Your next career move!

Jobs are owned by the company. You own your career. Earl Nightingale

 The great resignation has started. The talent migration has begun. As you read this you might have lost your job, voluntarily if not through retrenchment. You might have moved towns, cities, all to create more balance and enjoy life more, especially in the midst of the pandemic. You might be on the brink of choosing a new career path by learning new skills, or even starting in a new industry. A new trade might be luring you. Whatever the circumstances, you probably have more questions than answers. More feelings of uncertainty than assurance. You probably think, is this worth it? Or, I have to do this for myself and my family, but what about the years I have invested? Are they wasted? These are all valid and good questions to ask as you transition from the old and comfortable, to the new and unknown.

In this blog series we will uncover some exciting things that will support you as you move to the next phase of your career, but first I want to take time to bust some myths regarding career development. There are many myths that can hold you back, even stop you. So, let’s debunk some myths around career growth and planning.

1. If you change career you will lose your talents. This is not true. There are 2 paths you can take regarding career growth.
a. Choose to grow in a trade. A dentist can choose to grow in their dentistry by becoming a master dentist. A carpenter and grow to become known as a master carpenter. This is the more traditional way, found mostly in the Industrial Age of the 20th Century.

b. Choose to grow in your intrinsic talents. Another method is to grow your intrinsic talents. This is what I did. I discovered my top 6 intrinsic talents, although I used these skills within different industries and companies. These are the talents that gives you intrinsic motivation, irrelevant of the place you exercise these talents. A carpenter can realize, what they actually like about their work is to connect to people and design things that enhance the life of his or her clients. Carpentry is not the only place these skills are needed. The carpenter can decide to go into a career of Customer Experience Design or even Design Thinking Consultation.

2. I can only grow in my career if I move into leadership. This is a big myth. Company salaries have traditionally been geared towards leadership, but a shift is taking place where you can be compensated well enough for your expertise. This helps you to focus on your mastery instead of giving it up for the leadership path, especially if you don’t want to be in leadership.

3. To grow I need a new environment or job. In today’s workplace, people tend not to stay too long. This usually happens when they have no more inspiration. The fact is inspiration, very often, comes from the inside and not just from external resources. In difficult times, the best thing you can do is to find inspiration within. This will propel you forward in your craft and your work flow will increase as a result.

4. Change is the only constant. Calculated change is good. But, remember not all change are good. Changing just for the sake of changing can create a never-ending spiral that results in you losing your core.

5. I need to go on training or get certified before I can start. Even though there are legal requirements for many professions, and a qualification will certainly give you insights and relevant information, nothing should stop you from testing the waters. Talk to a friend of the industry you would like to get into. Do a crash course online. There are many ways in which you can try it out without making the big jump first. The best training for any job is hands on experience of trial and error. It is the tacit knowledge you learn and develop that will make the difference at the end.

6. There are not jobs for what I want to do. If there are no jobs available but there is a need in the economy, it shows the opportunity in the market. Start a company after hours or part time. Give it 6 months to 3 years. See if it works. Then make the big jump. Too many people do not design a realistic path from employee to entrepreneur. Just jumping in can be risky, if you are not that type of person.

What might be other myths you believe about your career? Just one of these myths about career growth, can lead you down a rabbit trail. Doing things just because it looks like the norm will not help you. Sometimes doing what you have been doing will create depth and new opportunities that change and job hopping won’t produce. Before you take the next step, you have to ask, “Why am I contemplating a career move?” What is the reason behind it? What do you want to achieve through the change? Answering this key question will give you insights into what drives your desire for a career move. Only then can you start planning possible scenarios before just doing what everyone else is doing.

Stop. Pause. Take stock, and answer the “Why” question 5 times to get to the bottom of your desire for a career move.

Order your copy of Creative Life Planning today and start exploring your next career move. Contact our office at office@xpand-sa.com for more information on career coaching.