Should you fit in with your organisation?

Virgo 2007

A tale of service or sacrifice?

Since this is the month of Virgo again, (seems like I just finished the last Virgo post – where does time go?) the word service comes to mind. Now I could start a long rant about the non-existent service often encountered here in Holland. However, other than getting that off my chest, it wouldn’t make for a very service-oriented post.

I recently gave a lecture about finding vocation in the horoscope, and I heard other lecturers speak on the same topic. It occurred to me that there are a couple of fundamental approaches to finding a job that suits. One is to look at the market and fit in with what is being asked for. This way we need to mould our C.V.s (and ourselves) to match the desired function.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo

Should we serve?

The other approach, is to start with our own wants and needs and keep them in mind throughout the process. This, of course, is a tricky area, as we need to balance the need for a job (where we mostly serve others wishes) with our own requirements, without sacrificing our own wants.

My view is that we need to match the two – ours and the company’s. I think we should start with our own wants and try to establish our vocation, which I believe few people have actually found. This requires some nerve, as holding firm and finding your niche can take time. However, my belief is that if you have found your true vocation the universe will support you.

Photo by Ian Schneider

Serving together

The question here is how can we serve ourselves and our companies without sacrifice? This must be possible. However, I seem to get many clients who are truly unhappy in their work but fear leaving. Surely this cannot serve the company in the long run, and it often results in absenteeism or worse – burn-out (also in my opinion a Virgo problem partly caused by serving others and not following one’s heart).

In my work as a career counsellor I use methods designed by Adriaan Hoogendijk, a well known career coach and author here in the Netherlands. I have adapted his framework to use astrology as input for the resulting career profile. The framework starts with the question “Who am I?” It then asks “What do I want?” and then “What can I do?” This seems to me to be in the appropriate order. Astrology can be very helpful on all these issues, as long as the sessions are dialogue and not readings, as there is a great need for client involvement. People involved in undergoing career counselling must take responsibility for the process. Once the profile is finished you can get to work looking for that job that fits. But before you can do that you need a good curriculum vitae (C.V.) or resume and then we come back to the original problem. Do you write it for your wishes or bend it for the market? And that leads to the following:

vocation
At a job crossroads and don’t know how to profile yourself?

Some tips based on astrology
Indeed the issue of writing a C.V. arises when we are at a crossroads and is often a stumbling block. Most people appear to find writing about themselves difficult. Making a C.V. is sometimes necessary for other reasons too, like making a profile for a website. I have included some websites with tips below but before that of course I want to voice my opinion about what a C.V. should do. An Aquarian is never short on opinions!

A C.V. should say first and foremost who you are. Sometimes you may be able to say what you are looking for but that will depend on the country and the company and of course the situation. A C.V. should always be accompanied by a letter pointing out the relevance of your C.V. for the situation.

Current trends

In a recent Dutch newspaper (Volkskrant, zaterdag 16 september 2007) there was an article about C.V. writing in different countries. Everyone is upset by mistakes in spelling or grammar. The English seem to be obsessed with lies (i.e. there should be none) and results achieved, although who you know is very relevant; the Americans with references that they really do check; the Germans with the need for a photo and self-evaluation. In Kenya it is apparently necessary to come from a good family. In China a good photo seems to help, along with good connections and overseas experience. The latest idea is to place yourself on YouTube so that potential employers can see you in all your glory. That reminds me of the videos made for dating! So it is a sticky problem. What to do?

Norms and Values

Then there are different norms in companies as well. Astrology can also help with these as well as with country norms. It can be seen that England, a Capricorn country, is very keen on Capricorn principles in C.V’s. In the US horoscope, it can easily be seen that where money or information is involved, trust is an issue, so proof of anything you claim will be important.

Perhaps after all it is best to stick to your own norms and values and make a C.V. that suits you. By being authentically you, you will attract the people and companies that take you as you are which is far better in the long run. So although there are some basics for C.V.s (see sites below) you can use the tips below to help.

Your vocation

I look at the Sun with some other factors in a horoscope to find vocation. The Sun is your heart and following your heart is always good. So here are some words that you can use depending on your sign. This means that you can rewrite the text to give it a different flavour to match you. In your job descriptions you can concentrate on how you express this energy and what advantages this has to any potential employee.

Good ideas, words or themes to use

Aries: challenge, guts, drive, enthusiasm, leadership and pioneering.
Taurus: built, made, achieved and perseverance.
Gemini: communication, ideas, networking and multi-tasking.
Cancer: people person, personnel, feeling and patriotic.
Leo: leader, public eye, presenter, creative, and risk-taker.
Virgo: service-minded, practical, organised, information, detail, helpful and order.
Libra: partner, fair, balanced, relationships and client-oriented.
Scorpio: control, research, influence, politically aware, powerful.
Sagittarius: vision, travel, entrepreneurial, strategy and philosophy.
Capricorn: manager, structure, teacher, long-term, planning and rules.
Aquarius: ideas, future, social, cooperation, teams and groups.
Pisces: intuition, creativity, design and charities.

Of course this is a generalised list which needs further tweaking but your C.V. should reflect these qualities.