Erin Ewart

15Jun 2021 by Erin Ewart No Comments

You Don’t Need To Have It All Figured Out

By Erin Ewart Seven years ago this week, I stepped into the unknown and started my first independent consulting project. At the time, I thought I’d just be doing a few projects as I looked for my next full-time role; I had no idea that I was planting the seeds of what would become Careers for Social Impact and the next chapter of my career. Looking back, there were a few hints I might go in this direction: I went to business school, and from time to time I’d imagined it would be fun to start a coffee shop or wine bar (not a career coaching business!). But did I actually have a concrete goal to launch a small business seven years ago? No. Did I have a business plan? No. Did…

28Apr 2021 by Erin Ewart No Comments

Wondering What’s Next In Your Impact Career? Start Here

job search, strategy

By Erin Ewart Record levels of turnover are expected this year as the economy recovers and more people feel comfortable leaving their jobs. After a challenging year that has helped all of us get more clarity on what's important, many of these job seekers will be looking for work that is more aligned with their values, priorities, and purpose, and that allows them to make a positive impact on the world. If finding mission-driven work is your goal, we have a roadmap for you. Our Careers for Social Impact Career Transition Framework breaks down the process of moving toward your next impact career step into three distinct phases: Build Your Foundation, Define Your Direction, and Find Your Fit. To successfully use this process as you search for what's next, you’ll…

17Mar 2021 by Erin Ewart No Comments

5 Keys to a Successful Negotiation

negotiation, strategy

By Erin Ewart Of all the topics we cover in our coaching programs, negotiation tends to be one that provokes the most questions and discomfort. And it’s no wonder that so many of us don’t feel comfortable negotiating. We typically get little (or no) training on how to negotiate, and when we end up in a high stakes situation like negotiating a job offer, we can feel totally lost. But negotiation is such an important skill, both in your career and your life overall. And like any other skill, it’s something you can learn and get better at, starting right now! We can’t promise that negotiating will ever be your favorite thing or that you won’t get nervous during these conversations, but there are definitely things you can do to…

24Feb 2021 by Erin Ewart No Comments

An Update on Our Commitment to Anti-Racism

updates

By Erin Ewart As we recognize and honor Black History Month, I thought it was a good time to share an update with you on our commitment to anti-racism. I shared some initial thoughts on this over the summer, and today I want to share what we have been working on since then, and what we are committed to doing in the year ahead. What We’ve Been Focused On In the early stages of this work we have been focused on three main areas: 1. Naming our values. As a foundation for this work, we have formalized our organizational values, with one of these being Equity & Access. Just as we encourage our clients to get clear on their values before embarking on a career transition, we recognized that it was…

15Dec 2020 by Erin Ewart No Comments

Job Searching? Take These 3 Steps Now to Start the New Year Strong

job search, networking, strategy

By Erin Ewart It’s mid-December, and the end of the year is so close we can taste it. Taking a break at the end of the year is always important, and this year we all need one more than ever. This is true if you’re job searching or in career transition too. You have to take breaks to keep your energy and motivation up during this process, or it's very likely you will burn out. So if you’re planning to take a little break from your search over the holidays - great! Make sure to decompress and truly unplug for a few days if you can. But before you step away, there are three important things you can do to wrap up the year on a great note and make…

28Oct 2020 by Erin Ewart No Comments

5 Ways Your Network Can Sustain – Not Drain – You

networking

By Erin Ewart This week in our Job Search Bootcamp program, we’re focused on networking, a topic that our clients often have a lot of anxiety and negative perceptions about before we dive into what it actually means. I’ve written a lot in the past about networking because I think it’s one of the most challenging, misunderstood, and important parts of the job search and career development process. People often say they find networking to be draining, but I believe it doesn’t have to be, and that if you can do it in a way that feels authentic to you it can be fun and energizing (yes, even if you're an introvert like me!). And I would argue that rather than draining us, our networks are actually the thing we…

26Jun 2020 by Erin Ewart No Comments

We’re Halfway Through the Year. How’s it Going?

career coaching, strategy

By Erin Ewart All the sudden it's June, and we're almost halfway through the year already. As we navigate this time of so much transition, it’s especially important to take a step back at this point in the year and ask ourselves how we're doing, and how things are going in our lives and careers. So much has changed and shifted over the past year. For me, those shifts included moving to a part-time work schedule (and then back to full-time again) while taking care of two small kids, rethinking our business strategy in light of the changing job market and economic climate, and working to build a bigger focus on racial equity and anti-racism into my life and work. As the world reopens, I know I need to consider…

22May 2020 by Erin Ewart No Comments

How to Plan When Planning Feels Impossible

job search, strategy

By Erin Ewart If you’re anything like me, these last few months have passed in a weird time warp, seeming to both take forever and fly by at the same time. And it’s no wonder we’re feeling this way: we’re experiencing something called “temporal disintegration”, which means we lose track of time when the future is in question. And the future is definitely a great big question mark right now - but we still have to think about what's next. It’s such a paradox: how can we plan our lives, careers, or anything else, when things are changing all the time and we have no idea what will happen next month, or even next week? It’s a question I’m really grappling with right now, both personally and professionally. We have…

01Apr 2020 by Erin Ewart No Comments

How to Network Right Now

job search, networking

By Erin Ewart What a month it’s been. Like all of you, I’m feeling overwhelmed as I process everything that’s happened in just a few short weeks. I’m also feeling overwhelmed by the volume of content that’s being shared right now, and I know you may be as well - so if you’d like a quick summary of the tips below in video format, click here! In the coming weeks, we'll aim to address some of the common questions we’re hearing from our clients, and the first one I wanted to tackle is how to network right now. Networking is always important for your career, and that’s going to be true more than ever as the hiring landscape gets more and more competitive in the coming months. But it’s also…

12Mar 2020 by Erin Ewart No Comments

Job Searching During Uncertain Times

job search, strategy

By Erin Ewart As I write this, we are experiencing a unique and in some ways unprecedented series of events. The news is constantly shifting and has us on high alert: a global pandemic. Markets falling, schools closing, and events and travel plans canceled. We are all being impacted by this, and it’s infusing a level of uncertainty and anxiety into our lives in a way we rarely experience. If you’re looking for a new job, you may be feeling especially worried right now. What does this mean for your search? Is there anything you can or should be doing differently in response to what’s happening in the world? It’s a tough question to answer, because there is still so much we don’t know about how this will all play out.…