Shifting your career is a significant milestone. It requires determination, perseverance, and focus. This transformation is not easy to manage, and as exciting as it is, it can also be unclear and daunting, and you might feel fear. Normal emotions and feelings.
If you desire and are willing to change your career trajectory completely and are fed up with the same old, the first step, yet again, is to know your “why.” Breaking free from your hamster wheel is a fantastic journey. The how is the mastery of it.
Let’s explore the first steps to take to shift skilfully.
3 Tips When Shifting Your Career
1. What is Your Motivation to Change?
Changing careers is not easy and requires lots of energy and work from your side.
Investing in your career is a great one, though to be able to shift in a way that makes sense to you, you need to ask yourself the following question:
- What makes it so compelling to change my career?
- What is my real motivation?
- What do I lack in my current role?
- What bothers me the most?
- How would it feel if I had my ideal job?
- What would my perfect profession or job look like?
- Which Industry, which sector?
Answer the above in a bold way to yourself. If you can articulate all the above in one clear sentence, you will feel more confident about taking that step forward to change.
You need to be committed fully to be able to break free.
2. Identify Your Strengths and Passion
Take an inventory scan of your human and technical skills, transferable and more specialized ones. Which one do you use with pleasure, which ones not to so much?
Rate them and see where your passion lies the most. The ideal profession would be where you can have a wonderful sweet spot by combining both. Yet again, there is no perfect job for sure. Let’s be realistic. I know there is a saying that if you do a job that you love, you will never work in your life.
Is it entirely true? Well, no. However, if you do what you like the most, use your great skills, and fulfill your dream and your passion, then each day is always magic.
3. Craft Your Personal Brand
An excellent formula I would like to give you on the way is:
Your personal brand needs to include:
- Strengths, skills
- Passion
- How you help organizations or humans
This is a rebranding exercise, like companies do. With a mission and vision statement, you will see yourself as your own company.
That is why I cover your mission and vision in my framework of “Drive & Thrive Your Career.”
Here is A Scenario for Yourself
Imagine you are retired. What would you like your former colleagues to say about you or your clients? How shall they perceive you?
Accordingly, create your LinkedIn tagline, change your CV, and start projecting what you stand for. Take the audience with you on your journey. Here is a snippet of my story:
As I changed from being employed to becoming an entrepreneur and started my career as a coach and workshop facilitator, I changed my branding on all social media channels, took a nice headshot photo, and posted my story about my shift.
My connections got so excited about this bold decision you can’t imagine it. If you think, why on earth shall they be interested? Well, it will be difficult for your followers to understand what you are aspiring to do or start with. Counts for anyone who wants to get back into the professional field, change, or become an entrepreneur.
Last but not least. Be patient with yourself. Be self-compassionate. It is hard to change and shift an entire career path, but it is worth it; as you live a fulfilled professional life. As my followers know by now, Life is too short to live an unfulfilled life in all aspects.
Are the Above All What You Shall Do?
Nope, sorry you need to do more like networking, trying volunteering in different positions, seek out what works for you, be agile and not obsessed with your idea. Change if it does not fit.
I don’t know how many times I changed my LinkedIn tagline, target audience, and title. And still, it is not complete. You are evolving each day, so your passion, desire, and values do evolve.
Always scan yourself. Always work on yourself and invest.
Always here to assist, in case you need an accountability buddy, someone who needs to nudge you or be your guide throughout your career journey.