Lost in Your Career? Here’s How to Find Your Way with Mel Goodman.

Have you ever felt a sense of dread creeping in on Sunday night, knowing the workweek ahead doesn’t excite you? Even if, on paper, your career looks successful, you might still feel unfulfilled. In a recent conversation with career clarity expert Mel Goodman, we got to the heart of what makes work truly meaningful—beyond just a paycheck. If you’re ready to stop settling for a job that drains you and start steering your career with intention, this conversation is for you.

Mel emphasizes the importance of self-awareness when it comes to career fulfillment. One of the key exercises she suggests is identifying what energizes you and what depletes you. This simple yet powerful practice can reveal patterns in your work that either align with your strengths or hold you back. The goal isn’t just to escape a job you dislike but to create a career that excites you and brings out your best self.

Another crucial aspect of career growth is learning how to pivot when necessary. Mel breaks down practical steps to navigate career changes without feeling lost. Whether you’re considering a shift to a new industry or seeking more meaningful work in your current field, having a strategy can make the process less overwhelming. The key is to take intentional action rather than waiting for the “perfect” opportunity to come along.

Networking often gets a bad reputation, but Mel reframes it as a tool for authentic connection rather than a transactional exchange. Surrounding yourself with people who inspire and challenge you is one of the fastest ways to grow. Instead of dreading networking events, think of them as opportunities to find mentors, collaborators, and supporters who can help you reach your next career milestone.

Of course, career fulfillment isn’t just about passion—it’s also about knowing your worth. Mel and I dove into the importance of salary negotiations and how understanding your value in the job market can empower you to ask for what you deserve. Confidence in your skills and contributions translates directly into career satisfaction, financial stability, and overall well-being.

If you’ve been going through the motions in your career without stopping to reflect on what truly fuels you, consider this your wake-up call. It’s time to take control, make intentional decisions, and align your work with what genuinely excites you. Finding career fulfillment isn’t a luxury—it’s something you owe to yourself.

 

Mary (00:00)
All right, welcome back to the show guys. So today we’re diving into one of the biggest challenges that job seekers face, gaining clarity on their next step. Our guests will share expert strategies to help you identify your unique strengths, define your professional goals, as well as navigate the path toward a really super fulfilling career. So whether you’re stuck,

considering a change or just seeking direction, this conversation will most certainly help you move forward with confidence. Mel Goodman, welcome to Recruiting Insider.

Mel Goodman (00:37)
Thanks Mary, happy to be here.

Mary (00:39)
Today’s guest, Mel, has built an incredible career in high pressure leadership roles at companies like Salesforce and Square. Now as the founder of WorkMom, she’s on a mission to empower high achieving corporate moms with the resources, strategies, and support they need to thrive both.

professionally and personally. So Mel, let’s kind of start high level. What does it mean to gain clarity in our career and why is it so important?

Mel Goodman (01:07)
Yeah, that’s a great question. So gaining clarity in your career is all about really figuring out what your core values are and how you can align your next step or your current step of your career to those values. And the reason why it’s so important is because without it, you can risk drifting through your career, kind of just going through the motions, making decisions based on

what society expects of you or what’s available to you at the time, rather than really what truly aligns with who you are and what you value. And, you I’ve always had a big picture mindset around career, primarily because if you’re working a 40-hour week, that is over 2,000 hours a year spent at work. And I’ve always believed that it’s important to really ask yourself,

Am I spending that time in alignment with what I’m really passionate about? Because at the end of the day, I want to look back and know that those hours really meant something, that they were part of building a career and a life that I’m really proud of. And that perspective really has guided every career decision I’ve made particularly since becoming a

Mary (02:14)
That’s awesome. And so, you know, I love the idea of really aligning our core values with our career. So, you know, for somebody who’s stuck and they’re like, you know, I like my career. I think I’m ready for a change. I’m a little bit burnt out. I mean, how can they really start to figure out what are my core values and how can I align those with my career, whether it’s their current job or something that they may pursue moving forward?

