Lost
in Transition
Have
you ever felt frustrated, depressed or thwarted in your
career search?
By
Karen Schaffer
If
you are in the midst of trying to change careers, and
are having problems with your job search or have some
confusion with what you should be doing next, consider
that you are experiencing a common obstacle in career
transition.
The
biggest career transition misconception
The
biggest obstacle to a successful job search in a career
transition is when a person confuses the Career Exploration
phase (figuring out what they want to do) with the Job
Search phase (targeting a job and finding it). Most
people squish the two stages together and experience
almost immediate frustration since it is virtually impossible
to get a job when you're not sure what you want.
Here's
what happens when you aren't entirely sure what you
want to do:
A)
You look online and apply for roles that "sound
good" or seem to fit. But since your resume isn't
targeted for that particular role or you don't have
direct experience, you end up competing with people
already in that role, which puts you distinctly behind
the pack.
B)
When you meet up with people, because you're not clear
about what you want, they're not sure how they can help.
You find that people who should be helping you aren't
being useful. It's because they don't know how to be
useful until they know what you need.
C)
Your lack of internal clarity comes off as ambivalence
or worse, as just plain "messy". Employers
and contacts don't have the confidence to hire or pass
you on because you haven't demonstrated the confidence
that you know where you're going.
All
of this adds up to a frustrating experience.
Unfortunately,
this approach burns out your best contacts, your friends
and family, and most of all, you. Save yourself
a headache! If you cannot clearly articulate the job
or role you are targeting, you need to do some more
thinking, research and investigation before you can
start an official job search for a brand new role.
The
first step is to learn the stages of Career Transition
and identify where you fit:
-
Career
Exploration and Discovery - once you've decided
to let go of your current career, the first important
question is, "Do you know what you want to do
next?" If the answer is, "I have no idea,"
or you have a list of more than two definite possibilities,
or what you think you want doesn't have a defined
job title, you are in a Career Exploration phase.
- Declaration
of a Specific Career Transition Role - then
when you've decided on a direction, you must be able
to articulate it clearly in a sentence or two. This
is how you know you have a targeted job and career goal.
- Targeted
Job Search - now that you know what you are
going for, you can begin to execute a targeted, effective
career transition job search - one that is specifically
designed to connect you with the job you want.
If
you were to put yourself at a stage, which would it be?
Once
you know what stage you're in, you can more effectively
decide what actions to focus on. In Stage One, you want
to ensure you have the financial security (even if this
means finding a "Plan B" job that pays the bills
while exploring) to explore fully and freely without a
time window closing in.
If
you are in Stage Two, you know what you want but are still
frustrated because you're not connecting with anything.
It may be time to either re-evaluate your decision or
your search strategy.
Finally,
if you are in Stage Three, a career transition job search,
you want to ensure that you are sending a clear message
out to all your contacts and networks that convincingly
conveys your new career path and enlists their cooperation
in your job search.
Remember,
you can't explore a career and job search for it at the
same time. Separate the two and you'll not only know better
what the next steps are, you'll bring a renewed sense
of peacefulness to the whole endeavour.
To
book an appointment with Karen to talk about what stage
you're in, e-mail kschaffer@iqpartners.com.
-
Karen Schaffer has helped thousands of people find
their passion and feel positive about their job search.
[full
bio...]
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