10 ingredients for a successful career change – at any age
Have you ever wanted to change career direction, even had some intriguing ideas that made you feel alive again – but you weren’t able to take the next step?
It’s all too easy for the list of reasons why a career change is the worst idea ever to shout louder, be more insistent, and grow daily. So I have a powerful piece of advice, which will help you give your alternative ideas the air-time they need:
stop listening to the why-nots and start creating a list of why-yeses!
The why-nots are fear talking, so let’s give aspiration, courage and authenticity a chance to breathe instead. You can deal with any reality-based anxieties much later – don’t let them stop you idea from taking root and growing.
Shelve the fears and think instead of what would happen if you actually succeeded in creating a new career that fits you beautifully. How would you feel about your future then?
After working with career changers for almost a decade, and having made 3 career shifts myself, I can see very clearly what it takes to make a career change that really works. So here’s your potted guide to redesigning your career!
The essentials for a successful career change
1. Know why
When you know WHY a new option is a perfect fit for you, you’ll have the clarity to create a successful transition. Not only this, but the nagging internal chatter will be easier to silence because you’ll have a vision that fills you with excitement and courage. Remember these wise words from Nelson Mandela:
‘May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.’
The WHY behind your new direction will align with your values, play to your strengths and give you a sense of purpose. With this clarity, you’ll be able to let go of what is no longer working for you and start creating something that really is.
2. Know what success means to you
When you began your current career I wonder if you had a clear idea of where you wanted it to take you? I wonder if you had a clear idea of the success it could bring and what exactly that looked like.
Many of us stumble into a career after a nudge from parents, peers or teachers and without any clear understanding of what it would be like to live with this work. It’s the perfect time to give this some thought now.
What does success look like to you? Ask yourself whether it’s about salary, status, seniority, or whether values like flexibility, creativity, autonomy and collaboration matter much more to you than you initially thought.
Unless you have a clear idea of your personal measures of success, it’s likely that you’ll be heading towards someone else’s idea of success. In fact you may be living out someone life!
I have a handy guide to bring your vision of success into clear focus - just drop me a message to get your copy.
3. Know what meaningful work means to you
When was the last time you went home from work with a strong sense that it had been a worthwhile day? Try focusing on what gives you that sense of purpose and think about how you could develop more of it.
For you, is purpose about producing something tangible, or mentoring a colleague?
Is it when you’ve cracked a really tricky problem, or improved a process?
Is it when you can see how your efforts have helped someone, or you’ve resolved a conflict?
These are just some of things that might help work feel meaningful to you.
Knowing what gives you a sense of purpose is the vital first step in making it more central to your working life. It may not mean a complete career change, but a re-negotiation of your current workload.
One of my career change clients recently re-negotiated her role with her existing employer:
‘Working with Becky enabled me to pitch for and secure a new role designed around what I can bring to my employer's business over the next few years, rather than following a pre-set path that exists in the industry.
An increase in money and seniority was lovely, but the job description built around my unique path to leadership was more satisfying.’
Director, Creative Consultancy, UK
4. Know which of your values need to find expression in your work
Your values are who you are, not who you (or anyone else) thinks you should be.
They represent what matters most to you in life and when you use them to guide your choices and how you live, everything starts to feel so much more ‘you.’
On the other hand if you value a quality like integrity above all else and your work is seriously and regularly challenging that, you’re going to feel under attack. You may feel you have to pretend to be someone you’re not and that ultimately is going to exhaust and disillusion you.
Knowing and using your values is one of the most important elements to a successful career change – and also adds hugely to the quality of the rest of your life. Read more in this article or this service.
5. Know which strengths and talents you want to use
When you use your favourite skills, your natural talents or your personal or professional strengths, things flow easily. You feel at the top of your game, you’re totally absorbed and time disappears. You may also feel completely energized and on a high.
This state of flow is magic – and if it’s at the heart of your career, you’ll love your work.
Do you know your strengths? They might be character strengths like curiosity, mindsets or learnt skills, but they’re your magic sauce, so it’s vital to know what yours are.
Perhaps you’re in flow when designing a new social media post, resolving the accounts, coaching a client, or closing a sale. Whatever they may be, when you are able to use these strengths more frequently at work, you’re going to be happier and more satisfied.
