Brenda was a schoolteacher based in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Lacking direction following graduation from university, she gravitated toward teaching, and wound up in an underperforming high school where for years she endured a daily diet of negative feedback, late nights, and compliance-related paperwork submissions.


By the time she reached her early 40s, Brenda knew she needed to reinvent her work life, but had trouble thinking of alternatives to teaching. She wanted to continue helping other people — but acknowledged she needed to serve new customers.
Sessions with a counselor helped Brenda realize she had many skills she could transfer to a career in professional services. The counseling sessions also uncovered her strong interests in houses and interior design. Taken together, Brenda’s enthusiasm for houses, interior design, and helping people suggested she would enjoy working as a real estate agent: something she’d never considered before.
Taken with the idea, Brenda clarified in detail how her skills, background, and maturity would transfer well into the real estate sector. She approached a local firm and was hired.
“People become so focused on work they often forget to recognize skills and interests they use outside of work,” says Denise Taylor, who counseled Brenda. “ The more we can do what we love to do, the greater the chance of career satisfaction so take time to think about your interests and what excites you, this takes you beyond your CV and career history.”
This was used within a book and provides a great example for how I work with people.
As always, I’ve written this to be helpful, if it provokes any questions or have a comment to make please make a note or ask a question below.
Denise Taylor is a double award winning career coach and Chartered Psychologist with Amazing People, established in 1998. When you are unsure of your career future, need help with job search or seek to improve your presence in an online world, Denise can help. Denise is the author of 7 books including How To Get A Job In A Recession, Now You’ve Been Shortlisted and Fat to Fantastic
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Published On: December 10th, 2012 / Categories: Uncategorized /

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