Jaclyn: Job Search Coach

Job Search

Dec 8

What drives you to help others as a job search coach?

My drive to help others achieve their career goals is fueled by — what we what on the Bossed Up team affectionately call — my “big sister energy.” I want nothing more than to help job seekers succeed. At the same time, I know that the best way I can help job seekers succeed is to offer research-based advice balanced with a healthy dose of encouragement, reassurance, and tough love.

Can you share your career change experience?

In my early 20s, I had a plan for my career, and I convinced myself that if I just followed the plan, everything would work out perfectly. Seven years later, I was stuck in a job I hated, earning a degree I wasn’t excited about, and wondering where my plan went wrong.

I thought, “What’s wrong with me?” But nothing was wrong with me. The problem was, I had never stopped hustling long enough to realize that I wasn't working towards something that was fulfilling anymore. So I made the radical decision to change my career path. I started exploring other opportunities — mostly by networking my butt off — and ultimately pivoted into a career where my passions and vocation are aligned.

Why do you care that job seekers find careers that fit their specific goals and their needs?

In my experience working with career changers, there’s typically a breakthrough moment, when we stop talking about what they’re running *from* and start talking about what they’re running *toward*. At that moment, job seekers stop being intimidated by the job search process and start being excited about the opportunities that the rest of their careers can hold. I live for that moment!

What are some of your core values and how do they shape the way you coach?

One of my core values is connection. Not only do I enjoy the challenge of making individualized connections with people, but individualization also happens to be one of my leadership strengths. So what does that mean with respect to my coaching style? I’m motivated to make genuine connections with my clients so I can understand what is most important to each job seeker — what is at the core of what they are trying to explore, and what they’re trying to figure out about themselves or their careers in the process. Then, I tailor how I work with that job seeker based on what I've learned.

How would you describe your coaching style?

I’m a resolute advocate for job seekers to forge their own unique paths to fulfilling careers. I wish that there was one, surefire path to a fulfilling career, but there isn’t. Instead, there are people who have a great support system to help them forge their own paths and those who don’t. As a coach, I think of myself as a key member of that support system. I offer advice and encouragement informed by the research, trial, and error from my own experiences in the job market as well as my experiences advising dozens of job seekers over the past years.

Why do you want to help members of the Bossed Up community to find what they’re passionate about?

I'm excited to help members of the Bossed Up community because I've been a member of the Bossed Up community for years! Without the resources and support I received from this community, I doubt I would’ve had the audacity to make my own career pivot. I’m excited to have the opportunity to amplify Bossed Up’s message to help more bosses align their passions with their vocations. To put it bluntly, job searching sucks, but job searching in a community can be inspiring.

As a job search coach, I’m here to help you reach that point where you realize, “I can be the main character in my own story. I deserve to be the main character in my own story.”

- J -