Walking away from a highly successful, 20+ year, orthodontic career was no small decision for our client, but she was determined to make the change despite the risks involved with giving up a profession she had worked so hard for. She was brave enough to recognise that she was no longer getting the satisfaction or challenge that she was looking for and to act decisively on that conclusion.
However, whilst she was very clear on what she didn’t want, she was lost in terms of her future path. We were left with no illusions that the door was firmly shut on her previous professional life and so our task was to support her to find a new direction and develop an achievable, fresh career strategy. She had high expectations, wanting both intellectual stimulation and challenge and for it to be financially rewarding.
A detailed scoping session allowed us to understand her requirements and expectations. We then developed a programme designed to challenge her underlying assumptions and confirm her core values and priorities. Using a combination of psychometrics with feedback, a variety of bespoke exercises, and 1:1 coaching sessions, we worked with our client to help her achieve deeper self-awareness and greater clarity on what her realistic options were.
This led us to focus on the possibilities within wealth management/private banking where her professional credibility and maturity would be assets and her languages and relationship management skills would be transferable. The commitment to study for appropriate, internationally recognised qualifications (CFA) was also appealing to her.
Finally, using our wide range of contacts, we were able to test the realistic potential of this career path with the COO of a major wealth management firm and made introductions for her to a fund manager, who had himself converted late to the role, and a sector specialist head-hunter.
Our client is now preparing for her next career with a deeper understanding of what makes her happy, what she really values, and the confidence to embrace the new challenges ahead.
“A warm thank you to Jane and Tim for our journey: they both undeniably helped me to explore my options in terms of potential future careers and discover, through a deep introspection, my transferable skills and what actually really matters to me. The next step i.e. the construction and realisation of my goals represents a massively exciting challenge. TBC . . .”