Something Completely Different
The story of Joe Moglia published in the NYT’s Sports section is an extraordinary, enlightening case of career change; Moglia, former CEO of TD Ameritrade, is now Head football coach at Coastal Carolina University. Although hard to believe, his story is not invented — it is about a man who followed his passions. “I have been incredibly fortunate to have two careers that I have been pretty good at and both of which I really love”.
The other side is represented by those who know exactly what their careers will look like from the early days — these privileged minds draw a straight upward line and don’t deviate a single inch. When posed the cliche, powerful question “Where do you want to be in five years?”, these fellows always have a clear answer, with a neat road map not only for the next 5 years, but until retirement. They also have my admiration.
These two extreme situations belong to extraordinary people. But for the vast majority of us, the big question is when, how and what new paths we should explore in our professional lives. Where do we go when we switch jobs? In fact, recent research from LinkedIn showcases that people just don’t change careers very much (play with the LinkedIn tool… it is pretty cool); according to the data, once the vast majority of us are in a job, our moves tend to be in related areas throughout the rest of our careers.
Hence, data shows that making a significant career change is not as common as I thought. Maybe because changing gears is definitely one of the toughest moments we face in our lives. At 42, I had the enormous luxury to stop for a year, get off the hamster wheel, revisit my values, question my assumptions, see the world from a different lens and pivot into new challenges. In this journey, you start searching for something you do not know what it is and begin crafting experiments, working on different avenues in order to find it. You may even get to the conclusion that you want to reinvent yourself; and if that is the case, you must find full support from family, friends or mentors to receive the required guidance and eventually, get a boost in your (probably damaged) self confidence… because you will definitely hesitate, as you are getting rid of the handcuffs of what others think about you. Your will find that even your identity is definitely in transition.
Now, as a recruiter professional, my personal experience tells me that I should be more than open to invest time listening to awkward stories from courageous people chasing their dreams or willing to move into something (completely) different. The needle in the haystack might be there.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com on December 9, 2014.
