Coaching, Location independent, Modern Career, Relocation
Modern Career Woman – Chapter IV by Heather Schnacke
Last time you knew, I chose to come back to Prague and join a teaching startup company (I had to turn down an international company position due to them not being able to sponsor my visa once I was offered the job) in hopes of finding more of an international role in the future. Fast forward six months… The job turned out not to be what was discussed during the interview and also I realized it is not something I love doing. After some disagreement about working after hours, I finally had to put in my notice. With the help and support of Coachify, I gained a clearer sense as to what I was looking for in that moment and I wouldn’t settle for something else unless absolutely needed!
I looked at the regular local job websites here in Prague on a daily basis and nothing truly caught my eye – then I was directed to an organization called Internations which is a great site to meet other expats and network. I decided to look at its job forum and there were a few jobs I was quite interested in, including the one I have now. Within this job description, there was one thing I didn’t have at all, “french speaker,” but I thought why not apply anyway? I had nothing to lose. So I did – I heard nothing for a few weeks but then I was contacted by my current boss. She had asked the organization if french was truly needed for this role and in the end, they agreed that it was only nice to have. She immediately pulled my CV and called me – I got the job that day. Lesson: you just never know.
I say all of this to encourage you to:
- Keep going even if things seem fuzzy or you have lost sight of the vision – stay hopeful!
- Apply for a job even if you don’t have EVERYTHING on their wish list – it truly may not matter in the end and it could change your whole direction
Talk to people like Coachify who can help direct and encourage you – sometimes friends and family have your best intentions but they are afraid that you will get hurt so they might offer more discouragement than you need . Trust yourself and your intuition.
So here on I am…it is the first day on the new job today. I ended up working both jobs in June so that was a busy month but now I am in full gear with this new position. I am not writing this to tell you that the perfect job landed in my lap – but it is the perfect next step. I do struggle because I want to do so many things! My mind literally changes all of the time in terms of career direction (read Beata’s article about ‘the grass is always greener’ HERE – very me). But I am learning that having that type of mindset is okay and I can actually use that to my advantage – especially this day in age where job changes are actually accepted and expected.
On a personal note, I am still in a long distance relationship – and it’s thriving. We have been together for close to ten months and have seen one another on average twice per month. Not too bad – there are definitely hard moments but we have chosen this and we DAILY choose one another. That’s it. We make the moments count and when we are together, we just live life. And the best part? We get to build our friendship, which we both value the most for the long haul. One vision that is becoming clearer – building enough skill sets to work location independent so when the timing is right, the transition to London (or somewhere new together) will be a lot easier… Stay tuned.
Thanks for journeying with me as always! I always love that you are here with me.
Heather
Coaching, Leadership, Modern Career
Can I have it all? by Sudi Chakraborty
A satisfying career and healthy relationships and if you’re married, a strong marriage, if you’re a parent, strong kids. Did this question ever cross your mind? It did to me and changed my whole life. I found my answer and that is: Yes, you can have it all in life and believe me when I say that, but it has to be the right kind of all the kind you are looking for. You can’t have every possible opportunity or attain some culturally enforced ideal. But you can have everything that you value and everything you long for as long as you invest your energy and time to learn the right technique. This was profound for me. I had never actually realized and defined what “all” I really wanted. I had made list upon list of goals I wanted to achieve in life (a highly reputable position with an International organization, 3 bedroom house, a Tesla and make even more money every year), but I’d never defined what I wanted my life to actually look like. You might be struggling with whether to stay home with your kids or go back to work. You might know what you want to do but not be sure how to make that change. You might not know what you’re really good at but know it’s not what you’re doing now. What risks should you take? What makes you happy? What gets in the way of your happiness? Don’t you think it’s about time to find out?
Find the purpose of your life.
Have you ever questioned your mind what is the purpose of your existence? Many of us work just for that rectangular shaped bill at the end of the month, which we call a paycheck. Employees who see that their work has a direct and significant impact on the world around them are more likely to tackle that work with passion; they aren’t just in it for the paycheck. Once I asked 55 years old janitor while using a rest room in a hospital, what her purpose was. She may have said that it is to empty wastebaskets and mop the floors. She may not feel very inspired or passionate about those tasks. But she answered it with so much dignity and pride that she feels her purpose is to create a safe and inviting environment that will help put patients and their families at ease, thus inculcating greater reliance in the organization. Being aware of that greater sense of purpose connects that employee’s personal value of caring for others with the job before her of mopping the floors. No longer is she just pushing a mop around, she’s helping to care for every patient that comes through the doors.
Clearly define our own personal values and stick to it.
Developing the level of engagement and commitment to a greater purpose is an individual choice and an individual journey. Nobody can force you to be engaged in your work; however, the right kind of guidance from a coach or mentor can help you discover your purpose by showing you how your work makes a difference in the greater scheme of things. Connecting to a greater purpose begins with having a clear definition of your own personal values. All you need is to be encouraged to reflect on what values you regard as your highest priorities and key drivers.
Sounds philosophical, isn’t it? But these values naturally impact every area of our life, including our work life. Once you have reflected on and articulated your own values, determine how they fit with the organization’s mission, vision, and values. Then examine how the organization’s mission, vision, and values are infused into your own job description. If your organization is committed to providing the best in healthcare to your patients, how does your job description support that goal? Helping yourself and your co-workers see the connections between personal values and organizational values will help foster a deeper engagement and sense of purpose.
