Blog - KPCoaching

One Great Job Search Strategy (hint: it’s not rocket science or even new!)

September 27, 2026/by Kathy Parks

Here’s one job-search strategy I wish more people would use – it’s not new or revolutionary, but so many don’t do it. And it can separate you from all the noise out there and the hundreds of applications a hiring manager receives.

Stop just applying for jobs & start talking to people.

It sounds so obvious that I’m a bit reluctant to mention it to my clients. But I still see talented, experienced professionals spending hours submitting application after application – and then waiting for a response that very often doesn’t come.

There’s another step that can make a difference. When you find a role you’re genuinely interested in, do a little detective work. Find the hiring manager, someone on the team, or a person in your network connected to the company. (And there’s lots of ways you can easily do that)

Then reach out – start a conversation.

Introduce yourself. Mention the role. Share briefly why it caught your attention and what you could bring to it. Is there a need or problem that the Organization has that you can help solve? (It really helps if you have done your homework and can show your knowledge about the Org.)

Keep it short, personal and most importantly, human.

Because your goal isn’t to ask a stranger to get you a job – it’s to start building a relationship so you can stop being just another résumé in a very crowded applicant pool (that they may not even see!)

A thoughtful message can show initiative, genuine interest and confidence – and it gives someone a reason to connect your name with the application that they now pull out of their big pile. And maybe even move it to the top of the pile!

Apply for the job for sure, but don’t stop there. A job search isn’t only about submitting applications – it’s about creating conversations & relationships before you get into the room (and to help you get into the room!).

If everything else you are doing isn’t working – try this and see if it helps. If they don’t reply back, nicely sent them a note again – people are busy. But they absolutely appreciate the effort of someone trying to stand out and be seen – if it saves them time, even better.

And sometimes one conversation is all you need to get noticed.

It’s Never too Late to Live Up to Your Potential

September 24, 2026/by Kathy Parks

I believe it is sad when people do not live up to their fullest potential.

It’s a shame – and a waste of how they could have contributed to themselves, their work, their families, and the world. And I care because it means they’ve unknowingly denied themselves of a potentially richer, fuller and happier life.

But what does “living up to your fullest potential” actually mean? And why would someone want to do it anyway?

Potential does not have to mean achieving more simply for the sake of achievement. It can mean recognizing what you are capable of and deciding what you want to do with it. It can mean finding work that allows you to contribute in a way that matters to you.

As a coach I see that people do not always believe in themselves or see what their real potential is. Maybe they have lived small or simply gone along, not expecting very much.

Maybe they are afraid to make the effort, put themselves out there, and perhaps fail.

Or maybe no one else has expected them to become who they really are. No one has noticed what they might be capable of—or taken the time to see it. And that is sad, too – sometimes just a little light shined on them is all they need.

Or, perhaps another person does see the potential in someone but doesn’t know how to bring it out. Seeing possibility in someone is not the same as helping that person recognize it for themselves.

If you have a sense that something is missing from your work or your life, perhaps it is time to stop and think about what else might be out there.

What have you always wanted to do?

What would make you much happier than what you are doing now?

What do you have to contribute that the world might need?

You may not know the answers yet. You may have spent years going along with a path you did not consciously choose. You may have forgotten what you once wanted or stopped expecting that it could be possible.

But that does not mean the potential is gone.

It may mean that you have not seen it clearly yet.

There is still time to stop, look at what is missing, and consider what might be possible for you.

It is never too late to live up to your potential!

What Does Work Need to Give You Now?

September 16, 2026/by Kathy Parks

Some people plan their careers. Others just fall into them.

Either way, many of us do not think much about the choice after that. We go about our lives, doing what we have always done – until something changes.

Maybe the work is not fun anymore. Maybe it is not serving us the way it used to. Or maybe we begin to wonder whether we should have been doing it at all.

Different things matter at different stages of life. Some things become less important, while others become much more important. The work that once suited you may no longer fit who you are, what you value, or what you need from your life.

That does not immediately answer the question of what you should do next. It gives you a better place to begin:

What has changed?

What needs to change?

Before deciding whether to stay, leave, or do something completely different, it helps to ask what your work needs to give you now. What are the non-negotiables you need in your job and your life moving forward? What has become more meaningful? What are you no longer willing to accept? What matters now that did not matter as much before?

It can also be difficult to answer these questions when you do not fully appreciate your own potential.