Mel Goodman (02:38)
Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. The biggest thing or the most important thing that you can do to start getting clear on your values as well as your strengths and your passions, because ultimately you really want to try to align your career with your strengths because then you’re really in more of a flow state. You feel like you’re aligning your strengths with not only what is most passionate to you, but also the business and the bottom line of the business.

So when I think about how you can really identify your core strengths, your core passions, your values, your priorities, it boils down to spending the time getting still and either journaling, working with a coach, talking with a trusted friend, talking with a spouse or partner, and getting clear on a variety of different thoughtful questions such as,

What are your non-negotiables in your next job? Think about the work environment, what kind of flexibility you’re looking for, what kind of company culture you’re looking for, and arguably most importantly, what kind of boss you want to have, because your boss, your manager can make or break your entire experience at your next step. And you want to make sure that you’re jiving with your boss and that you’re aligned with their values as well.

So that’s the first question that I would start asking is like, are those non-negotiables? Another question that you can ask yourself is how do you define success in your career right now? And how has that definition changed over time? For me, for example, since I became a mom, my definition of success has drastically changed. So that’s why it was so important for me to take the time to really get.

on what that means for me today as opposed to thinking about what society’s definition of success is for me. Another question that you could ask is, when you think about your ideal work day, what does it look like? What kinds of activities energize you? What kinds of activities, if you were to look back at your last career step or previous steps in your career, which activities actually drained your energy and ruled those out?

Mary (04:45)
Yeah.

Mel Goodman (04:46)
And then what you’re going to start to see through all of these questions, and I can also offer some more, but what you’re going, what’s going to happen is you’re going to start to see pattern recognition. You’re going to start to recognize the things that really stand out to you as far as your core values, your non-negotiables, what really matters to you in this next step, what responsibilities are important to you, things like that.

Mary (05:09)
Yeah.

Mel Goodman (05:09)
Another question that you could ask yourself is, what are you most proud of accomplishing in your career so far? What made that experience so meaningful to you? Or what does work-life balance mean to you if that’s something that’s really important to you? So let’s say a non-negotiable of yours is creating more harmony or balance between work and life. Okay, well, what does work-life balance mean to you then? So it’s really about digging deep and getting very, very thoughtful around

those different very important questions that can help you look back one day knowing what all that time spent in your career was for.

Mary (05:44)
Yeah. I think that it’s so important to sit down and just be quiet with yourself. You know, so I loved that first point about just journaling and writing down your thoughts because I know that a lot of people are talking about it on LinkedIn and across, you know, social media and everywhere, but I feel like a lot of people aren’t really putting that into practice. And, you know, maybe I’m calling myself out here because

You know, I’m always like, yeah, I need to sit down and journal. And even, you know, last year I purchased a journal and I sat down and, I wrote a personal mission statement and I started to think about some of my deepest values and goals and desires. And it’s really, really hard to do, you know, especially when you’re, you’re really super busy and you just, you feel like you don’t have a lot of time to sit down and really ask yourself some of those tough questions, but it’s

important to do, you know, even if it’s only 10 minutes and you set aside time for yourself to sit down and do some of those deep thinking and have some of those deep thoughts, your once you’re quiet, your mind is going to tell you so much more than you can even imagine.

Mel Goodman (06:48)
100%. Absolutely. And to your point, you know, it’s, it’s a really busy season for everyone right now. And so for, for those of us that are in really busy seasons, you can still find small pockets, small moments to navigate these questions, whether that’s, you know, on a short walk outside, or perhaps, you know, in the car, could be, you know, at night you’re reflecting, right? Just finding small pockets of time.

And then another trick that you could do if you don’t have the bandwidth or you might not have the motivation to journal on your own all of these bigger thought provoking questions, you could simply at the end of each day for just the next couple of days just jot down what drained my energy today and what gave me energy today. That will kickstart the process for you.

Mary (07:35)
percent.

100%.

So what do you think makes it so hard for people to figure out their next career step?

Mel Goodman (07:43)
I think that’s a really great question. And I think it’s, it’s a number of things. It’s based on the individual, right? It could be, it could be a past experience that worries them about a future experience that they’ve had. It could be not knowing what they want in their next step. It could be complete wanting to make a complete shift, perhaps from corporate to let’s say entrepreneurship or from one industry to another, and they don’t know where to begin.

