You Just Don’t Wake Up One Day and Say…
It is both exciting and a challenge to work with a client that is looking to move into a new career direction. For the client, it is an opportunity to do something they always thought they would like to do. More often, I find, that current circumstances are driving the change. One is let go from their job, and prospects in that profession are far less than when they started. Or perhaps, they don’t like the work itself and realize they want something different. Other times the work is no longer profitable. Whatever, the reason, it is time to move on.
While it would be nice to wake up one morning and say, I want to do this now or that now, it just does not happen that way. The need to assess oneself, their values, the skills they possess, what the market appears to need at the moment, or all factors that go into the process. There is often the fear of making the actual decision, is it the right one, will I be accepted in my new field of endeavor? Additionally, there is usually a learning curve before you come up to speed in the new area you are offering your talents.
I have been a coach for the last 9 years, with an emphasis on Career and Job Search Strategy for the last 7 of those years. Thinking back on how I reached this point, has many examples which I in recent weeks have shared with others. It has happened that I have attracted a number of individuals facing that point in their life where a change in career, or even just a way they choose to work, has become more prevalent. And, given the world of work in 2018, I know that this trend is and will become more common than less so.
When I left my corporate position, I did not have any thought of what I might do next. In fact, in my early months I would refer to myself as a “retiree” from my corporate position. I did have a transition period where I was able to address some personal items that had been pressing, and which now that I had the time to completely focus on now that I was not working. However, a few months after leaving my corporate role some messages were calling at me. “I miss individuals coming to me to talk about their career challenges and directions.” “You could just sit around and choose not to work at all, but that appears it could be for a period of 25 to 30 years. Do you really want that?” In my case, my assessment and research steps came in the form of outplacement services. (For one not fortunate to receive that benefit, job search support groups, private coaching, or just being inquisitive and having informational conversations with others about what they do, what they like about it, the skills it requires, etc. work equally as well). A suggestion from a counselor that I may enjoy life and career coaching led me to explore that possibility. For me, it was the right option, and I have moved forward from there ever since.
The journey forward has not been a straight line, but one of twists and turns. There was actual “schooling” to be certified in my new profession. There was learning that the new profession, unlike the old, was often done in an entrepreneurial format as opposed to a structure of a corporation. It was learning the discipline of being responsible for your own schedule was just that. You needed to take the time to determine, time for client sessions, time for preparation for client sessions, time for writing, time for networking, etc. No one was going to “dictate” to me in the form of deadlines opposed from higher ups in the organization. I was the organization. Additionally, I had to learn what items were best for me to do myself, and which I might need the assistance of other service providers.
When I wake up at this time of my life, I usually have a plan for my day. It has usually been set days or even weeks before. It takes in to account various aspects of my profession. And, I also know that if I want to modify aspects that are part of my profession, or frankly move on from my current profession and move into something completely different, it all needs to be planned out, assessed, researched, targeted, and learned about through both my own private investigation and conversations with others.
Where are you in your life at present? Do you truly enjoy what you are doing? If you do, wonderful, continue to do it, but stay abreast of how it may be changing in terms of how it is done. And, if you do not like what you are doing and hope that one day you will wake up and have the answer, acknowledge to yourself it is a process to determine what is next, but that indeed that process will guide you and lead you to the best choices of what may be next for yourself.
