The truth is many of us are in our jobs because we evolved into them. We didn’t grow up thinking we wanted to be a sales manager, customer relations professional or even a director of marketing. We’ve grown into our current roles. For some, there comes a point where we face a fork in the road. Is this really what I want to do with my life? What do I really want to be when I grow up? People often say you should listen to your gut, but what if your gut isn’t coming through loud and clear?
Promotional Consultant Today shares these four tips for marking the path to your next career move.
1. Pay attention to the nitty gritty. A lot of what makes a job a good fit lies in the details of the day-to-day work—if you loathe the daily tasks, you’re probably going to hate the job, too.
As you begin to think about the type of career transition you want to make, start out by documenting what you already know to be true about your professional self. Pay close attention to your workday for the next two weeks, and take notes about when you’re feeling particularly unmotivated or unenthused about your job. Write down the tasks that bring you down as well as those that get you excited. It may seem like a tedious exercise, but if you stick with it, patterns will start to emerge. And it’s in teasing out these patterns that you will start to build a picture of the role that’s right for you.
2. Apply your passions to your professional life. It’s great when your interests and passions line up perfectly with your career, but how many of us can claim this as a reality? Well, I have a little trick: If you think about what interests you in abstract terms, you may have an easier time connecting the dots. For example, if you like mountain-climbing, then you enjoy planning, precision and the ability to take risks.
Next, think about your favorite conversations, favorite blogs and the kinds of events that leave you energized. Jot down three to five bullet points under each one, making note of why they excite you. Then take a look at the list you created and try to pull out commonalities across ideas.
3. Schedule coffee chats. In addition to being introspective, it’s also important to get out there and start learning about the careers you’re interested in. Try to schedule at least 15 informational interviews over the course of a couple of months. This may sound like a lot, but initially quantity is more important than quality as you want to get a sense of a wide variety of roles in different industries based on the results of your introspection. The more people you speak with, the more you’ll be exposed to fields you might wish to pursue. With that said, you don’t want the person on the receiving end to feel you are wasting their time—so always make sure to come prepared and send a thank-you note.
Focus on a standard set of open-ended questions. For example: “What surprised you most about your current role?” “Would you recommend your job or company to a friend interested in [insert interest or passion here]? Why or why not?” Also ask industry-specific questions, and take notes of the conversations. Then review your notes for common themes behind the roles that sound most appealing to you.
When you are questioning your next career move, try these strategies.
Source: Leslie Moser attends Harvard Business School where she is pursuing her MBA. Before going back to school she worked at Teach For America where she tried to tackle educational inequity one email at a time.
