A Job That Ticks Every Box

Speaker: Lizzie M., Executive Director | JPMC

Lizzie M.: BossmakeHer has changed my life in three really distinct ways. First of all, it gave me the confidence to step back and really think about what I wanted from this next phase of my career in a way that I hadn't done for many, many years. Secondly, it gave me structure and a supportive environment to really think about how I approached my career search and how I looked at it and examined what I really wanted and how I went about that search in the most effective way possible. And thirdly, it pushed me out of my comfort zone in many, many ways that I didn't even really know about when I first went into the BossmakeHer experience. And I learned a lot about myself, and I also positioned myself in ways that I would not have been able to do on my own.

Lizzie M.: There are actually two phases of the BossmakeHer programme, which were most valuable to me. The first one was the clarity phase. You know, I'd come out of a pretty difficult job situation, and I hadn't really thought for a long time about what I wanted or what I needed. And for me, just taking a little bit of time to reflect on that was very, very useful and helpful and actually kind of quite emotional for me, just thinking about what it was that I wanted. And actually, when I got the job that I'm going into shortly, and I will look back on that clarity phase. Actually, the job I'm going into ticks all of the boxes and that I said back before I even started looking, that I said that I wanted. And so that's kind of good. It's good to reflect on that before I even started looking. And then the second part that was most useful for me was the networking campaign. I've got to say I went into that completely, awkwardly and feeling very awkward and cringeful about it. And I pushed ahead anyway. I made myself lists about, you know, pushing myself out of my comfort zone to to do the networking campaign, which was incredibly successful. And actually, ultimately, one of the networking contacts I made within the networking campaign was someone who ultimately led me to getting the job that I'm going to be starting shortly. So it worked, despite my levels of awkwardness at the beginning.

Lizzie M.: The three words I would use to best describe BossmakeHer are empowering, insightful, and effective. Empowering because it really did empower me to think about my whole job search and how I was positioning myself in the job market completely differently. I just feel like I am positioning myself completely in a different way, and really owning how my brand works in the market and how my skills and experience are an effective asset going forward rather than, you know, just not really knowing how to position them and not really being able to, effectively use the experience and skills that I have into my next role. Secondly, insightful. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about the market. I learned a lot about the best way to position myself. You know, I've been in the job market for quite a long time now. Obviously, things have changed. And you know, the best way to really leverage my skills and position them in the best way to get the best job for me going forward. And effective because it worked. You know, I, yeah, I'd heard all of the stories about you know, trust the process and the process will work. And you know, it's hard to listen to that at the beginning when you're feeling a bit down on yourself about what where your next job will take you. But it's an incredibly effective process. And you know, I trusted the process. I went through all the steps. I participated in calls. I listened to webinars, and I worked with the coaches, and it worked. So there you go. It's effective.

Lizzie M.: If my friend was in the same situation as I was, or was doing a career pivot or needed to rethink about how they were positioning themselves in the market, I probably would advise them not to do it on their own, because, you know, these kind of major milestones in your career life. And I would say, in my experience, you need structure and you need objectivity. And you need a tried and tested methodology to be as effective as possible. And I think, from my own experience, I definitely don't think I could have done that alone. And I definitely needed the structure and the objectivity that BossmakeHer provided. I think sometimes it's really hard for us as women to be objective about the value we bring. And sometimes we need, often we need actually, someone to look at the value we bring and the skills and experience we've got, and to be able to position that and package that in the best possible way. So that's why I think this has been very valuable. And I would probably tell my friend to have a word with BossmakeHer and see how they could help her.