It could be not knowing how to network. There’s a variety of different things that could come up that would prevent somebody from not knowing how to navigate.

Mary (08:19)
Yeah, and I think that it also ties into having that clarity too, you know, because it goes back to, you know, and I guess I think about my own personal experience where, you know, I worked for a big company and I felt really fulfilled in my career. I really enjoyed what I was doing, but I knew that there was more out there for me. But I never took the time to ask myself those questions, to really sit down and think about

What is it that lights me up? What do I do that puts me into a flow state and that actually fulfills me and gives me purpose? And another kind of bottleneck for me was just this thought that I don’t think I could find something better, right? Like I like my job. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with my job. I wanna stay put because I don’t think that I’ll be able to find something better.

Mel Goodman (09:01)
Mmm.

Mary (09:10)
And now, know, hindsight, you know, fast forward six, seven, eight years, it’s like, I love what I’m doing now a hundred times more than, than I did in that position. So, you know, I think for a lot of people too, it’s this mindset shift that needs to occur.

Mel Goodman (09:25)
Absolutely. That’s, it’s so spot on Mary, because a lot of us get stuck where we’re at in our career and think, this is just it. You know, this is fine. This is fine. And I’m going to make do with this or I’m happy enough. Right. But I would argue, and I would argue to have that, that person that has that mindset to challenge themselves, to really think about is there something more for me? And, you know, I’ve always, I’ve always.

thought that gumption is one of the greatest qualities that you can have in your career, in life, in so many different things. Having that ability to think in a bold way and also take bold actions, right? And an example of that, an example of creating that mindset of gumption and boldness is asking yourself, what more is out there, right? How can I challenge myself to think bigger?

for myself because generally you have that opportunity in front of you and you’re just not aware of it yet.

Mary (10:23)
Yeah, absolutely. You know, and I think about clarity, you know, and for me, I write resumes and I help clients create personal brands through LinkedIn optimization. And when you’re going through the job search process, I feel like gaining clarity is the first step that you need to take. And I think that a lot of people overlook the importance of it. So from a job searching perspective,

before somebody even jumps into the job search or jumps back into the job search, whether they’re currently employed, happily employed, or they’re a mom and they’ve taken a bunch of time off. What’s the best way to gain that clarity before jumping back into the job search? why is it important from a job searching perspective?

Mel Goodman (11:08)
Yeah, so the question is twofold. How do you, can you repeat the two questions to make sure I have them?

Mary (11:14)
Yeah, I think what I’m trying to get at is just the importance of gaining clarity before you jump back into the job market and start putting yourself out there and networking and spending all of this time and energy applying to a bunch of different jobs. Because just to give it a little more color, when I’m working with my own clients, sometimes I’ll have a client that comes to me and they’re like, well, I…

worked in a startup environment, right? So I’ve worn all of these different hats and I can do all of these different things. So I think when I’m applying to new jobs, I want to apply to marketing and I want to apply to project management jobs and I want to apply to sales jobs. And it’s like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, backup. You know, the first step, you know, especially if somebody is working with me is gaining that clarity and figuring out what is it that they want to do so that I can best help them.

Mel Goodman (12:04)
Absolutely. Yeah. So I mean, you, you hit the nail on the head. is critically important to know what you’re looking for before you start the job search, before you’re spending time with somebody like you, who’s going to support them in their resume, in their interviewing processes, et cetera. So that number one, just the most obvious reason is so that they’re not wasting their time, right? And they’re not spinning their wheels. That can also lead to another

negative mindset, right? Where if you’re spinning your wheels, if you’re applying to, if you’re just kind of seeing what’s going to stick, then it’s going to lead to this negative mindset. And you’re not going to feel like you’re actually moving forward with your job search. So one of my members actually inside work mom was in a similar situation where, you know, she was at a company for over 10 years. This was a long time before she had interviewed. It had been

you know, a long time before she had learned how to network again, all of the things. And so she went through the, the, a lot of the content inside my, my platform around gaining clarity. There’s a gaining clarity module where we do a life alignment blueprint. You get clear on what your current state is, what your future state wants to be.

