Career Change Lessons Learned
As I am writing these articles about furthering your career or changing jobs, I think of one of my former colleagues. I will refer to him as Fred. The reason I share his story today is that he exhibits the best of changing careers. This is not a passive process. You must go after the change in career or job like you really want it.
Fred was going through a career change at the end of 2011. Fred was worried about being able to provide for his family and knew that he needed to get into a job fast. I am going to bring up the word “faith” when referring to him. What I mean is that he had faith that if he did everything he could he would get a job. He had faith in himself and the process he had set up to change his career. Fred set a date to be employed by January 1, 2012. He didn’t want any job, but he wanted one that was going to further his career goals. I want you to think about Fred and when this happened. This was during the holiday season when most people are beginning to think about Christmas. Fred continued to contact companies and searched for the right job. He was looking for a senior position within a company. This was not an easy task to complete with the current fluctuation in the economy. He never gave up the faith and finally got the job offer he wanted. As a matter of fact, he started working on January 2, 2012, one day after his goal.
The reason why I share this story with you is that I learned some good lessons about changing your career or searching for the right job.
Lesson 1: Have a Goal
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Yogi Berra
The first thing Fred did was set a goal of when he was going to find that new job. Fred is a very driven person and knew that if he set a goal for himself that he would achieve it. This would drive him even when it was the holiday season. As a side note, most people feel that if they are searching during the holiday season that no one will be in the office. I know that people take vacation, but if you have that thought you are dead wrong. A lot of companies have already set their next year goals and know that they will need to hire in the first quarter. They are looking for those people so they can begin the first of the year. Most people don’t know this and it makes it even better for the motivated job seekers.
Lesson 2: Have a Plan
“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Alan Lakein
Fred had a plan. I will actually go over the plan that in another article this next week, but I will explain the basics of the plan. Fred first identified what his career objectives were through the exercises that were mentioned in previous posts How to Understand Your Job Skills and Expertise and Understand Your Career Values and Vision. After doing this he was able to create a plan of attack. This plan includes many parts; career objective, job titles that you are searching for, your branding statement, your areas of expertise with specific skills, target market and your target companies. This guided Fred in searching for a career change.
Lesson 3: Have Faith Coupled with Action
“If you hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” Vincent Van Gogh
I think of faith as having two parts. I will relate this to Fred. The first part is having faith in yourself. Fred had faith that if he followed his plan he would find his job. The second part is action. If I believed that I could be the very best water polo player in the world and did not learn how to swim or practice, it would only be a belief. It will only become a reality when I get in the water and practice. I need to put in long hard hours even when I think I can’t continue. I need to ensure that all of my actions are supporting my faith. Fred pushed on hard through the holiday season. He had faith and acted upon it and the most impressive thing is that he acquired the job he wanted within his deadline.
Changing your career and searching for a job can be tedious. Remember always to follow the three steps: have a goal, have a plan and have faith coupled with action. If you do, you will realize your dreams.
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