4 steps to take before transitioning into a new career

If we pay close attention, we will notice that there tend to be - at least - a few signs that it is time for either a new job – or a change of career direction.

Have you ever returned to work after a great break or holiday, only to experience that sinking feeling as you join your first meeting on your first day back? I know I have.

You do your best to switch on and listen, but no matter how hard you try, you feel the enthusiasm drain away as quickly as the holiday after-glow.

You try hard to look engaged, and interested and add some frequent nodding into the mix to show how much you agree with whatever is being discussed. You throw in some pithy discussion points and some potential solutions, knowing that this will go the way it always does.

There will be more discussions about the very same topics, more meetings, more documents to prepare, more noise. Then silence. Things will continue, much as before.

You catch a glimpse of your face on-screen in Teams and what you see confirms how you’re feeling. You know yourself. And you know enough to know that you have had enough.

You’ve been saying all the right things or staying silent for years, hanging on in the hope that things might change. The truth, if you want a change, you’re going to have to instigate it.

1) Say it out loud!

Honour what you’re feeling. Rather than shutting it down or immediately smothering it with positive thoughts, give it the space it deserves. Say it out loud. Say how you feel and why you feel that way. Let it out. Own it. It’s important.

Journal about it – in a notebook, in a Word document on a scrap of paper, or record a voice note – whichever method works for you. Remember it’s your journal and it can take any form.

Before and during my own career transition, I journalled by writing an anonymous blog. I found it to be deliciously freeing to write in the open, while enjoying the shelter of using a name that was not my own.

Getting your thoughts, words and feelings out of your head and in a safe place can be very therapeutic. It also offers you the opportunity to check back and honour the progress you have made as you move into and through your career transition. If it helps, your journal could be a live one – in the form of talking with a trusted friend or confidante.

Now seems like a good point to highlight that we all have ‘off’ days. Maybe it was the topic of the meeting that threw you off, or it was the colleagues (from a different team or organisation) who were in attendance. Maybe it was just a gut feeling.

To honour this possibility ask yourself some questions about the meeting or other event that has triggered your wish to move on, for example, what was said, what wasn’t said, what actions could you take personally to change things and how and when you could take such actions. What information or support might you need from others? How would you get such support and who would you get it from?

Having explored those possibilities and any others that come up, reflect again on the meeting or other inciting event. If you conclude that this is a pattern, and is something beyond your control, it’s time to go explore further.

2) Take the helicopter view

Step back and extend your questions more widely by applying them through the lens of a helicopter view – in other words, away from being in the weeds of the day-to-day work. For example:

What is the culture of the organisation?

What are the dynamics of the team you work with?

How is the project or the work run?

How are priorities decided?

How are priorities communicated?

What are the ways of working?

Who are the major players and what part do they play?

Keep asking these questions until you have none left to ask.

Next, make notes under each of answers to the questions. Use post-it notes, so that you can move them around more easily. If you have a lot of post-it notes, cluster them according to shared themes so that you end up with wider themes, for example, ‘hierarchical’, ‘lack of visibility’, ‘lack of prioritisation’. Under each of the themes, write a sentence or two about how each of these areas affects you.

3) Make it about you

You’ve spent some time looking at the organisation or company.

Now it’s time to focus in on yourself.

Think about your workloads, your strengths, your motivations, your working style.

What is or is not working for you when you consider each of these areas?

Some good open-ended (coaching-style) questions to ask include:

• How does working in this environment/for this organisation serve me?

• Does the work resonate with me?

• What does resonance look/smell/feel/sound like?

• How fulfilled or motivated do I feel?

• Where do I see myself - six months, a year, two years or five years from now?

• How does the culture of the organisation align with who I am?

• How does working with this organisation/department/team/group make me feel?

• How is the work/the organisation affecting my health?

  
  

4) Check in with your identity

If your answers lead you to conclude that a change of career is what you want, and is in your best interests, here are some additional questions for you:

Who are you?

Who do you want to be?

What is important to you right now?

How do you decide what qualifies as being important to you?

Checking in with yourself with questions like these can help you to decide where to go next and can help to keep you on course, even if the overall goal (for example the choice of future career) changes.

Keep exploring and discovering, by asking yourself questions as you journey through your transition and as you consider your next role. Working on yourself pays dividends because we are not our job, but we are what we brought into the job.

Debbie

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I provide support for career transitions through 1:1 coaching. Book a no-obligation chat to find out more how I can help you.