Unfortunately or fortunately change is said to be the only constant in life. Parents will grow old, kids will age, technology will evolve and yes, careers will change.
In the past, career change & job-hopping was frowned
upon but today it’s the norm in most industries.
For the past 10 months, I’ve had the pleasure of working
with early to mid-career professionals seeking to make career transitions or
attain some semblance of career clarity. For majority of us in this period, the
concerns can be broken down into 3 key questions:
- How
do I package my current skills/strengths for my next career step?
- How
do I identify the gaps that I need to work on to get to where I want to
be?
- What
is my next step? I know I want a career change, but where to?
Having gone through career transitions myself (&
currently going through one now) I understand the level of frustration and
confusion that comes with it, not to mention the ever-present crippling
thoughts:
Am I making the right decision?
Do I have the skills to get there or will I have to start
from scratch?
What do I want to do with my life? I know what I am doing
isn’t it, but other than that I have no idea what direction I’m headed in.
My career has no sense of direction! It’s all over the
place. I feel so confused. :(
When these feelings of self-doubt and confusion begin to
creep in, it’s important to take a minute and ask yourself,
- Why
am I feeling this way?
- Are
these feelings based on facts?
For you to actually sell yourself to others, you need to
know your value. But you can’t know your value if you’re still in this stage of
frustration, harboring feelings of inadequacy and confusion. During this period
you might end up taking jobs/opportunities that you really don’t want, all in
the name of panic & underselling yourself.
But how can you tell the difference between the facts vs
feelings? It’s at this stage that I help my clients take stock of their career
from the beginning till where they are now.
It’s all about walking together :)
If you’re currently feeling stuck, and would like to
understand how to take stock of your career, here’s how:
1. Begin with your past.
You can’t discover where you want to go if you don’t know
where you’ve been. In this first step, the objective is to capture your career
backstory in a structured manner that will offer you a sense of clarity.
To do this, you’ll need to create an excel sheet and
breakdown your career story into 5 key columns:
a) The name of the role & company
b) The responsibilities in that role.
c) The achievements in that role. Let the points
here be as specific and quantifiable as possible.
d) The skills that stand out from the
achievements listed, or those that were gained in the role.
e) The skills gained in that particular role
that you’d like to continue growing. Sometimes the points in d) & e) might
look alike, but there are instances where you gained a skill, but don’t wish to
explore it any further.
The Career Map Template you can craft for yourself to help
you map out your career journey thus far
The beauty of this exercise is that if you’re feeling
unaccomplished, this framework will open your eyes to all that you’ve been able
to achieve! Sometimes we assume that we haven’t done much, but more often that
not we’ve done much more than we think. This adds logic to the mix, pushing away
all the negative emotions.
Fun fact: You can also use this template for your
performance review sessions. :)
Once you break down all your roles into the format above,
the next step is:
2. Compile all the skills you’d want to continue to grow
in/explore.
By this time, you’ve listed all your roles held, including
freelancing & volunteering opportunities. Don’t shy away from including
every relevant role in which you learnt/achieved a thing or two, particularly
if you’re just starting out.
Now that you’ve already identified the skills you’d like to
explore in column E. Make sure to take stock and notice which skills appear
more often than others. That’s something to take note of. Does it mean that
that’s your strongest skillset/strength? Or is it just a coincidence? Review
your journey and figure out what that means for you.
Once you’ve noted down all the skills that appear at least
once, list them down starting with the most popular to the least popular. You
can list them down in a new column, highlighting the skills/strengths you value
the most.
3. Create an action plan
With that comprehensive list in mind, you can now use the
career map template to help you identify:
- The
roles that align with your interests/current skillset. When
reviewing job descriptions, you can get to see what roles you’d be most
suited for based on your comprehensive skills list. This will help you
know what jobs to apply for and how to sell yourself based on the
quantifiable achievements listed in the career map template.
- The
gap between where you are and where you want to be. If you already
know where you want to be, you can conduct an online search for job
descriptions aligned with your dream role, or even review the LinkedIn
profile of someone who’s where you would want to be. This will help you
see the gaps that exist between your current skillset and where you hope
to be. Use the skills gap identified to craft a personal learning &
development plan for yourself. Let’s get you on track to secure that dream
job!
- The
areas in your current job you’d like to explore a bit further. The
career map template will help you see what your mainly focusing on and
sometimes what your focusing/growing in, isn’t what you really want. This
exercise will help you craft how to engage with your manager and what
responsibilities to ask more of.
- How
to craft your transition story. With this career map template,
it’s much easier for someone looking to explore
other career options to see how their skills are transferable and
how to craft/sell their story to be inline with their new career path. You
don’t always have to start all over again.
There are so many different action plans that one can draft
from the career map template so feel free to explore what more you can get out
of it based on your need.
This exercise, though time consuming, will help you achieve
the career clarity & next steps you’re looking for. For some of you it will
help you connect the dots to see that indeed your career does make sense or
that you actually have the skills needed to make that transition! The
possibilities are endless.
It can sometimes feel very overwhelming when everything is
stored in our minds, but once you put it all down (or talk to a friend or coach
who helps you put it down), things begin to make sense.
Your brain is for having ideas. Not holding them.
~ David Allen, Author of Getting Things Done.
So next time you feel confused about your career, pick up a
physical or digital notebook and get to work.
All the best on your journey!
#ChooseToThrive
PS: Feel free to share in the comments any topics you
would like me to cover, or any additional points to this article! :)