Five years ago, I never would have imagined I would undergo a Life Coaching session. In college, I gained access to a world of benefits that I’m sure many students never take advantage of, including mental health counseling. Giving it a chance changed my life significantly for the better as I was fortunate enough to be paired with a counselor who really resonated with me.
It’s beneficial to have the perspective of an unbiased outsider to help you see possibilities you’re blinded from. A lot of us rely on friends or family for this but there’s something uniquely different about the insights from someone who isn’t concerned about hurting your feelings with the truth or accomplishing an ulterior motive.
Upon graduating, I had already been on the job hunt for a year and I searched for another year after. I’d kept a few companies on my radar and when positions cropped up that I thought were a good fit, I applied.
I also joined a national Facebook group of successful and empowered women who make it a point to encourage and lift each other up. One of these women was an aspiring life coach, offering free sessions to get experience. If I had not already been privy to the benefits of counseling, I never would have even considered it. But having the curtains on life perspectives gently peeled open by my counselor made me curious about the benefits of a life coach, so I set up an appointment. One of the questions asked while scheduling was what I wanted to discuss. The job search had been a real discouragement, slap in the face and pain in the ass, so why not?
The day came and she called (she was on the opposite coast so face-to-face wasn’t an option). Fate had arranged for me to have an interview already scheduled for just a few days after. I had also been working at a local non-profit for the past year just to gain some experience, and while I loved it there, there wasn’t a paid opportunity available for me. But being submerged in such a wonderful, supportive and creative culture had changed my desires without me realizing. Through this coaching session, I learned what I wanted and how I wanted to feel – which for me turned out to be more important than what I was doing. The people I worked with at the non-profit were all amazing, kind and wildly creative in their own ways. I wanted to be in that kind of culture. She also reminded me that the interview process was just as much about me interviewing the company as it was them interviewing me.
After her probing and thought-provoking questions, I did some homework. As it turns out, the two most important things for me in a company are integrity and support. To my delight, this came up during my final interview with the company I now work for and love. Just yesterday I told my boss I felt like I was hired more as a culture fit than because of my experience and she agreed.
The main take-away: figure out how you want to feel and seek out a company with a culture that will facilitate those feelings. Once you figure that out, when you interview with these companies, you can relax and just be yourself. More and more companies have realized skills can be taught, but an attitude is nearly impossible to change.