Gill South: Taking stock of career direction

Your work should align with your values. 'If we ignore what is truly important to us, we ignore our greatest source of power,' says Jo Mills, general manager at Career Analysts. Photo / Thinkstock

If you've ever wondered if your're in the right job, a career analyst may be able to tell you, writes Gill South.

Now we all know that certain jobs in our careers have had an effect on our health. Some of you may well be feeling poorly at the thought of another working year like 2011. I remember one job giving me a rash and another one kept giving me colds.

I decided I would consult a careers coach, just to make sure that I was in the right field for my personality and values. People's career choices always fascinate me - there are so many directions we can go in, why do we end up where we are?

People tend to know when they are in the wrong career, says Jo Mills, general manager at Career Analysts. Before we meet, I complete an hour-long online questionnaire probing my skills, interests, motivators and so on. Exhausting, but necessary if Jo was going to do a proper analysis of me. The upside is I will emerge with increased self-confidence through an understanding of my strengths, talents and potential contributions. How about that?

I've always wondered whether I should have done law, but some of the legally oriented questions in the survey hold absolutely no allure, so I think that was a lucky escape. It was always the debating, heckling side that appealed to me rather than the tortuous detail checking, case history part of law.

Jo talks to me about the importance of my work matching my values. If we ignore what is truly important to us, we ignore our greatest source of power, she tells me. Career Analysts talk about the waste of time doing things that you are weak at - it's much better to play to your strengths. The idea is to align my work with my natural motivations, values, preferences and talents. People who feel drained or burned out have some areas out of alignment.

It turns out I'm in the right field, fortunately. Writing suits my creative side, it seems - and as a freelance journalist, I have the independence I need, one of my leading career values. My other important career values are apparently achievement, appreciation, freedom, and variety, while my most highly rated personal values are authenticity, confidence, credibility, enthusiasm and persistence.

Career values shift as your life progresses, says Jo. It used to be the thrill of the chase of a good story that drove me, interviewing Gucci's Tom Ford on the way to the loo to see what his next move would be after Gucci. Now it's more about find a good juicy feature topic and exploring it to the nth degree. And my career choices are made with the intention of keeping balance in my life with a family to consider.

Jo encourages me to explore other options to expand my (brilliant) career. Take on more in areas that play to my strengths. I still haven't fulfilled my potential, it seems. I love that I still have potential, that's heartening.

Jo asks me to commit to some ambitions for 2012 and write them down. Stepping up the personal marketing for my business is an idea and she thinks I should be doing more international networking. Doing more public talking and presenting is another thought, perhaps some teaching, maybe some travel writing. Doing more writing online and going more international with my work, are other ideas.

But is the rest of the world ready for me, we all ask?

Next week:

I have a fascinating session with immunologist and psychotherapist Dr Brian Broom, author of Meaning-full Disease. He specialises in looking at how personal experience can cause physical illness. Perhaps there is a back story behind my dermatitis.