectually having been in similar roles for 15 years. He knew he didn’t want to be doing the same thing through until retirement but he didn’t know what else he might do. He came to me looking for guidance and hoping for insights about where to next. In his own words, he needed “a kick up the backside” to help overcome his inertia and uncertainty about potential change.

The uncertainty, he said, came from not having been in the job market for over 15 years, and a lack of confidence in the type and quality of his marketable skills and experience. Yet he knew it was time to make a move.

His goal was to leave his role and find one that he would “actually get out of bed looking forward to”.

Six months after his last coaching session, Jacob called excited to tell me he had resigned, and been appointed to a job he felt was made for him. Despite the role being in an entirely new sector – from finance to public service – he had been able to not only see for himself how it was a good fit, but also to convince the hiring manager.

“The coaching and the insights it gave me were excellent. I was able to articulate genuinely and well as to why the role, the organisation and I were a perfect match,” he says.

“The coaching gave me a better understanding my values (which helped me understand why I hadn’t been enjoying my previous role, and what to look for in a new role and organisation); understanding my interests (and therefore helping me look for a role and organisation which aligned with them); and helping me break down prejudices I had as to the type of organisation I thought I'd work for (I had mentally largely discarded the public sector)”.

Jacob believes that without the coaching, he would likely have “either stuck with my previous employer, albeit not enjoying it and just living for the weekend, or been applying for other roles haphazardly but without necessarily ending up in a better situation”.

Prior to the coaching Jacob rated his confidence 3/10. Now, 9/10. And “thoroughly enjoying getting out of bed to go to work in the morning!”