On the hunt: 2010 and time to find my inner career cougar

I've been watching the show Cougartown a lot recently. Go ahead and laugh, but I am getting somewhere with this. While I'm not single and ready to mingle as a forty-something mom like the main character is, I am forty and facing big life changes. The lighthearted look at transition really appeals to me right now. I like thinking about how to be more empowered and bold. I'm ready to begin the actual hunt for the new career path. I've accepted that my past is over and now I have to be present in my circumstance and do my thing. I am a Career Changer in the worst economy of my lifetime, with three kids and a need to be mission centered in my career. Ruh-roh.

Here's my agenda for the next few weeks to getting myself aligned with where I am now (which can look very swirly sometimes) and returning back to the game of being an income earner.
I'm interested in income a lot these days, but I don't want to blow my ship totally off course either. I keep trying to play my circumstances smart and I can see myself in ten years saying "wow, that sucked and here's what worked for me to get through it." But this is one map that makes itself as you go along and the career landscape is changing fast in 2010.

Here's my self-help regimen for Winter 2010 to get my career hunt back on:

1. Books! The library has a pretty good selection of career related books. For best choice of titles, I suggest looking on-line and placing a hold to go to your local branch. I've been soaking up a lot of books lately. I'll be blogging soon about my process with the "What Color is Your Parachute" series and other books like "Changing Careers for Dummies." What matters, in my opinion, is that any process is probably good process. You need a plan to succeed and then if that plan fails, develop ( yet another) plan to work it out. Most career books offer practical steps to get answers. Since I'm just swirling around the questions, I need a way to get to the answers.
Writing things down and brainstorming work well for me. I also like to write some of my process and then burn it to let go of that intention. So I'm going to grill myself until the timer of my Easy Bake oven goes off. Lots of planning to do to get myself where I want to be. Books are a good place to start. Actually do the work they suggest and you'll probably be better for it.


2. Clothes! Having a plan is important with clothes and "the look."

This is where I wish I looked like Courtney Cox for my own hunting purposes.

I have shoes older than my children. My eldest is almost 10. I spent my professional office years at a university where I had event related polo shirts as a uniform most of the time. I worked at Habitat for Humanity before CSUN and so my wardrobe has never been well developed. I would wear jeans all the time if allowed. But jeans are not going to get be hired in this economy. At least not doing the types of jobs I need to be taking on in order to support my family.

My dad and his wife just bought me a bunch of clothes for professional use. I found stuff that really suits who I am now and also says "2010 modernly dressed woman" and not Oprah's "frumpelina." The shoes are an outstanding issue yet to be resolved. I'll be posting about my adventure in clothes later too. Having a plan is what is really important with clothes and "the look." I can't afford to go buy a lot of anything right now. So I have to shop smart, hunt for bargains and be open minded. But I also don't want to look crazy in the latest trends.
However I get to the goal, I need to design my look around the job I want and find a way to make that happen.

3. Connect and communicate! Since I'm working off-road with my career now, I need to keep talking and connecting with people in my life. You never know where opportunity may find you or how your past may connect to your future. It does get old to keep talking about my career woes at family functions and in social occasions. It's not a bright, fun topic. However, learning to frame the madness in my life around communicating with others has helped me understand where I am in the modern day, 2010. I've learned that sounding like an Eeyore gets you "ho hum" results while sounding like a Tigger gets you positive feedback ( and occasional confused looks.)

My plan is to keep talking about my career till somebody directs my time by making me an income earner again. The more I talk about it, the more clarity I gain about what may work for me. Trying to be positive while talking to others has taught me a lot about how I might steer my ship. I have to find a positive way to communicate to people when they ask "what kind of job are you looking for?" or "what do you do?" It's my role in this puzzle to be positive and open minded, but I also have to start naming my intentions to other people or I'll never get anywhere.

Whew. Welcome 2010~

Three is enough tips for me today. I'm gonna go get my career cougar on now. Time to get focused and find a way to make all of this work. Whoot!