Are You Using The Best Career Change Strategies?

If you are reading this article, I presume that you have reached the point when you are clear that changing your career is a very potent option for you. Good, realization is only a few steps away from making a decision, which is only a few steps away from taking an action, so you are definitely on the right track!

To help you move from the “thinking stage” to the “action stage”, let me introduce the following strategies to you. I am sure they can make you better prepared for what lies ahead on this adventure called “career change”.

1.) Treat a career change as you would treat any other project. Being a business professional, you understand you need a final goal, a deadline, some action plan and, most importantly, some actions! Make sure that you devote a dedicated amount of time every day towards this “project”. The “action steps” do not have to be huge, especially if you are still employed and, of course, if your deadline is not dangerously close. Pace yourself but do something every day. Even going for a coffee with a friend but taking the opportunity to ask openly for his help or her useful contacts is a step. From my own experience and those of my clients too, very often the invisible dots connect in a mysterious way and your dream job offer may come from a completely unexpected source. Yet when you track it back, you understand how it started from your own small actions.

2.) Focus and use your time effectively. If you are in a situation when your time is limited, be very careful about how you spend the time you want to dedicate to your job/business search. Look at your options and choose the one that you believe has the potential to get you to your goal the fastest. It might come as a surprise to you but by far the biggest percentage of your time should be spent on networking, the rest should be split between very targeted job screening/applying and advertisement answering. But be under no illusion and understand that networking is by far the fastest job seeking strategy and if you haven´t mastered this skill yet, you better start practicing it straightaway.

3.) Look at what you have to offer from the employer´s perspective. Imagine you are the employer who would be considering giving you a job. What would your ideal candidate look like? What qualities would he/she possess? What working experience would be the most valuable for you? Then, having that knowledge, adjust your resume to fit their needs. Emphasize those parts of your experience that might catch their attention first. For example, let´s say your background is in marketing. If you apply for a job in an advertisement agency, you would want to talk about your experience in the creative part of marketing. On the other hand, if you are looking for a marketing job in a large company, you would want to present a solid knowledge of their customers as well as point out your ability to work within a structure, be a part of a team and your desire to learn and grow. Your past experience is still the same; you are just presenting it in a different manner.

4.) Understand that getting a job or building a business of your dream takes time and diligence. When you enter the arena of job search, you are joining tons of others who have exactly the same objective. Make sure you are better prepared. Have your plan and follow it. Don´t be distracted and don´t get discouraged. Keep your vision/final goal firmly in sight. And if you need help, coaching gets people pretty far, because the process ensures you keep your focus sharp. Consider taking it up; you will have a huge advantage over the people who are just stumbling along with no clear path set in front of them.

New Year, New You, New Career?

If you, like many, are unhappy in your current job, perhaps a change in your career is one of the most important objectives for this year. Then again, maybe you are not that far along in the process; maybe the word “objective”, which implies “decision”, sounds way too strong and intimidating. Wherever you are on your journey that represents a bridge from where you are to where you want to get to, I thought I might pre-empt you with the following list of excuses.

Yes, you´ve read it right. I am going to beat you to it and come with the list of excuses that you will probably produce sooner or later this year. So I thought, why wait? Why not put them all out there and save you a waste of a year? Because here is the truth. If a career change appears on your objectives’ list year, after year, after year, you must be a master of these excuses by now, only you probably call them by a different name, like “solid reasons” or “plain facts” or better still, “real truths”.

So I am going to list some of your excuses and then explain to you why they are not valid. That way you can use the time saved by not having to build your excuses for something far more effective, like hiring a coach and working out a way to your new career!

Excuse 1.) I can´t quit. Nobody will have me.

Well, how many times have you tried? What evidence do you have? Sure, there are tons of people for whom this might be true. But there are equally huge amounts of people who tried and succeeded. You can be one of them. If you believe in yourself and have a very specific idea what it is you want, your determination and clarity will help you to succeed. Your courage will make you feel proud of yourself. Plus you can try while you are still employed. I have had many clients in these situations and each and every one of them managed to get the job they wanted. Each. And. Every. One.

Excuse 2.) It is too risky financially.

OK, so what´s new? Every change is risky; financially, emotionally, even physically sometimes. But watch your words here. You are not trying to cruise for the rest of your life (even though it might be the result of your career change, you never know). You are trying to replace one income (earned by being bored and uninspired) for another income (earned by having fun and enjoying yourself). So, technically speaking, you are doing a swap, right? What is so difficult about that? You see, it is all about how you look at it. Plus you would prepare yourself ahead with some smart financial planning. If your life depended on this single career change, you would come with ideas how to make it financially manageable, wouldn´t you? Well, in a way it is a live or die situation, isn´t it? If you count how many hours a day you spend working and if all of those hours make you feel miserable, then clearly you are not living your life fully but merely surviving?

Excuse 3.) If I quit and things don´t work out, I will feel ashamed to start all over.

Well, this excuse might have flown a couple of years ago but these days, when the whole working world is more flexible and fluid, your “case” would not be exceptional. Even the most hardened HR professionals understand that people who go out and try something different add value to the company, because they have the spirit for trying new things and being innovative. Again, you can view this situation as a predicament. You can also choose to view it as an advantage and an invaluable experience. And if you present yourself from that perspective, many doors will open for you.

Excuse 4.) My ego is in my way, meaning: I am too old, I am too young, I don´t have the right education, I will have to leave my title behind, etc.

If ego is in your way, there is only one solution. Put it aside for a while and explore how it would feel to have that new job/business. How it would feel to wake up every morning and be excited about what work you have ahead of you, what fun people you are going to meet and what a cool project you are going to work on. If you can do that and as a result understand that ego has no room in your decision making, you are on the right track. If, on the other hand, those feelings, as pleasant as they are, still don´t remove your ego reasons, then you are not ready. You need to struggle through your current work situation until such time when no ego in the world would stop you. Only you will know when the time is right.

I am fully aware that I have not exhausted all the excuses that are out there. I know we humans are a creative lot. We can find reasons for “not doing something” even if we have to steal it from a TV show. Therefore, for now, these 4 main reasons will do. In the future, watch out for my new product that can help you to overcome this initial status of confusion, indecisiveness and procrastination.