Discovering Your Career Potential and Prioritizing Skillset with Jan Barlow

Jan Barlow knows the negative consequences of a bad job fit. It didn’t start that way, though. After switching companies at the height of her career, she was given a position that was very different from what she was hired for and did not align with her skill set. The stress grew over the next eight months as she attempted to fit into the role, causing her to lose more than she expected, personally and professionally. Jan explains, “After experiencing the negative psychological and physical effects of a bad job fit, I vowed as my life’s work to help position people in their strengths.”

It didn’t take her long, and in 2009, she launched Better Job Fit. A non-profit organization serving Veterans and Foster Care alumni to identify the best job based on their skillset to prevent a tough transition into the working world. Over the last decade, her business has expanded to include four other brands of services, serving those in all types of situations who share one common characteristic: an empowered mindset to change the professional status quo.

She describes it this way: “We’ve created an ecosystem that nurtures both personal and professional growth for individuals, businesses, and communities driven to create social impact through their work.” This looks like focusing on people’s strengths, helping both the general public and Veterans and Foster Care alumni with personal business transitions, inviting her clients to discuss and be a part of solutions for their professional development and growth, and expanding the organization’s social impact by matching venture capital companies and nonprofits to meet the needs of the community with grants. Through all these brands, the participants share the same level of awareness and mindset, enabling them to make impactful changes both personally and in their communities.

People have undergone a significant shift in mindset regarding the status quo since the Covid pandemic. Jan explains, “This is why The Great Resignation happened in 2021. When our external distractions are limited and you confine a global population to their homes, people start to look within and ask the deeper questions about what they like and don’t like about their lives. When those rockets of desire spark, they evoke our individual growth and expansion. Change happens.” Although people have been evolving what they do for work for decades now, the hiring process and the employee-employer relationship have lagged. But if more people prioritize their skillset and potential, the hiring process is forced to shift.

This is where Jan steps in to help people understand their exact skills and potential. It starts with her clients taking an in-depth, science-backed job assessment. The assessment, created by a company out of Waco, Texas, over 30 years ago, is something that all companies can use as a tool in the hiring process, but many don’t. Using this technology can help employees “up their human game.” She explains, “When you use objective science to give you a menu of job choices that are a custom match to you, now you can 'Create Your N.E.X.T.' (New. Exciting. Xtra-ordinary. Transition), by combining what you’ve done in previous positions that you loved with your potential.” After Jan’s clients finish taking the assessment, they can take elements of the jobs they had a high match for and learn how to enter those descriptors in Google. This way, there is no hunting on job boards. It’s just customized results by leveraging Google to receive more job opportunities.

Jan will speak to this and more during her breakout session on Friday, August 29, From Job Title to Calling: Unlocking Your Hidden Potential, at the Inspire Her Nexx Chapter conference.

I asked her, What is an example of aligning one’s potential with self-worth? She left us with this to ponder: “If you knew you were a 95% match to a CEO, what would that do to your self-worth and value?”

I don’t know about you, but I think I’ll be reconsidering my mindset.

Join Jan and other powerful women speakers in Dallas, Texas August 29-30 for Inspire Her Nexx Chapter, a transformative women’s conference. We intend to speak to women’s spirits, cultivate their souls and pamper their hearts in a space where diversity and differences are seen as strengths and where women can actively participate.

The Future of Connection for Women

---

Bridget Basinger

I wrote my first short story in elementary school and haven’t stopped writing since. Over the years, I have participated in different projects to pursue my passion for writing and correcting people’s grammar. A few of them have included creating a lifestyle blog, working as an assistant editor with a local magazine, and helping a clothing company start-up with its story branding. I am expanding these skills as an Editorial Assistant at Her Nexx Chapter because I believe in purposeful writing that empowers others to use the abilities they have already. Everyday moments, well-scripted movies, and classic books fuel my inspiration for what you read here.