Mary (13:09)
Mm-hmm.

Mel Goodman (13:17)
And then we go into what your core vision is for yourself and what your values are for yourself. And then as moms, we also get clear on our new identity because that’s that’s a big shift for us. Once we become moms is our identity shifts. And so the biggest piece of feedback that I got from, from this member was before she started the game clarity module, she was just spinning her wheels. She was.

throwing resumes here and there, networking with all these different types of people, leaders, different industries, but she didn’t know really what she was looking for. And once she narrowed in on exactly what she was looking for, it took her a couple of weeks to find her next step. And so that’s why it’s so important. It’s so, so important to figure out what you really want because not only is it going to save you time,

but it’s going to come across in the interview process to the hiring manager that you’re very clear on what it is you’re looking for. And a hiring manager really wants to see that. Having hired so many people in my career, I had a lot of, you know, pattern recognition across all of the candidates. And one of the biggest things that stood out to me really was, do they really know what they want in this next step? And have they articulated it? And does their story previous to this next potential opportunity

Mary (14:14)
Totally.

Mm-hmm.

Mel Goodman (14:32)
connect the dots as to why this would be the right next step for that candidate. So that’s why it’s so, important.

Mary (14:38)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, I think that you bring up a great point about interviewing. And I think that that’s another thing that’s completely overlooked when you’re trying to gain clarity in your career is how that can actually just reinforce, you know, how well you do in an interview when you’re passionate about the position or the company that you’re applying to when your values truly align and it actually light you up and you’re excited about it.

it can make such a huge difference.

Mel Goodman (15:08)
That and also it’s not just your core values, right? That you want to gain clarity on. So much of this is getting clear on what your core strengths are too, because it’s so important to be able to articulate through storytelling in an interview process, what your core strengths are. And by strengths, I don’t mean the strengths that can be taught. It’s the strengths that can’t be taught. That’s what hiring managers are looking for. The innate qualities

Mary (15:17)
Yeah. Yep.

Totally.

Mel Goodman (15:36)
that can’t be coached. And honestly, one of those qualities that higher-ing managers are looking for is, is this person coachable? That’s an innate strength, right? So, so a lot of, a lot of the gaining clarity aspect of interviewing is getting super clear on what sets you apart and how you can stand out amongst this sea of other candidates out there.

Mary (15:59)
Totally. Yeah, and that’s a great point. So when someone’s trying to find their strengths, where do think they should start?

Mel Goodman (16:05)
You know, it really boils down to again, asking thought provoking questions. So asking what tasks or projects make you lose track of time because you enjoy them so much. Or when was the last time someone complimented your work and what did they say? Or it could be reflecting on moments in their career where they felt really proud or accomplished or energized. And then asking, you know, what

what did they do to contribute to that success? It could also be asking your closest friends or your closest colleagues, what do you see in me that kind of gives me that 10 % edge over others that you haven’t seen in others, right? So there’s a variety of ways that you can get clear on your strengths, but I think a lot of it boils down to what energizes you versus what drains you because what energizes you

are most often strengths that are tied to those energizing tasks.

Mary (17:01)
And I absolutely resonate with that too. And when I think about my own personal life, this was, I ran into a huge wall of burnout last summer. And so that was something that I needed to think about myself was, okay, I’m doing too much. I admit that I realized that. And what can I get rid of? And for me as an entrepreneur, a solopreneur, it’s really hard for me to let go of things.

You know, there were certain things that were more administrative that it’s like, well, I could hire like a virtual assistant or somebody to help me out with some of these things. So like you said, I kind of sat down and I reevaluated my strengths and my passions, what actually lit me up. And what I found personally was social media absolutely drains my energy. And writing is something that absolutely lights me up and puts me in a flow state.

Like I’ll start writing a resume or I’ll start, you know, even if it’s content writing, I’ll start writing and I’ll look up and two hours have gone by and I’m like, my gosh, where did that time go? Because I think that that’s one of the only times in my life that I truly get into a flow state. So I, you know, I love the way that you explained that.

Mel Goodman (17:51)
Mmm.

Mmm.

