Sustainable employability and income versus reality and passion

The employee that career counselor Catharine Jongebloed guided in an outplacement process was a 55-year-old university-educated man who had worked for 27 years at one of the largest international companies in a high-ranking finance position. The company was/is changing and that got him thinking.

He asked himself the following questions: do I still fit in with this company and most importantly, do I still want to fit in here? Taking his own direction on: his vitality and sustainable employability and his relevance for the employer and labor market, now and in the future. He came to the decision to resign from his position and made an arrangement with his employer and was offered an outplacement program.

We talked a lot about his needs and the employee took some tests. It confirmed his feelings and he wanted to look at socially engaged positions. In the distant past, he had once done that on a volunteer basis, especially the intensive counseling with young people. He was also in the fortunate financial position of no longer having to work full-time. On the other hand, he did not feel the need to do a focused year-long training (given his age) but, a short course he was willing to do. We therefore looked at the options that then remained and arranged interviews with various companies and individuals. Given that the Covid 19 outbreak was already leaving its mark on the job market, this was an additional component to take into account. The conversations with various people at various companies were very enlightening and gave him insight into the various activities and background required for the execution of the functions, a number of functions were dropped because the employee did not find the work interesting enough after all and above all did not feel that he could make the difference he wanted.

Taking the above-mentioned influences and science as given, the employee has finally chosen to take on a part-time job in his own field but at a lower level as well as volunteering in the social sector. In the volunteer position, he will have the space to further develop himself by taking courses in the near future and probably move on to a paid position. The current paid position provides some security and a steady income at a company where he feels comfortable and where he fits in.

Summary: The employee can look back on his search with satisfaction and feels he has now made the right choices and is enjoying himself very much in both positions.

- Catharine Jongebloed
Career counselor