People do not always see what they are capable of. They may have forgotten what they once wanted to do ‘when they grew up’. Even that answer can keep changing, because we keep changing.

When you cannot see your potential clearly, you may also struggle to see what is possible for you.

So the question is not simply, “What other job c uld I do?”

It may be: How do I reconnect with the passion I used to have? How do I identify what matters to me now? How do I create a path toward it?

Those are difficult questions to work through when you are inside your own head. Sometimes you need an objective person to talk to – someone who can help you explore what has changed, recognize the potential you may not see in yourself, and begin finding a way forward.

I think there is nothing sadder than someone not living up to their potential or realizing their dreams.

The answer – and the final outcome – is usually not what you expect it to be. I have seen this time and time again with my clients. But it is worth taking the journey to find out.

As a starting point, I would ask:

“If nothing changed and you were still in this same role two – three years from now, how would you feel about that?”

You do not have to know the final destination before you begin. You can start by asking what your work and life need to give you now.

Why is it so hard to figure out my next career step alone or how do I find the clarity to make the right decision?

August 17, 2026/by Kathy Parks

People cannot always see clearly when they are in their own heads. I run across this all the time – it’s not because people lack intelligence or self-awareness, but because we all have blind spots. We repeat familiar stories. We protect old identities and we confuse what we have always done with what we must keep doing.

Thinking out loud changes the quality of reflection. When I listen to a client, I am listening not only for the facts but also for what keeps returning: the phrase they repeat, the option that brings their energy up, the trade-off they avoid naming, or the assumption hiding beneath the decision. (or that secret dream they had as a kid…)

That is one of the greatest benefits of career coaching. A coach offers an objective, confidential space where you can hear your own thinking more fully. Workplace coaching research also consistently emphasizes outcomes such as greater self-awareness, learning, performance, and goal attainment. The coach is not there to hand you a life plan. The coach helps you develop the clarity and confidence to build one that is genuinely yours.

My Process: Expand Before You Decide

My working sequence is simple. I call it the ‘See it Clearly’ or ‘Expansion Before Direction’ Framework: or, let’s just take a deep look before we decide to do anything.

1. Step Out of the Immediate Problem

We shift from “What should I do?” to “What is actually going on?” This helps separate the urgent feeling from the deeper issue. Sometimes the job is the problem. Sometimes it is only where the problem is showing up.

2. Expand the Landscape

We look across work, life, and identity. We explore responsibilities, growth, environment, relationships, lifestyle, values, energy, strengths, and where you are in your life. The purpose is to see the full picture before narrowing the options.

3. Surface Patterns and Tensions

We connect the dots. What themes keep returning? Where do your stated goals conflict with the conditions you say you need? What have you not yet given yourself permission to want—or to let go of?

4. Clarify What Matters Now

We identify present-day priorities, non-negotiables, trade-offs, and the conditions that feel best for moving forward. The words “right now” matter. What defined success in the past does not have to define it forever.

5. Choose a Direction, Not a Perfect Answer

Then we move into grounded action. You may decide to stay and redesign your role, strengthen your leadership approach, explore a new industry, test an idea, or begin a career transition. The goal is not certainty. It is enough clarity to take the next honest step.

Should I Stay or Leave My Job? There May Be More Than Two Choices

Career decisions are often framed as a binary: stay or go. But that framing can create unnecessary pressure and hide useful possibilities.

Before deciding, I encourage clients to ask:

What, specifically, is no longer working—and what is still working?
Is the misalignment coming from the role, the organization, the manager, the workload, or the way I am working?
What would need to change for staying to become a genuine choice rather than a default?
What am I hoping a new job will give me that I do not have now?
Which needs are non-negotiable in this stage of my life?
What small experiment could give me more information before I make a major move?

Sometimes these questions confirm that leaving is the right choice. Other times, they reveal that a thoughtful redesign would solve the real problem with less disruption. Either result is valuable because the decision comes from clarity rather than reaction.

So You Do Not Necessarily Need to Blow Up Your Career to Change Your Life

One of the most important things I want people to know is that transformation does not have to be dramatic. You do not always have to leave and upend your career. Sometimes the courageous move is to go. Sometimes it is even more courageous to stay and renegotiate. Sometimes it is to admit that an old ambition no longer belongs to you. And sometimes it is to take one small step toward a possibility you are not yet ready to name as a plan. Either way, the choice is yours – it’s just so much easier to have someone help you see it more clearly!

