Tag Archives: career narratives

Get comfortable with giving feedback

Skill development No Comments

My colleague Jo Fairweather has written this post on how to give effective feedback.  Giving feedback is an important part of being a good colleague or line manager, and this post will also help you to reflect on what you want when you are asking others to give you feedback on your work.

We regularly give feedback in our lives. It could be writing a review on TripAdvisor, commenting on a colleague’s email or giving feedback on someone’s essay.

Considering your approach to giving feedback can help make you and the person who receives feedback feel more comfortable.

Reflect on your current approach to giving feedback. Are you on target, go in with a sledgehammer or avoid the issue for fear of upsetting the individual? The purpose of providing feedback is for the recipient to benefit from that new knowledge. Giving feedback is not about trying to change that person, be judgemental, or make them like you. Being aware of your natural response can help you analyse how you view feedback.

Be clear on what the feedback relates to. Be descriptive not interpretative. Feedback is like holding up a mirror to someone else. Try to keep personal opinions and concerns out of the message. Emphasise the “what” and “how” rather than the “why.”

Present a balanced view. Pay attention to giving both positive and negative feedback. Most people listen out for and remember negative feedback received first so a good balance is important.

Put yourself in the other person’s place. Assess the readiness of the other person to make use of what you say. Pick your time and place. Consider if the feedback will be given face to face. Receiving feedback via text, email, or phone can affect the tone and lead to misinterpretation.

Be specific rather than general. Stick to concrete examples you have noticed and be aware of getting side tracked by unrelated matters. For example, if you are being asked to comment on the tone of an email don’t start commenting on the spelling too.

Be direct and courageous. You may feel uncomfortable saying something unpleasant to the person. Remember your intention is to be helpful. Keeping information from the person can be more harmful than telling them.

Say your information and let it go. It is up to the person what they do with your feedback, don’t be offended if they don’t take it.

By following the above principles you will become more comfortable in giving feedback.

Explaining gaps in your experience

Applications Interviews No Comments

Many of us have had a career ‘gap’ at some point in our lives. It is sometimes difficult to think about how to address these gaps when it comes to preparing a CV and attending interviews.  My colleague Lorna Cox shares some ideas on this below – Carol  

Employers can get suspicious of time gaps in your CV, so make sure you don’t let them jump to the wrong conclusions. Take control by briefly explaining the reason for the time gap and try to put a positive spin on it.

Time off to have children?

  • Emphasise your time management and organisational ability.
  • Give examples of how you maintained an interest in your career such as reading professional literature, networking or voluntary work.

Time off due to illness?

  • If appropriate, reassure the employer you have now recovered from the illness or show how well you cope with an ongoing condition.
  • Emphasise your resilience and determination to return to work.

Time off to go travelling?

  • Show what you gained while travelling eg. increased independence, planning and organising skills, resilience, communication in another language.
  • Convince the employer you are now ready to start/resume your career.

Time off to change career direction?

  • Explain the research you did to be sure the new career is the right choice eg. work shadowing or volunteering
  • Give examples of relevant skills you gained from your previous career.

Time off between courses?

  • Many graduates have a gap between undergraduate and postgraduate study to earn money, gain work experience, travel or volunteer.
  • Explain what you gained from this time gap and why this is relevant for the job you have applied for.

Good Luck!

 

Telling stories about yourself

Career Management No Comments
stack of books

There are many stories we could tell about our lives – what’s the story of your career?

The narrative approach to careers is about telling your career ‘story’ or narrative in order to understand yourself and make sense of your career. Your career story is your personal perspective on your working life including the objective facts, subjective emotions, attitudes and goals of your career. You could tell your career story verbally or by writing it down.

You create your career story retrospectively as a means of determining and explaining the meaning of day to day events in your life. The basic principle behind the approach is that by telling your story you can get a sense of how you’ve got where you are and how you understand your situation. When you make career choices you don’t separate these from the rest of your life; the decisions that you make are influenced by and grounded in your prior experiences and if you can tell your story it can help you to understand your concept of ‘career’ and what is possible.

The narrative approach is about more than just telling your career story though. When you tell your story it can sometimes seem disconnected, complex and difficult to make sense of. The narrative approach is about reflecting on your story, looking for clues, themes and patterns that emerge. These themes and patterns can become the basis of future stories and career possibilities. Within the narrative approach there are many questions that you can ask yourself to help you make sense of your story and to consider future possibilities. These questions can be grouped into three levels:

Level 1 – information about content and experience. This level is about getting all the details of your career story. Questions to ask yourself include: · What did you do? · What was most satisfying? · Was there anything similar about your experiences? · What skills and knowledge did you use? · What did you do to get yourself to that point?

Level 2 – connectedness and subjective experience. This level is about considering the connections between your individual experiences and the various influences on your story. Questions to ask yourself include: · Where else in your life has this been relevant? · How do you interpret that experience? · How would you explain that? · What have you learnt about yourself as a result? · What does it say about what you are capable of?

Level 3 – identification of themes and patterns. This level is about helping you to understand the important themes and patterns from your past narrative in order to help you construct a future narrative. Questions to ask yourself include: · Are there any common themes running through the experiences you have described? · What do you think will be most significant for you in moving forward? · What will be the essential components of any future options for you? · How does your understanding of your past make you view your future? · How could you move this story forward?

You can find out more about the narrative approach to careers guidance in the International Handbook of Careers Guidance or by reading Career Counselling: A Narrative Approach by Larry Cochrane