If you've already tried on your own and have decided to go for help, your first step is to locate a good, competent psychologist or counselor who isn't going to charge you an arm and a leg. Most universities have psychologists on their staffs who do this kind of counseling on a full- or part-time basis. You can also check with the American Personnel and Guidance Association for qualified practitioners in your area. In their Directory of Approved Counseling Agencies, they list those agencies in the various states which maintain high professional standards. Take the time to check, because the whole realm of counseling is an area which has attracted a large number of quacks. Especially in these times of relatively high executive job instability, someone is always around to take advantage of those who are experiencing adversity.
What should you expect from counseling? First, the counselor should suggest that you undergo a battery of psychological and skill evaluation tests. Then you will undergo a series of relatively structured interviews where you will review the results of your tests-your strengths, weaknesses, areas of interest and so on. Only then will you be ready to discuss and evaluate your job goals and objectives. This process should help you find out:
- If you are suited to the work you've been doing.
- What shortfalls or deficits you have that you can do something about.
- What your strengths are.
- What your interests are.
- What you should be doing.
- Is my existing career obsolete? Must I change careers because jobs are no longer available in my existing one?
- What skills do I have? What do I do well? What do I enjoy?
- What are my weaknesses? Have these caused me difficulty on the job? Which ones can be corrected-or should be corrected? Will this be costly in terms of time, effort or money? What training or self-improvement efforts have I undertaken to increase my value to a prospective employer?
- What problems did I encounter in earlier jobs? If I was fired or terminated, what are the reasons? (Be honest here. If it wasn't due to weakness on your part, say so.) What can I do to avoid these problems in the future?
- What time spans are built into present decisions? (For example: How long would additional training take? How much longer are your kids going to be in college? What risks are built into those decisions?)
- What goals, values, priorities do I already have?
- What do I want to accomplish before I die? What do I perceive my life's mission to be? What have I already accomplished? (Include both business and personal accomplishments.)
- What do I want out of a job? (Do you like line or staff work, large or small companies? What about nonprofit organizations or government? Do you prefer to be a specialist or would you rather have broad responsibilities? What kind of people do you like to work for and with? Can you be satisfied with a restricted job or do you require continual challenge? Do you prefer to "do" or to manage those who do? What about going into business for yourself?) What about travel? Overtime or long hours on the job? What about long-term prospects for advancement?
- Where do I want to work? (In a major city, a suburban or rural area? What region of the country-the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Mountain States, Northwest, West Coast? International? If so, where?) Will I be willing to relocate or do I want to stay where I am?
- What about my life style? (Are you willing to make changes in it, or are you happy with your current life style and unwilling to change if you don't have to?)
After you have answered these questions (and others that you think of yourself), analyze your answers carefully. The last step in completing your analysis is to write your new goals and objectives. You may also want to write a narrative or summary statement which capsulizes who and what you are and where you want to go. You will find a partner useful in this endeavor. Ideally, this should be someone who knows you well, say your husband, wife, brother or sister or a long-term friend. But you and another unemployed executive might find it helpful to undertake a mutual self-help study, using each other as partners and critics.
This activity is nor "make work." You're dealing with the rest of your life, and a little soul-searching is in order. As an older executive, it's especially important that you rethink your life goals and objectives. You're not the same person you were 10, 15 or even 30 years ago. You may be shocked to discover that you've been conducting your life on out-of-date, even archaic assumptions about yourself. Time spent in getting reacquainted with yourself can be invaluable.