What Does a Great Career Coach Do? (Hint: More Than Help You Find a Job!)

August 8, 2026/by Kathy Parks

When people ask me, “What does a career coach do?” they are often expecting a practical answer: help me find a job, revise my résumé, prepare for an interview, fix up my LinkedIn profile, or decide whether I should stay or leave. Those things can absolutely be part of career coaching. But the most important work often comes before any of them. A great career coach helps you understand what has changed in you before you decide what needs to change around you. That distinction matters, because the answer may not be a new job at all. It may be a few tweaks, a redesigned role, a different way of leading, a clearer boundary, or a new definition of success that fits who you are now.

Key Takeaways: What Great Career Coaching Really Looks Like

It begins with what is really going on. Before asking, “What should I do?” I help clients step back and explore the deeper question: “What is actually happening?”
It looks beyond the job itself. Work does not exist in a vacuum. Life, identity, relationships, health, energy, values, and the season you are in all shape what will fit next.
It helps you hear yourself. Thinking out loud with someone who listens closely can reveal patterns, tensions, assumptions, and contradictions that are nearly impossible to see when you are caught inside your own mental loops.
It recognizes that feeling stuck may be a sign of growth. Sometimes the identity that helped you succeed no longer fits the person you are becoming.
It expands before it narrows. A strong coach does not push you toward the first plausible answer. Together, you open the landscape before deciding what matters most.
It does not promise a perfect answer. The aim is a direction that is honest, grounded, and fitting—and a next step you can actually take.
It makes room for more than one kind of change. You may leave, stay, redesign, renegotiate, or make a few targeted shifts. Transformation does not always require blowing up your career and running away!

Why Career Clarity Comes Before a Career Decision

When someone feels stuck in their career, the natural impulse is to solve the visible problem. Update LinkedIn. Search job boards. Make a pros-and-cons list. Start asking people what they think you should do.

I understand that impulse because action feels reassuring. But action taken before clarity can carry you straight from one version of the same problem into another. You might leave a difficult boss only to discover that the real issue was the kind of environment you were choosing. You may accept a bigger title and realize that what you really wanted was more time, freedom, or meaning. Or you could change companies without changing the pattern that was wearing you down in the first place.

This is why I begin by slowing the decision down just enough to see it clearly. I am not trying to keep someone stuck in analysis. I am trying to make sure the next move is connected to the life they actually want—not simply an escape from the discomfort they feel today.

Feeling Stuck in Your Career May Mean You Are Becoming Someone New

Many of the mid-career professionals I work with have built successful careers. They have been responsible, capable, and committed. Often, those same qualities make it difficult to admit that something no longer fits.

They may say, “I should be grateful,” “I have invested too much to change,” or “I don’t even know what else I could do.” Underneath those statements, I often hear a more important question: Who am I now, and what kind of work fits that person?

That question is not indulgent. It’s practical – and important. Our priorities and energy changes over time. Family responsibilities, health, loss, success, disappointment, age, and experience can all alter what we need from work. The professional identity that served us ten or twenty years ago may not be wrong; it may simply be incomplete for the person we are becoming.

A great career coach helps you explore that shift without rushing to label it as a crisis. Feeling unsettled can be information. So can boredom. Resentment, exhaustion, envy, or a recurring pull toward something different can all point toward a truth that has not yet been said clearly.

Stay tuned for Part II – the process that can help you find that clarity: Expand Before You Decide

What does success mean to you?

March 24, 2026/by Kathy Parks

You’re not that happy in your job, you may be stuck, and for sure you are exhausted, frustrated, and not thinking straight about the whole thing. And your friends and family aren’t giving you brilliant advice either.

It might be time to slow down and ask yourself a few questions.

My favorite that I love to ask my clients is: What does success mean to you — right now, in this season of your life?

Our definition of success changes over time and you may not have stopped to think about it for awhile – what it means to you right now. Not what you thought when you were young, fresh in the job, not what your parents meant for you and especially not what you ‘should’ be doing. Sit with it for awhile and see what comes up.

Once that’s clear, here’s a few more questions to help you:

What are your non-negotiables, things you have to have in a job?

What would you willing to leave behind?

What should you be saying yes to more often?

What would you regret not trying?

How can you realign or rethink what you are doing?

You can actually reimagine your role from the inside and fall back in love with your work. If it still fits.

The answers are there, waiting for you to give them the space to be heard.

If you’re at a crossroads right now — start here.

What does success mean to you today?

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