Well, and I think that that’s such a great example because look at your business, look at what you do, right? You are essentially writing for a living. You’re writing content. You’re supporting others with their content, their resumes. So it just goes to show that, you know, you’ve been able to find what really aligns with your strengths in your career. And I’m sure that feels so good. And it makes you, I imagine it makes you feel like, okay, I’m using my time in a way that

Mary (18:17)
Exactly.

Mel Goodman (18:37)
I’m gonna look back on Down the Road knowing what it was all for.

Mary (18:40)
Yeah. Yeah. And I think to, you know, kind of pivoting the subject, you know, to something we were talking about just a little bit earlier, you know, and those people and kind of relating it back to my story where it’s like, you know, I’m in this job that I like. I don’t think that I can find anything better. I think that a lot of people that I’ve spoken with who have maybe settled in their career are just kind of scared about taking that next step.

you know, whether they found that clarity or not, they’re either scared of taking the next step or even scared of making the wrong move.

Mel Goodman (19:06)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mary (19:13)
What would you say to somebody who might be scared, you know, that they might take a step and it’s the wrong thing?

Mel Goodman (19:18)
My guidance there is nothing has to be forever, right? I think what holds people, another thing that holds people back from taking the next step is this worry that that next step has to be permanent. It has to be forever. And I’m of the belief that in today’s times, it’s okay to…

not necessarily to jump around. We don’t want to see jumping around, right? But I do think it’s okay to take a risk to see if this risk is going to be worthwhile under the assumption that, okay, if it’s not, I’m going to stick it out for at least a year. I’m going to give it my time and I’m going to find something else. So that’s how I think about it. know, some, might have a different perspective from that standpoint.

around taking that kind of risk, but I do think that that mindset holds people back from finding an opportunity and getting out of their current situation that might be really toxic, as an example.

Mary (20:05)
Yeah.

Totally.

Yeah, absolutely. It’s like, we only live once, right? So if there’s something that you think you want to do, just freaking go for it. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that there’s also a lot of overwhelm there. You know, when people are trying to find that clarity, there’s just so many different options, you know? So, I mean, what advice would you give to someone who feels totally overwhelmed about all of the options that actually exist?

Mel Goodman (20:26)
Exactly, exactly, 100%.

As far as advice that I would give somebody about all of the options that exist, I think, again, it really boils down to knowing what you want, because then you can start to filter all the options out there, right? So once you know what you’re looking for and what culture you’re looking for, what industry you want to be a part of, the types of leaders that you want to work with, then you can start to narrow in on places like LinkedIn, for example. You can start to see this big sea of opportunity.

and start to filter and once you know what you want in this next step, you’re gonna be able to filter a lot faster. So that’s how I would recommend it. Again, it really goes back to this whole concept, this theme of getting so clear on what it is that’s most important to you in this next step so that you can filter through all of the opportunity out there.

Mary (21:34)
Yeah, absolutely. And from a networking perspective, how could just talking to the right people or networking actually help someone gain more clarity about their career?

Mel Goodman (21:46)
Yeah. Well, you know, I think that networking is all about the long, the long-term view, right? It’s a give-get. It’s about building relationships. It’s all about meaningful connections and the way that, you know, networking can support you in helping figure out what this next step is for you is by instead of asking for an opportunity through this person that you’re networking with, for example, asking for

maybe 15 minutes to learn about their current, their, their current job and their current situation, their current company to start to again, build patterns around, you know, who they’re talking to, what they’re hearing. And then from there, identifying, you know, through networking, which opportunities are going to align with what I’m looking for. So you can utilize networking, not necessarily just as a way to get your next step, but as a way to

get more information to learn more about a company. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be the hiring manager that you’re networking with. It can be somebody that’s in the exact same role that you would be interviewing for. So let’s say, for example, you are looking to become an account executive at a tech company, reach out to another account executive at that tech company that you’re looking to join and start to learn from that account executive.

Mary (22:39)
person.

