The Dilemmas of Career Changes

One of the most challenging phases for a professional is the discovery that what they studied or specialised in is not really what drives them. It becomes even more difficult when one has practiced in the field for a period of time. How does one make a late career change without studying something new, a lot of my mentees ask me? What guarantee would one have that such a change will not impact negatively their lives, such as reduced ability to secure meaningful employment?

One of the easiest ways to make a career change is to study further, through a relevant post-graduate qualification which can build on your previous career. Alternatively, one can be fortunate to find an employer who is open-minded in their definition of skill, and thus in their talent identification process they allow themselves to have a broad definition of what is a relevant skill in their business. However, not everyone has the luxury to wait for such a qualification or is fortunate enough to find such an employer. We face these challenging questions daily and the solution may not always lie with such a qualification or finding this elusive employer.

I have often found that we tend to confuse either a job or a specialisation with the character and core competence of that individual. We thus describe ourselves through our qualifications and/or qualifications, such as saying I am an accountant, engineer, doctor, lawyer etc. The fundamental flaw with such an approach is that it does not tell us anything about the person. Having narrowed one's description of self to these technical definitions, then it should not be a surprise if we battle to see ourselves surviving except in these technical fields. This becomes even more difficult if we feel social pressures to live out these definitions, either from friends or family, because that is the only way they see or value us.

In my mentorship discussions I always get people to focus on their character, core strengths and competencies. Essentially, what is it about them that made them successfully complete whatever qualification, as that will get them thinking more about their strengths? If they have actually worked in this profession that may no longer energise them, what did they achieve and what was a distinguishing character that either clients or their superiors valued? What are the key things they have done which other people in the same field have not done? These are a family of questions that go to the heart of what makes for a good career thinking process: through answering them, the individual is able to accentuate the positive about themselves, rather than spending too much energy in focusing on the negative.

This requires a lot of thinking, which may not be easy to do alone. It will help to get a mentor or thinking partner to tease out the answers, or at least someone to whom one  can verbalise their observations to. For many people, the answer to what they can do in life lies deeply in their understanding of self, rather than in focusing on what they are doing as a job or what they have studied. That can only be a proxy of their capabilities, but not a true definition of the person.

Once one has a true understanding of self, including using the qualifications or experience they have, then one is able to see the possibilities in life for a person with such strengths. It requires that we have a wider view of the world, and not one predefined according to very narrow technical prescriptions. And then what we need to do is generate various options, that are directly linked to the person we have come to understand. We are effectively starting from a new slate, but paradoxically we are using an existing understanding based on qualifications and experience.

When we are in this space, we are no longer prisoners of our past, suffering from the demon of self- hatred.  We are also not immobilised by the twin demon of fear that makes us to be worried about the future. We get in a mode of generating options based on an understanding of who we are, at that moment, which is about the present. We are neither guilty of the past no fearful of the future. It is in exercising what we seems the best of the options we have generated that we create the future that is not constrained by guilt or fear. We move from being unhappy to being masters of our destiny, utilising the best of what the past offers, to a future that we have created. This future may involve studying further, finding the right employer or starting a new initiative.

This is the basic framework I guide others to use when thinking about life-changing career decisions. It is possible, and I used it when I had to make similar decisions. I have made three major career changes throughout the years, and when I look back, the basis for my relative success has included an understanding of my character and capabilities, drawing the best from my previous experience, having a wide view of the world, and being fearless about the future.

If you are sitting with a career dilemma or being worried whether this change is possible, I encourage focusing first on self as a basis of generating options. It is easier than you think.