Coaching, Modern Career, Relocation
The Start of the Journey… Modern Career Woman Chapter III by Heather Schnacke
I am officially back in Prague. After a couple of months at home and figuring out what to do as you knew from the last post, the visa finally came through and then I actually had two job offers on the table. My previous job was still available to me, and then Amazon called me when was back in Oklahoma to see about starting in the HR department. What a whirlwind! I went through the process of both, but in the end, the door shut with Amazon due to my visa situation. In this moment, the answer was now very obvious and clear. So I officially accepted the other job and signed a 1.5 year contract that came with a signing bonus and more salary pay – WOW. Now, I am so thankful that I am back in the Czech Republic – refreshed and ready to go for round two 🙂 The first time was just practice, right?
The holidays were an amazing and restful (and much needed) time with family back near Tulsa. I am beyond grateful for the love that constantly surrounds me, and only hope I spread it to others wherever I go!
Coaching, Consulting, Digital Marketing, Digital Trends, Human Resources
About social recruiting with Michelle Minnikin
There’s no one better to talk to about social recruiting than a recruiter who has worked previously as a marketer. Today I interview a Strategic Recruitment Manager at Scott Logic, Michelle Minnikin, who shares a great deal of useful practices on recruiting through social media, company culture and branding. Michelle also shares her top 3 resources for HR managers. Keep reading.
About Michelle…
Her background is in occupational psychology and recruitment, having built 14 years of experience. She is a Recruitment Manager – Strategy, having joined Scott Logic after three years at Balfour Beatty and prior to that, AMEC. In her role she provides a bridge between recruitment and marketing activities for Scott Logic. She’s been in post since February 2016 and her favourite things (at work) are employer branding, selection and assessment.
Michelle, social media are already full-fledged recruiting tools. What do you see as the most effective social media to recruit for Scott Logic? There is so much out there and sometimes it can be a waste of time if not used properly.
As a business, we create carefully targeted content, including three different blogs for different audiences that are shared through various channels. Our technical blog, which our consultants write, shares our thoughts and experiences of using technologies, techniques and tools, and is very popular. Our insights blog is for business leaders and decision makers, and our careers blog helps software developers, test engineers and user experience designers with their job search while showcasing what it’s like to work at Scott Logic.
At Scott Logic, the quality of our service is defined by our people; they are our greatest asset, so we already know we want more people just like them (we’d love to clone them, but this technology has not been suitably developed yet!). So, we asked our people what social media sites they spend time on so we can focus our efforts on the channels that are relevant to them.
Based on this information, we are focusing our efforts on LinkedIn and Twitter as recruitment tools. As an organisation, we do have a LinkedIn Recruiter License so we are able to source directly using that. However, I think delivering engaging, useful content that positions our employees as thought leaders and showcases what it is like to work here helps make our recruitment brand more desirable.
I wonder how do you assess the efficiency of your content marketing? How you set yourself a goal to reach which specific content and what stats are you looking at to define the success?
Our strategy is a long term one focused primarily on raising awareness of the Scott Logic brand among our key audiences. So, tracking all applications to ask how each candidate heard about us is vital. We also survey all candidates to assess the experience they’ve had of our recruitment process to obtain anecdotal and qualitative feedback that helps us improve on an ongoing basis.
Can you share how you engage candidates in your employer brand on social media?
Coaching, Modern Career
Modern Career Woman – Heather – Chapter II – So Who Is This Modern Career Woman?
So Who Is This Modern Career Woman?
Modern Career Woman: A female who wants to see more of the world, make a difference, figure out her own way (not society’s), see where life takes her, and not be afraid to do things (or move to another country) on her own. We have seen how Sheryl Sandberg has made her mark on the feminist world by telling both women and men that we CAN do it all between work, family, and the home. We can break that glass ceiling. That women can rise to the very top even if they have one kid on each knee and a husband on her shoulders. And that also men can start helping in the household – changing the traditional roles of society depending on the dynamic and circumstances of the pair. The difference is that the modern career woman focuses on the female who may not necessarily want kids and could be married or not, but wants to make her mark on the world in a bold way. She craves adventure, boldness, risks, new atmospheres, challenges, unexpected changes, and nonconventional ways to help her learn and grow into the person she knows she can become. She is not afraid to move into another culture- it excites her! She is perhaps afraid of the unknown, but her excitement overrides her fear. She would rather take risks and learn from mistakes than not take the plunge at all. She knows that everything is a lesson about learning and growing anyway – so nothing can stop her from trying!
Coaching, Digital Marketing, Human Resources, Leadership
Cracow: Digital skills workshop – Creative Manipulation of HR and Digital Marketing Strategies
We invite you to the creative workshop to Krakowski Park Technologiczny, 29 of March.
What you will learn?
1. Connect HR and Digital Marketing techniques to benefit your organization and yourself.
2. Explore new ways of engaging more and more demanding customers & knowledge workers.
3. Use cutting edge practices and newest trends in the rapidly converging talent and digital worlds.
4. Use platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook to support and enhance your business goals.
Coaching, Modern Career
Modern Career Woman – Heather
HELLO
My name is Heather and I am a 30-year-old American female fighting hard to build a career life abroad. It is quite the challenge amidst the bureaucracy, living situations, job availability, financially, and let’s not forget doing this alone as a single female. But I never wanted that to stop me from pursuing my dreams. I fell in love exploring different cultures and languages when I first stepped onto Spanish soil when I studied abroad for six months at the age of 20 in Valencia, Spain. I really didn’t know what to expect or how I would feel, but my whole world opened up after that experience. I came back to Oklahoma (where I am from) to finish my University degree in International Business and Marketing with a plan to move overseas right after I graduated. Before Spain, my ‘goals’ in life revolved around the typical desires: meet the man of my dreams in college, get married shortly after graduation, build a home, adopt two or three children (no desire to have any of my own – maybe my first clue), travel some, and who knows after that. Well, that clearly changed after NOT meeting someone special three years into college (I was doomed I thought, my plan was not going accordingly) and then Europe happened that changed the course of my life forever.