HOW TO CHANGE CAREER WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR CORPORATE JOB
Posted on July 21, 2021 by Monica Mundo, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
Thinking of a career change? Consider how well you know yourself.
As a career change coach, the common trait that I usually find among clients who are going through a career change (or are considering it), is the painful challenge of working out what is their “vocation” or “call in life”. Like if having a vocation or a true passion is a sign of being successful and instead lacking it means you have something “to be fixed”, or something that still need to be discovered.
From where is this pre-conception coming from?
Yesterday and Today
In the past, a job was a way to pay the bills and we were instead engaged in hobbies as amateur, without any expectation of making a living from them. We were not expecting money and fulfilment to coexist.
In today’s labour market instead, increasing number of people would like a job that doesn’t only “pay the bills” but is also fulfilling. We are in this sense more aware that our job is a significant part of our life and a vital part of our identity.
What most of us hope, once we finished university, is to find a job that has a meaning, that contributes to the good of the world, that is creative and also has a financial reward. In addition we also take in account what our friends and family think “might be the right career direction for us”.
It is for this reason that often, it is hard to realise that after having spent our adult life in a corporate environment, our job does not have the sense of meaning and purpose we were hoping for. We essentially find ourselves older, disillusioned but with the same major obstacle of working out what kind of job we are well suited for and would love to do.
Tendency
When people decide to change career, they approach the “process” with a “searching” mode attitude, as they are now ready to find the right job that they haven’t found yet. Often, what they tend to do is to look at job descriptions and matching their CV accordingly; this is indeed a good way to find a job, but not a good one to find a fulfilling one.
Before starting thinking of a career shift and jump in the unknown, I ask to my clients to consider how well they know themselves. Pay attention at what they are good at, what they enjoyed the most and what it is that they do with pleasure without any “hard work” behind it. We are ALL good at something.
So, what are you good at?
Research shows that those who are most satisfied and motivated by their work are in careers which reflect who they really are, careers that reflect their true nature and their real passions, careers where they use their personal strengths and employ their favourite skills.
The foundation of a career change is the personal knowledge and awareness of who you are and what you are good at.
Start from the present: collect and analyse your sensations in the “now”: How satisfied are you with your daily tasks? How engaged are you when working and dealing with colleagues, customers, stakeholders? How updated are you about your sectors and expertise? Mostly, how do you feel on a Sunday evening before Monday morning?
Be aware about the natural vagueness of your mind, don’t put too much trust in your gut instinct and thinking to have a pre-existing passions waiting to be discovered.
Take the time to consciously collect relevant evidence, create a library, keep a journal so you can track ideas, feelings and moods and return to them later, looking for connections with other experiences you have registered.
How can I do this?
No matter how old you are and how much experience you have, this phase is going to take time and it will develop among many stages.
In my career change program this phase is called Explore and is the holistic part of the program, where we will work on the knowledge about you as a person, your life as a whole and everything you need in your working life to be motivated and satisfied.
During this phase, you’ll get a clear idea of your values, your personal and professional strengths, your interests and passions, your preferred working organisation and environment and your ideal working day to name a few.
By focusing on developing something you are already good at, you will create skills and strengths that would translate into valuable opportunities. You will start gathering knowledge before you know what you want to do with it.
By the end of the EXPLORE phase, you will be very clear about what you must have in your career to be satisfied and motivated.
Exploring
Exploring is vital when you are trying to change and finding a job that is aligned with you and the direction you want for your career. Exploring means doing something different with the advantage of taking small risks; this is why often, remaining in your current job while starting to work on your career shift on the side is a good compromise. It will also allow you to avoid stress and anxiety of finding straight away your new job.
Sometimes you can only plan the next step. But that can be enough to move forward. The important step is the first one, changes don’t happen overnight.
What to do next?
If you would like to work through this phase with a coach, I would be happy to support you in getting clarity and direction. My career change program has been carefully tailored using research in career evaluation and transition. This is structured in 12 sessions over a period of 4 months and you will have all the material and structure you need to transit in your new career.
Get in touch today for a free discovery call or send me an email at monica@mundocoaching.co.uk