Mel Goodman (23:04)
what their experience is like, what the culture is like, what it’s like working with their boss, what kind of growth opportunities they have, what they would potentially change at the company that they’re at, or some questions that I love asking when it comes to interviewing are,

really understanding what the values and the culture is, right? So like thinking back on a really great experience that you had with somebody else that works here that previously held this role or you specifically, why was it so great? That’s more of like a hiring manager question, but it could be, you know, from a cultural standpoint, what’s something that would happen here that wouldn’t happen at other organizations? Or when you’ve done your best work here,

What about the culture has enabled you to do that? Those are really important questions to ask from those that you’re networking with so that you can really start to learn about the culture of that organization before you start interviewing.

Mary (24:01)
Absolutely. mean, you’re getting insider information there, right? I made a post recently on LinkedIn about informational interviewing. And I think that it can be so valuable. And it doesn’t matter where you’re at in your career. I think that there’s this stigma out there that informational interviewing can only be done by college students. And it’s like, no, anybody. Whether you’re trying to pivot in your career, you want to change industries, you want to go to another company, another…

industry, you whatever it is, you can learn so much from talking to a peer within that company and, you know, just getting their insights, get to know what the day to day is. What do they, what do they actually do? Because sometimes if you just read the job description, there’s so much more to it than what’s listed on that job description. So you can actually find information and read between the lines and figure out what your life would feel like.

and look like on a day-to-day basis.

Mel Goodman (24:56)
Absolutely. And oftentimes you don’t know exactly what the role, the company, the culture, the leader is going to be like until you’re actually inside. So that’s why this step is so important. And I do want to acknowledge that I understand that each of these different steps that we’re talking about here take a lot of time, right? It takes time to get clear. It takes time to really understand what sets you apart. It takes time to network and it takes time to have these conversations, these informational

Mary (25:01)
Exactly.

Mel Goodman (25:24)
you know, interviews, right? At the same time, it’s so critical for all the reasons that we’ve already talked about, right? If you rush through the process because you are so eager to get to that next step or you really need that next step, you are more likely to end up in that situation where one year later you’re looking back and you’re in the exact same situation that you’re in today. So taking the long road is so important, even though I…

Mary (25:42)
percent.

100%.

Mel Goodman (25:50)
completely recognize that all of these things do take time.

Mary (25:53)
Yeah. Should people be thinking about salary and how that aligns with their morals, their goals, or even just their personal goals or expectations?

Mel Goodman (26:02)
I think that this all depends on what you’re motivated by, right? If you’re motivated by compensation, absolutely. And you, you want to feel like your time is worth your value, right? And so a hundred percent. I think that’s really important personally, but again, it boils down to what really motivates you.

Mary (26:20)
What would you say to someone who feels just stuck on a career path and that they didn’t really choose for themselves and they’re ready to move on?

Mel Goodman (26:30)
Mmm.

Yeah, a lot of the questions that I already shared are going to align with feeling really stuck, right? So taking a really big step back and understanding first, why do I feel stuck? What is it about this current situation that is making me feel so stuck and what would it take to feel unstuck? And based on the current situation that I’m in, that I feel really stuck on again,

What is draining my energy? And how do I ensure that the next step that I’m going to take is not going to have those specific tasks or responsibilities that really drain my energy?

Mary (27:07)
So what would be the biggest takeaway from this conversation today? And for somebody that’s trying to gain that clarity, right? They’re taking the first step in gaining the clarity. What advice would you have for that person?

Mel Goodman (27:20)
Yeah, I mean, the advice that I’d have for that person is if you’re navigating a career shift or gearing up for an interview or trying to get clear on what this next step is, my advice is pretty simple. It’s really about being intentional about what your next step is going to be. It’s not about perfection. It’s about intentionality. It’s about knowing your story, showcasing your innate qualities that cannot be taught through storytelling.

and asking great questions, not being afraid to take bold steps. Those are the things that really stand out because that’s what I’ve looked for time and time again when I’m building my teams. So that’s what I would recommend as far as my advice for those that are seeking new opportunities.

Mary (28:07)
love it, Mel. Where can we find you on social media?

Mel Goodman (28:09)
Yeah, I’m primarily on LinkedIn under Mel Goodman and on Instagram workmom.it.

Mary (28:15)
Thank you so much for coming on today.

Mel Goodman (28:17)
Thanks, Mary.