How to Change Your Career — my secret sauce so far
Several years ago one of my colleagues retired, and the day after he left, he was already working again, doing consulting work in the same field he had worked in for so many years. I admired his passion for his work, but then I put myself in that future state. Would I want to be doing the same kind of work that I have been doing when I retired? The answer came easily — no.
I realized that I needed to do something different and this kicked off a journey to change my career. I am still on that journey today, and I wanted to share some advice on what I have learned to make it easier for you!
1.Be patient and take your time – this is not easy, I have been on this journey for 4 years now
2. Believe in yourself — If you feel you have the potential to do something different, then do it, you are the only one who can stop yourself.
a. Don’t worry about the unknown. If you don’t know what you want to do, that is ok because it starts with what you don’t want to do.
b. Do uncomfortable things — Doing uncomfortable things make you stronger, and you will be more flexible to do more uncomfortable things in the future. I dislike public speaking, but I pushed myself to do a Policy Ignite in 2017. Certainly not an encore performance, but a huge accomplishment for me. Watch it here:
3. Forget about what you want to be, think about what you want to do
a. Write a passions page. What drives you every day? What excites you? If you had your perfect job, what would you be doing? (Think of this as transferable skills, but also include your personal life). Below is my passions page that started 3 years ago, and it still gets tweaked. I realized that one of my core passions is problem solving.
b. Find your Why — Determine your purpose. Mine is:
To make things better for everyone so they can be more successful in what they do
4. Network, Network, Did I say network? Talk to as many people as you can. I do #InnovationBlindDate to meet with strangers. It is a great way for me to network with people who I otherwise would never have encountered.
a. Build a brand. Strong products and services have high brand recognition, and you need to do the same with yourself. From my passions I found my brand revolves around change, continuous improvement, innovation, leadership and teamwork.
b. Find your new ecosystem — Once you figure out a direction of where you are trying to get to, there is likely an ecosystem of people who you need to start meeting
c. Marketing — sell your brand. Like a new product coming to market, you need to let the ecosystem know you are there. Use whatever means you have available to get that message, social media, presentations, one-on-one conversations. Be consistent in your messages.
d. Find Mentors. To help you grow, find yourself some mentors who believe in you and can give you candid advice as you grow. Don’t be afraid to approach those who you think would be a good fit.
5. Put out the feelers — Before you actually start looking for that next job, start to let people know in your conversations that you are looking and what you things you are looking to do.
a. If you see an interesting opportunity go for it — even if it is temporary! — This experimental GC Entrepreneur program came along, I applied, got selected, and wow what an experience!
b. Look for a great leader to work for — Find a leader to work for that sees your potential, and will give you opportunity to grow into your new career.
Changing your career doesn’t come easily, it takes a real commitment from yourself to make it happen, and I’m certain my journey will continue. If you have been through, or are going through a career change, what is your secret sauce?
