Not Doing Assignments that Don’t Apply

QUESTION:
My career coach has started giving me exercises to do in relation to my job search and identifying my personal skills and interests. Some of the exercises require me to talk about things I haven’t done yet. I think it would be best for me to ask to be excused from doing the exercises where I have no experience.

ANSWER:
Career coaches embark on their careers with a great amount of experience and exposure to a large number of situations. These factors provide them with the knowledge and insight to have a good grasp of what is needed in order to develop a good job search that leads to an optimal career option.

You say you want to avoid doing certain exercises because you have no experience with the focus of the task. Let me start answering this question by posing some counterpoints to you.

• Have you considered that the tasks are preparing you for various situations that will come up in the future?
• Do you plan to never have the experience that is being challenged?
• Why not go ahead and do the exercises so that when the situation arises in real life, you’ll be prepared in the moment to deal with the situation and from the best position possible. You’ll have already been exposed to good responses, superior responses, and responses that could use some work.
• Have you considered that there are many more dynamics being developed through these exercises and that they’re coming to you on a step-by-step basis so you won’t be overwhelmed?
• More importantly, if an employer asked you to do something but you’d not yet done that task and the employer was willing to train you to do it, would you ask to be left out of doing the task because you had no experience? That task might be one of the steps to gaining new knowledge and a better position.

Your coach developed the exercises for your benefit. They’re designed to help you practice certain things and to develop a clearer vision of what you’re doing. They’re also designed to help you be more articulate and professional as you search for the appropriate positions for you, as you apply for work in your objective area, as you interview, and as you strive to be promoted. The exercises are also designed to help you see related alternatives so that you don’t get stuck in a rut. It’s good to have options, especially as things change in response to our new ways of working and the speed at which we work.