Considering a Career Change? Use This 3 Step Guide to Make Sure You're Ready

Do you truly love your job? For too many people, the answer is an immediate "no." But you don't have to give on the dream job you imagined as a child.

 “You only live once and spend most of your life at work.  It's not impractical to shift careers, but sometimes you have to be savvy in how you do it,” said Danna Pycher, a hypnotherapist and public speaker. While she now works with people suffering from trauma and autoimmune dysfunction, Danna began her career in television at 15 and pursued it for 10 years before deciding to change directions. 

We’re always “growing up,” and so it’s only natural for our professional trajectory to change along the way. For some, these changes may be relatively seamless. Others may struggle to reconcile pivoting from longtime goals. 

Mazal Menasche a recruiter at Bluecore, wanted to follow in the footsteps of strong female leads like those on Alias and The Agency. “I studied political psychology in undergrad, graduated from George Washington University with a law degree and even trained for the physical fitness evaluation. There was a lot of sweat equity.”  

While some may find happiness in long-term careers in one job function, or even at one company, the rest of us may need to semi-regularly reevaluate our goals and pivot. But where should you start? Here's your three-step guide to transitioning careers seamlessly. 

Some people equate making a career pivot with failure. Despite being unhappy or dissatisfied with a job or chosen profession, many people stick it out because don’t want to be perceived by others as a failure.  

Allow me to make something crystal clear: deciding your current professional trajectory no longer serves you doesn’t mean you’re a failure. In fact, it's a huge step — a brave one. Many of us instinctively layer the brave things we do in our lives, like deciding it’s time to change careers, with negativity. While it’s usually subconscious, it’s also self-sabotaging. Choose to see this step as you being self aware enough to recognize growth opportunities and being brave enough to embrace them. 

Now an Assistant Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn College, Wiebke Reile's, PhD, trajectory exemplifies what it means to change directions without giving up on one’s passion. Wiebke dreamed of being a news reporter for most of her life but struggled to find a job in the field after college.

“No one would give me a job in the broadcast industry. I had to settle by working in the documentary film industry, which I loved for five years but quickly realized that it would be difficult to make a decent living. My answer to this was to become more educated in the field that I loved as opposed to abandoning it altogether. I wouldn't see it as a pivot, but I would see it as a reaction to the economy and my inability to want to do work that I wasn't passionate about.”

Regardless of your current profession, you likely have skills that are useful in other job functions and even in different fields. 

Let’s say you’re making the jump from marketing to medicine. On the surface, these fields seem like polar opposites. But, what if you had a client-facing role in marketing and are now looking to be a physician who interacts with patients? The client you’re serving may be different, but the people skills you need are probably pretty similar. 

Danna Pycher uses skills she developed as a journalist to now run a successful hypnotherapy practice. 

“Being a journalist, I always had to stick to deadlines. Deadlines are the biggest lesson I learned from my former career. Also, being a public speaker, I was basically training for this my whole life.”

No matter how different your new career trajectory may seem, you should be able to identify some relevant skills and experience that will benefit you. Before you commit to taking the career pivot plunge, take some time to brainstorm the transferable skills that may be beneficial to you in your new career. 

Story time! I decided to learn to ski in my late 20s. I was the only person in my beginner class over four feet tall. Within 20 minutes, my fellow students, none of whom reached my knee, were literally skiing circles around me. All I accomplished was skiing backwards down a small hill and nearly crashing into a building. (No… it wasn’t intentional.) 

The journey wasn’t easy (or short), and it was full of falls and nasty bruises. I got frustrated VERY quickly. The boots hurt my feet. The snow hurt my butt from falling all over the place. And, while I’m not going to be zooming down black diamonds anytime soon, in the end, I did learn to ski. 

Just like I didn’t learn to ski in a day, your career pivot will most likely not happen overnight. It will take introspection, planning, and you’ll likely stumble and/or question your decision along the way. 

You may even find yourself having some“WTF am I doing?” moments as you identify, start and grow in your new career. 

“Sometimes I do [have those “WTF” moments], especially when I hire someone for a legal role and am so impressed with what they have done with their careers. But, then I remind myself of all the people I have placed and the impact that has had on them and the business and I know I made the right decision,” said Mazal Menasche, a former Florida-based lawyer who is now a recruiter in New York City. 

At the end of the day, no matter how difficult or confusing things get, make sure you embrace and enjoy the journey.

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This article reflects the views of the author and not necessarily those of Fairygodboss.