Making Sense of a Messy Career
For over 25 years, my super random career history made no sense.
Then it did.
Me, standing in a garden, wearing a jumpsuit I made from odd shapes of fabric that never seemed like they would make sense together.
Photo by Alison Leese from Ministry of Craft.
I used to think my extremely varied career history was a hot mess. Which meant I couldn’t talk about it coherently.
Until I found a way to make it make sense.
Before I became a Coach and Business Consultant, I was a User Experience Researcher. This was one of my longest and most rewarding careers.
But honestly? I kind of stumbled into UX. And I stumbled out of it, too.
Looking back on it now, I wish I’d been more intentional. But I didn’t have the support then. I was going it alone.
I couldn’t make sense of the careers I’d already had, much less carry myself from one to another with grace and confidence.
One thing I did know, however, was that I was really good at gathering insights. As a researcher, I was spending my days doing user interviews, listening to people talk about what motivated them to buy this product or that service.
But I was much more interested in what motivated them, personally
It took far too long for me to notice I could cut the products and services out of the equation and support people directly. And that this thing had a name: Coaching.
That’s when the penny dropped. I’ve always been doing this. The incoherence of my work history faded. Finally, there was a common thread, and a way to weave it through everything I’d done, and to cinch up the bag called ‘career’.
Instead of a smattering of seemingly unrelated jobs, I had a sensible story to tell. The leaps and gaps now had solid explanations. Worry turned into certainty about where and why.
Once I figured this out for myself, it became easier to help others make sense of their work histories, too. I was compelled to support people to make big changes, and to help them find ways to do it that didn’t necessitate starting over at the bottom of yet another ladder.
That’s because our best and most rewarding skills have always been there, getting honed and levelled up, even as our focus changes.
We can transfer these abilities to new things, without dropping levels of expertise. We can enter at the same—if not better—level in the company org chart.
They're hiring you for what you've already got
You need to be able to see it for yourself, organise the pieces, and tell your compelling story.
So, whether you’ve brought your skills into multiple arenas already (breadth) or have been developing them down a narrower path (depth), what you’ve gained cannot be undone. You can’t help doing it anyway.
Let's figure out your common thread and weave it into a meaningful, ownable story that you actually believe. Get in touch for a free chat to start retelling right away. Even if we don't work further together, you'll leave with something new and useful.
Can't wait to help you make sense of things, too!
