How to choose your career: Interview with April Klimkiewicz
In 2018, I published a book about how to choose your career. In 2024, I moved the content to this site. Below is the interview with April Klimkiewicz.
How does someone's personality determine the best career choices for them?
Personality is a great factor in helping someone determine fit for types of careers and jobs, as well as environmental fit. Fit is one of the reasons people either love their job, regardless of whether they like the actual work they are engaging in, or feel uncomfortable going to work every day, even if they love the work. Awareness of your personality style is key in helping you determine personality dynamics at work and why you might find yourself connecting easily with some people while others rub you completely the wrong way. Being aware of your personality and understanding why others may be acting in line with their personalities is key to discovering and creating a work environment that feels comfortable for you.
Let me illustrate this idea. Say you like to work with people and currently work in a sales job. You are an empathetic listener who likes to be sure your clients have an abundance of information. You keep getting in trouble at work for taking too long with clients on the phone. What do you do?
First, identifying your personality style preferences is important. The job, although working with people, is working with them in a different capacity than your personality preference. You like teaching, but your job is calling you to persuade.
Understanding why you operate the way you do as well as why your current career environment isn’t exactly what you thought it would be is so important in helping you find the right career fit. Now that you understand how your personality style is in conflict with the type of work you’re currently doing, you realize the ideal environment may be one in which you are working with people and have the opportunity to patiently teach them.
One of your specialties is helping clients figure out how to better align their values with their work. Can you say more about that process?
I find that the majority of my clients had not thought about how their careers relate to their values before we met. Because values are what we hold most near and dear, I find that it is a really important area to ground our work in.
The ability to compare our values to potential careers that support us emotionally and financially allows us to ensure our careers align with our most authentic selves. When I work with people around values, we parse out which values are the most important to them, then we talk about how we see these values (or the absence of them) in their current and past careers and jobs. We talk about which values are present, which ones are missing, and what an ideal career environment would be based on values.
After a values conversation, people are able to put words to the things that are the most important to them and understand how values should help guide career decisions. During this discussion, people are able to see extremely clearly just how their current career is not meeting their values, and they are able to articulate exactly what’s needed to feel fulfilled in their career in the future.
With all the free career information on the Web now, what value does a career coach add in helping clients to increase career satisfaction?
With all the conflicting career advice online, it’s so difficult to know what will be the right advice for you in your current situation. Most of the advice is general because information meant for the public must appeal to a wide audience.
Even if the advice is very good, you may find it does not quite fit for you and your particular circumstances and unique qualities. Maybe you’ve struggled with explaining a difficult situation like a work gap or employment ending. All people who have been let go from a position would not answer, “Tell me why you’re job searching now,” or “Why did you leave your last position?” in the same way. Some people have been laid off due to downsizing, others have worked for companies that have folded, and still others have been fired for reasons that are less clear or even confusing. This is where a career coach comes in. We can help you understand your story and craft answers that you feel confident about. Those of us who have been working in the field for a long time have seen so many different types of situations over the years, and we have strategies for helping our clients navigate them. We are also excellent creative problem solvers, so if your situation is completely unique, there is no need to worry. We can help you navigate these types of situations, too.
How does working with a career coach differ from talking to a smart friend who knows a lot about careers?
I think it’s important and helpful to talk to a smart and trusted friend who knows a lot about careers. This is a great use of your network! You will likely gain some insights into a specific type of job, career, or industry that is that person’s area of expertise. In addition to this advice, the right career coach or counselor will be able to give you valuable expert assistance in navigating your unique circumstances in order to create the best outcome for you.
Let’s say, for example, you are applying for a job at a tech startup, and you have a friend who works in HR for a large hotel and convention center and another friend who was recently hired for a governmental position. Talking to your friends about the hiring process at their organizations will give you a lot of great information, but it’s important to bear in mind that the interview, hiring, and onboarding process for each of these types of places will likely be very different. You also may get conflicting information from your friends.
If you’re wondering which advice to follow, the right career coach or counselor will be able to help you explore the whys behind different courses of action and create an action plan that makes sense for you. In other words, a career coach will be able to help you explore and discover why a given course of action will or won’t work for you specifically, based on who you are and your unique circumstances, so you can decide on an action plan that makes sense for you.
How long does it take to change from a career that isn't enjoyable to one that is highly satisfying?
The answer to this question depends on the individual, their level of motivation, and their financial ability to make the change. Figuring out what careers might be highly satisfying takes some time, and going back to school or getting the proper training, certifications, or licensure could add more time to the career transition process. For many people, it’s important to earn a living in a career that is not the first choice while engaging in the exploration and discovery process, in order to have the financial freedom and therefore ability to later enter the career of choice.
Even for those who have the needed skill set, preparing emotionally to leave a career, engaging in a successful job search, and beginning a new career is a process that typically takes at least a few months. Changing careers could take a short time (as little as 3 months) or a longer time (up to a few years) depending on where you are and your needs.
Even when someone loves their career, conflicts with bosses or co-workers can still make career satisfaction elusive. How do you help with that?
So many times, it’s not what we say, but how we say it that matters most. If a client is having trouble navigating complicated work dynamics with coworkers, a supervisor, or direct reports, we start by discussing the situation and what happened, then we come up with the best way to approach the topic with the correct person or people. We not only talk about what to say and how to say it, but we also talk about the best time to have the discussion and how to broach the topic.
If it’s an employee evaluation, and you’d like to discuss a raise or you have a supervisor that doesn’t understand you affecting your peace of mind, it might be a good idea to work with a professional to ensure the best outcome for that situation. Negotiating salary and communicating honestly when you’re feeling dissatisfied is difficult, but with the right guidance, you can be confident you will be approaching the situation with a clear head.
What advice do you have for clients about how to get the most benefit from career coaching?
Clients who see the most benefit from career coaching have two things in common: the time to invest in career coaching and the belief that their actions will lead to positive career results. If a person chooses career coaching but is unable to put in the work between sessions or has so many commitments, fitting it into a busy schedule is difficult, it’s a good idea to wait until there is a better time. The clients who see the most success are able to make time to research and complete action plans and truly believe that their positive actions will create positive results. Your mindset matters because if you believe you will be successful, you will take actions to ensure your success.
Is there any other advice you would like to give readers of this book?
It can be scary to think you’re the only one who doesn’t have answers to your career questions. When we look around us at peers, so often, it looks like everyone else has it figured out, and we start to question why we don’t. If you’re not sure how to figure it out or why you haven’t’ figured it out yet, you are not alone.
People who are good at a lot of things and have eclectic tastes tend to have a harder time figuring out what to do for work. Rather than being interested in delving into one thing deeply, they like to know a lot about different things and become proficient in a lot of different areas. People with a variety of interests like this can struggle to feel like they know which career is the best fit for them. Using a career coach to look at values, personality style, hobbies, interests, and strengths is helpful in honing in on what naturally fits best and helping you make an informed decision.
April Klimkiewicz, M.A. has been working in career development since 2004. Via her company, Bliss Evolution, Ms. Klimkiewicz works by video and phone with people across the country to help them navigate their career questions and get to a place where they trust themselves to make informed career decisions. As of 2024, Ms. Klimkiewicz is on sabbatical raising her twins.
