In my practice working with executives at all levels and millennials starting their careers I’ve noticed that everyone, regardless of experience, finds the middle of their search stressful and difficult.

Welcome to your job search, 2018!

Did you know that being more aware of your natural habits and tendencies can bring you more happiness and productivity in your career?

So you want a job that pays you to do your best work. You want to be appreciated for your experience, your special abilities and your creativity. You want to work for an organization that aligns with your personal values, a place you can feel proud to call home.

I have a 23-year old client who is doing a one year, post-graduate fellowship. During our call this morning he told me that while he enjoys his work it can be slow and that his bosses don’t give him as much work as he’d like. In fact, they expect him to take initiative and suggest work he thinks needs to be done. While he has some ideas for new projects he struggles with how to initiate conversations with his boss who seems so busy with more important work.

Try applying “the engineering design process” detailed in Charles Duhigg’s excellent book and you will learn to make better, less binary and more creative decisions. This “methodical approach to problem solving” removes the emotion so we can view our problems more objectively. It’s an excellent tool for defining career problems and coming up with potentially novel solutions.

I was listening to one of Tim Ferriss’s excellent podcasts the other day, and he made the comment that the best way to guarantee someone won’t mentor you is to ask them directly to be your mentor.