Read this 2-part article or request my free guide to Finding Your Flow
6. Manage your mindset – powerful self and gremlins
We all have many voices chattering away inside our heads. Some of them are helpful and keep us safe; others are critical and lower our self-esteem. The thing they have in common is that they are just data – NOT fact as we often believe. They need questioning and their message requires exploration.
If that internal voice says: ‘You’re not clever enough to get that job’ pause and ask on what evidence this assumption is based. Then bring some evidence of your own – from a time when you achieved an intellectually challenging goal you’d set yourself.
Develop this healthy habit of questioning the validity of negative chatter. When you know WHY a career change is right for you and can remember times when you succeeded, you are armed with powerful tools with which to counter the assumption that you are not clever / not resourceful / not mature / or not creative enough.
Reflect on times when you succeeded or were proud of something you accomplished and build up that powerful image. That successful person is YOU – and you can be successful again.
Above all, don’t fall into the trap of comparing your life and your journey with those of your friends or peers. This is a slippery slope to discontent. Instead, anchor to your values and purpose, to previous successes and what matters most to you now. Avoid the comparison trap and build the future you really deserve.
7. Develop a design-thinker’s brain – the habit of prototyping
Designers look at a problem, come up with a range of solutions and test them out to see which work best to solve the original problem. When you’re thinking of a new career or of redesigning your current work, this is a wonderful approach to adopt.
First, identify the problem – are you looking for a completely new direction or do you just need to make a few well-informed tweaks to your current role to reach your desired solution?
At the same time, know what the desired outcome needs to offer and why it’s better for you than your current situation. How will you measure its success? (See point 2 of this list to help get this clear)
Select a possible solution – it might be a new role or an internal shift - and prototype it. This might involve:
· desk-based research
· talking to people who can share their experience in that role or who have made internal moves
· trying it out on a voluntary or part-time basis
· taking on a project to explore what its really like
In all cases, give the test phase enough time to achieve the right depth of understanding and then evaluate whether this can deliver what you want and need.
You’re then in a strong position to develop a strategy to move towards that option – or move on to the next possibility and prototype that.
More reading: Resign or redesign
8. Know where work fits into the life you want
When you know what a successful life looks like (see #2) and what you value most, you are getting closer to building a life with work that supports it rather than detracts from it.
If flexibility is important to you because of your children or caring responsibilities, having to work long days in the office with no option for working from home or flexing your hours just won’t cut it.
If working part-time is what you need, or a collaborative and safe culture is essential for you to thrive, being honest about that and acting to achieve it will ensure you are creating a working life that actually works for you.
Envisioning your Ideal Life is something we rarely do, but that clarity makes aligned choice possible. That’s why it’s an essential part of my Career Change Programme - seeing the bigger picture means you have the power to move in the right direction.
9. Understand that this isn’t the last time you’ll make this choice
I think we all know that a career is rarely for life these days. The world of work is ever-changing and new roles are constantly being developed as the economy and technology evolve.
The career you chose at age 23 and the career you need now are likely to be very distinctive things. In another twenty years the differences will be even more pronounced.
The key to being able to navigate this ever-evolving world is in knowing what you need for career fulfillment, and why. Having a process to reveal those things every ten years or so is going to serve you well.
You could say that each time you start a new role, you are actually prototyping it. Perhaps it serves you well for now, but the chances are that this will change. Being able to evaluate what is happening and why it no longer works is the first step to revealing the next chapter in your working life.
To help you see the pattern in the changes you’ve made so far in your career, request this free resource: Joining the Dots in Your Career Transitions. You’ll see WHY you made each move, which makes clear sense of your career path, however varied your roles may have been.
10. You CAN make this happen
You have already made many changes in your life – choosing a course of study, moving house, altering course in your career, moving countries, leaving things behind, moving on.
Draw on any positive changes you’ve already achieved to know that clarity brings conviction, confidence, momentum and strategic creativity. When you know the importance of the change you want or need to make, things fall into place. That WHY will provide the inspiration, the momentum and the energy to bring it to life.
Believe it. Believe in yourself. You CAN make this happen. When you’re 90, you’ll look back on your life and be pleased you chose to answer Mary Oliver’s question:
‘What is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?’
If you’d like an objective set of ears and eyes to help you gain some initial clarity about how you can move forwards, why not book a free career call below.