Well, after a hiatus of just over three years (!) I’ve decided it’s time to start blogging again. Why now? Well, I’m now working in the career management field again, I’ve learned a lot over the last three years (some of which I think might be helpful for others), and I want an outlet for some of my thoughts and observations about work and careers.

So, here’s what’s been happening since my last post…

At the end of 2010 I got into a conversation about joining a bank as an internal HR Consultant. For various reasons, including having been in consultancy for ten years, it looked like a great move. It was an opportunity to apply some of the things I’d been helping clients do inside an organisation I was part of, it wouldn’t involve a sales target, it was a great package and they were saying all the right things. In April 2011 I moved.

It turned out not to be a good decision. The organisation’s culture just wasn’t for me (the last corporate HR role I was in, with a big retailer, ended for the same reason). I’ve come to trust my gut instinct over the years and, just at the point at which I was thinking ‘This isn’t working out’, I was called to a meeting by my boss. This was the end of 2011. I thought the meeting would be to discuss the projects I’d be working on the following year; but it turned out that I was caught up in another round of restructuring and was being made redundant. I felt a mixture of shock and relief.

The company provided outplacement support, which I took up (obviously!) Even though I’d been an outplacement practitioner for several years prior to this role, there were two questions I wanted to answer that I knew an impartial career coach could help with: ‘Is there a corporate HR role that would suit me – just not at this organisation?’ and, ‘If not, should I go back into consultancy or do my own thing?’

I was amazed at how the answer to the first question popped up just by doing a few basic exercises – a skills and values card sort and a career map. Clearly corporate HR roles did not play to my strengths, and a conversation with a headhunter made it clear that I couldn’t compete for them credibly against others who were in the market for those jobs.

So that left the second question. I had an idea for a business that would play to my strengths and it’s something I’d considered before. Again, using fundamental career decision tools the answer became clear: the risks and resources required in starting up a business (as the main breadwinner with two young children) outweighed the potential upside.

So very quickly I had a clear focus. A consultancy role. And the single most effective strategy to uncover new opportunities is networking – fortunately, something I’ve always sought to do since my very first days in a B2B role (see this previous post for a great networking philosophy).

One of my first calls was to a member of the Savile Group board; not to ask for a job, but because this person is so well connected – and I’d spent the last year immersed in building an internal network at the bank – that they could provide me with some useful market insights into what was happening in the big wide world and where I could look for new opportunities.

As it turned out, a combination of circumstances meant that there might be a new role at the Group and I was delighted to return in February 2012.

I can’t believe a year has passed already. I look back on my time at the bank as my career detour. I thought the grass was greener and inadvertently stepped into a role that didn’t suit me. I thought I had done sufficient due diligence and it was going to be a good move; but it wasn’t. Fortunately, employing some tried and tested career management techniques helped me land back in a role that I love.

A few client experiences have reminded me of my journey recently, and I thought it was about time that I started putting some of those thoughts in writing. I intend to post more regularly now and hope you get something useful from some of my ideas. Feedback and comments always welcome!