Fortunately for me, most of the people I talk with are pretty talented and achieve great things whatever they're doing.
Which makes it surprising that all to often, despite their results, they feel insufficiently rewarded and frustrated in their current role.
They tell me this takes its toll. The long commute. Long hours. Long meetings. Stretching targets, difficult trading conditions. Not seeing the kids to bed. School Fees. Big mortgage. Uncertain future. Limited options.
Some have experienced redundancy (despite managing their careers by the book). Others are expecting it. Or a sideways move that puts them onto special projects and the road to nowhere.
So we talk a bit and start to explore their profile, their specialised skills; and think creatively about some growth areas that could well benefit from their experience and offer opportunity.
Most brands rightly invest a lot of time and effort in understanding their consumers; researching insights that drive innovation and grow equity. Understanding need and segmenting consumers is where it all starts.
This can be applied effectively to any job search. For example plenty of food and drink marketers or sales people have grown globally recognised power brands, but not considered how this B2C experience is highly relevant to (comparatively recently) deregulated markets like utilities. Here companies are experiencing more competition and need to build relationships with their consumers. The same could be argued of the hotel industry, airlines, and so on.
Put in this context people often start to think more positively about options that have been there all along, but hidden.
And in so doing take a step toward unlocking their frustration and realising new opportunities that are there for the taking.
