If you've wondered what it would be like to quit your job and explore a new path this past year, you are in the majority.
In 2023 alone, 1.2 million people changed jobs during the year ending February 2023, equating to a job mobility rate of 9.5% of all employed people changing jobs during the year.
Whether or not you are pursuing a passion or side hustle, confused about quitting your job for a new one, or just looking for a change, know that it is not a straightforward decision. It requires careful planning and thinking.
Transitions aren't just about doing something different. A career transition is a lifestyle redesign that often entails rethinking how you want to feel at the end of the day, how you want to send your time, and how this relates to your longer term goals. When you feel this need for change, it isn't necessary related to a fancier title or more money, but your inner voice whispering that you could do more, be more, experience and achieve more.
It's important to approach a career transition with intention and clarity. Start by reflecting on your values, strengths, and interests. What truly matters to you? What are you passionate about? Consider how these align with potential new roles or industries. Take the time to research and explore your options, network with professionals in those fields, and gain a deeper understanding of what the transition may entail.
Recognising and Managing Emotions During a Career Transition
The emotional side of career transition is often as significant as the practical steps. Emotions drive decisions, influence behaviors, and can either propel us forward or hold us back. How do we harness these feelings to fuel our career growth rather than hinder it?
Dealing with Guilt
The initial challenge involves feelings of guilt associated with departing from a former employer or profession. Strong bonds with colleagues and the company's investment in your growth can make the exit seem like a disloyalty. However, it's important to remember that career decisions sometimes require a degree of self-interest. While it's normal to feel gratitude towards individuals or organizations that have supported you, such feelings shouldn't deter you from making career changes that suit you.
Reassess your reasons for wanting a change; aligning your professional trajectory with personal values can eliminate unwarranted guilt.
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Adjusting your personal identity and sense of self:
According to Gallup research, 55% of people in the Australia define themselves by their job, instead of considering work as simply what they do for a living. If your job or career changes, then you will likely need to adjust your self-image too.
People want to be respected and honoured for who they are, and one's chosen career is a big part of that. They also want to feel that their work has meaning and a positive impact. That's one of the reasons, for example, that 4.5 million people between the ages of 50 and 70 have moved into what is called " Encore careers," which leverage skills from a first career to help others during a second stint at work.
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Old Habits
The third emotional hurdle involves abandoning familiar patterns and habits that were effective in your prior stage, but may not be suitable for the next. We all adapt to specific work atmospheres - how to interact with others, dress appropriately, behave, question certain things, and accept others. However, when transitioning to a new setting, these rules no longer apply and we must redefine our behavior.
This can be difficult as individuals tend to cling to their customary routines and habits for psychological comfort and relief. Some of these might appear insignificant (for instance, sparing time to grab a coffee en route to work), while others carry more importance (like being part of a daily meeting team). Regardless of the circumstance, deviating from established norms while adapting to new surroundings can be daunting.
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Strategies
Handling the emotional strain that accompanies a career shift is indeed challenging, regardless of your career stage. However, to increase your chances of success at the end of this transition, there are two strategies you can implement.
Firstly, deliberate thoughtfully about what will bring you contentment in your forthcoming job or career phase. Think about financial aspects, work-life quality, potential for finding purpose, room for personal development, flexibility for family commitments and leisure activities, and anything else of importance to you. Essentially, you want to compile a comprehensive checklist for job satisfaction that will guide your decision-making process and shape your subsequent stage.
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Secondly, prior to leaping into your next venture, consider other ways to prepare for a career change. What could potentially ease the transition? This might involve activities like job shadowing or conducting informational interviews, etc.
Planning Your Path: Self-Assessment, Goal Setting, and Problem-Solving
As you navigate the career transition landscape, the roadmap should begin with a thorough self-assessment
If you are thinking about quitting your job to make a meaningful career transition, first consider the why, the want, and the when.
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WHY(do you want to change)
Begin by questioning your motives for wanting to leave your current position. Are you dissatisfied with the company culture, the individuals you work with, or is there a deeper issue? It's crucial to be candid with yourself and meticulously consider your options.
Understanding the root cause of your desire to switch careers allows you to concentrate your energy on this new path.
PRO TIP: Prior to resigning from your job, try to experience what it might feel like in a new role. Is it an improvement over your current situation? Is transitioning worth it? If possible, take a break from work to focus on a personal project that excites you. If you don't have such a project and are simply seeking something different, utilize your spare time to explore various industries or positions that intrigue you. This could involve volunteering, shadowing professionals in your fields of interest, or conducting informal interviews with individuals whose career paths you admire.
Always keep the final goal in mind. Long-term planning can be difficult, but having a mental picture of the life you aspire to create can be beneficial.
Work and life aren't separate; work is an integral part of life. Attempt to envision where you want to reside, who you want as a partner, and how you want to allocate your daily time.
PRO TIP: Pen down your future life story. Reflect on what defining moments would feature prominently in it. Be deliberate in detailing what legacy you wish to leave behind and how you intend to spend your time. In the end, how you utilize your time shapes who you become. This exercise can provide clarity on what truly matters to you and why. It doesn't need to be extremely lengthy; it just needs to offer insight into the journey you envisage for yourself.
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WHAT (do you want to do)
Evaluate your current situation. Some individuals may already be aware of their desire to switch industries or return to school to acquire new skills, but many are unsure about their future direction. It's essential to understand your current position before you can determine where you want to go next. A straightforward way to do this is by asking yourself:
What is my ultimate aim?
