How to pivot mid-career?

Anonymous

March 6,2023 at 4:25PM UTC

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How to pivot mid-career?

I have been working in IT / Desktop/Technical Support for 14, almost 15 years now. I would like to transition out of my Helpdesk role and into a new role that is more independent work, less phone time, and not controlled by time-based and quantity based metrics. (I'm autistic and the constant phone time is making me burn out faster-I'm also getting chided for my numbers/ 'not taking enough calls' when the number of calls I take is often restricted by the shift I work (2:30-11:30PM)

A lot of the work I've done is call-center based or has a "call center" feel. I have a lot of skills, but am not sure what to emphasize or leverage. I would like to move away from this work, at least. I am considering medical coding, would prefer technical writing, which I have extensive experience in already, or to strengthen my SQL and Azure background and work more directly with databases. I am not sure what positions to look for or how to do this--or in the case of medical coding, which coding to go for, how to identify a legitimate and *good* training program.....

I feel like I need a change, and I am open to a large change, as much of the past 14 years have been based on fear, and survival mode, and I am trying to move away from that. I figure I need a minimum salary of around $45K after taxes to cover my bills. I would prefer to transition with minimal training, and learn on the job.

I'm also considering applying for L2 positions with other companies (I am more than qualified to work as a L2) but I don't know how to go about doing that, either. I am seeking more freedom, less entanglement, at my workplace.

Any thoughts appreciated.

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Lesa Edwards, Career Coach & Master Resume WriterMarch 6,2023 at 6:53PM UTC
I strongly recommend the services of a career coach - you have a lot of questions and not a lot of room for error. If you can't afford 1:1 coaching, check into the services of your local state employment service, the university you attended (if you did), or free/low-cost online resources.
Becca A.March 6,2023 at 6:56PM UTC
Yes, great idea!
Becca A.March 6,2023 at 6:55PM UTC
You need to hone in exactly what you want your next step in your career to be. As in, what you want your next role title to be SPECIFICALLY. I say as I read your third and final paragraph where you talk about wanting to go in the direction of a role where medical coding would be at play due to you having "SQL and Azure experience" which does NOT correalate to medical coding. Speaking as someone who has worked in the healthcare field as a front desk worker where medical coding was involved to the point where I had to not only understand the code but explain it to the customers that would ask. It has nothing to do with the other skills you shared and more to do with understanding medical terminology.
Im shocked that you have been in the same position for almost 15 years. What happened to cause this? Was it due to you being with the same company for this allotted time? Or your personal life experiences caused you to have to lean heavily on the safety of this specific role with no growth? I feel like outside looking in from a recruiter perspective the big buzzing question they might have is whether you have ambition or are complacent given that you have remained in the same role for such a long time.
With that shared, that does not mean you are stuck. You now have more than enough concrete experience and it can all be about how you market your skills tha t will be transferable to the postion you will be striving to pursue....which you will need to, again, sit down and truly hone in exactly what it is you want to do. We cant really answer that for you but to give some suggestions. You would more than qualify for a team lead technical role or tier 3 role...not tier 2. Youre selling yourself short by aiming just one level above what youre doing now given what you shared is your concentrated accrued experience. Especially since SQL is hot in demand at the moment to the point it is not a bare requirement for more concentrated technical roles that fall outside of call center technical support.
Your salary minimum is also aiming low as well given your accrued experience. Then again, I dont know where you reside but for you to get a good estimate of what you should be looking for simply search "technical support salary for 5+ years of experience in {insert state of residence]" and see what comes up and make sure to wipe the drool from your mouth once you see the estimate, haha.
From there you can google whats next in line/career trajectory for technical support/Help desk support to help you get a better idea of what you want the next step in your career to be.
Cindy GrossMarch 6,2023 at 7:37PM UTC
Get really curious about what you want to do on a daily basis. Start with your values. For example, if knowledge/learning is a top value, you'll know to look for roles where they pay you to always be learning/growing. If reliability is a top value you'll want to look for roles where you are surrounded by strong guidelines and people who follow them. If fun is a top value you may want to ask questions during the interview about how people celebrate and express their joy.
Understand and truly value your strengths. For example, if you're extremely analytical (or if people tell you that you overthink - a negative judgment you don't have to accept) you may want to seek out jobs that revolve around data, dashboards, and precision.
These are all things you can get through a leadership or career coach. There are books, videos, online groups, meetups, etc. that can also help you work through some of it.
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