Will my current actions help me reach that goal?
Will my decisions now lead to more or fewer regrets when I'm 80?
Next, delineate the steps necessary for your future self to look back with pride and identify potential hurdles in achieving this. Recognizing the obstacles that keep you rooted in your present situation is a crucial aspect of understanding where you stand. Then, consider the tasks required for progress towards your target. Identify and either tackle or disregard challenges beyond your control.
For instance, many individuals face an unpredictable income - a factor often beyond immediate control. Will your earning in the new role match that in the previous one? Would it necessitate a lifestyle shift? Constantly fretting over such issues is unproductive. If leaving your job brings you closer to your objective and you've decided to follow that path, you need to devise strategies around this issue.
EXPERT ADVICE: Approach self-evaluation with mindfulness, a sense of inquiry, and a readiness for trial-and-error. Everything can be figured out. There's no precise formula for career transitions; experimentation and problem-solving are the routes to success.
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WHEN (will the change happen)
Prepare for numerous rejections. Regrettably, career changes and recruitment procedures often hinge on prior work history. If you're a tech sales manager aiming to infiltrate the trading or hedge fund sphere, many will advise you towards a position akin to your current one, despite possessing the skills for a sector switch.
Rarely do individuals gamble on someone with diverse experience. But once you find that single risk-taker, seize the opportunity to excel, persevere tirelessly, and demonstrate your worth.
PRO Tip: Fortunately, not everyone needs to gamble on you - just one is enough. Locating that individual/recruiter/hiring manager requires time. Anticipate several rejections before succeeding. If your determination and readiness are robust enough, someone will eventually take that chance.
Stay realistic. Some transitions may be far-fetched in the short run. Avoid setting yourself up for disappointment with unattainable objectives within impractical deadlines. We tend to overstate our year-long capabilities and underestimate our decade-long potential. You can alter your industry, function, and location but accomplishing all three instantly is unlikely. Gradual transitions are generally more enduring.
Nonetheless, don't construe realism as incompatible with grand aspirations. Both can coexist given a suitable timeframe. Dream grandly and act minutely by taking small steps towards your goal.
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Pro Tip: Small acts accumulate over time to yield remarkable outcomes. Initiate the first step and maintain consistency. Swift action combined with patient anticipation of results will prove beneficial.
Ensure a fallback plan. Develop an acceptable alternative for when things don't proceed as anticipated or planned. It could be a midway point between your ultimate goal and present state. This could help bridge any skill or networking deficiencies during career transitions and importantly, it sets you on your desired path.
Pro Tip: Establish a timeline. Suppose you're aiming to shift from law to social impact consulting but encountering difficulties due to lack of relevant experience. Your contingency plan could be time-bound. You could allow yourself a year to transition from law to social impact consulting by gaining the necessary skills, forming mentor relationships, and networking with industry professionals. If it still doesn't pan out, you can reassess your objective or consider achieving it over a longer period if you still find it appealing.
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Take stock of your current skills and those you will need to develop
The first step is to identify your current skill set, and the new skills you may need, and then find ways to bridge that gap.
Google the latest trends and competencies that hiring managers are looking for in the sector you would like to join
Scan job descriptions to understand what hard and soft skills you need to develop for a given role.
Network with people in your field of interest to learn more about what their roles require.
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Many industries require skills that overlap and can be applied to more than just one position. Transferable skills - like strong writing, leading and collaboration, emotional intelligence, and even technical skills like excel and coding - are useful across various sectors. For example, if you are moving from the role of a salesperson in a tech company to a product manager in a nonprofit, your ability to form client relationships, manage diverse views effectively, and negotiate well are all skills that will help you succeed.
If you need to develop more job-specific hard skills, like proficiency in a new software, consider taking short online course or certificate programs before you apply for the role. Youtube tutorials are another helpful (and free) resource to look into. Whatever efforts your take, will signal to your employee that you desire to learn, work hard, and adapt to challenges.
Finally, if you are looking to enter a more specalised field, like law or social work, that requires an advanced career, consider a part-time or online program. In this case, your journey may be longer and require a lot more effort, but the growing availability of online degree programs can help you ease into a new field without significant career gaps.
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Craft a specific resume and cover letter for each application
Your resume will need an overhaul alongside your competencies. One of the biggest challenges you'll face is showing how your past experiences and abilities are relevant to a new career or job.
Your objective should be to highlight your transferable skills and achievements in order to compensate for a lack of experience in their specific field. Here's how:
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Introduce a summary in your resume:
Initiate with a brief overview at the beginning of your resume to communicate to the recruiter that you're transitioning careers.
For instance, "As a results-oriented labor lawyer engaged with business organizations, I'm looking to shift towards human resources. With four years of expertise advising multinational corporations, teaming up with international units, and creating and evaluating legal agreements and discussions, I have a deep interest in employee relations and am eager to learn more about HR management."
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Emphasise on skills over work history:
Steer clear of showcasing a time-based compilation of your employment history as it may not resonate with your prospective employer, causing them to doubt if you're suitable for the position. Instead, relocate this information towards the end of your resume and categorize your experience under distinct abilities. You can use titles like "Negotiation Skills", "Research & Analysis", or "Data Analytics" to underscore the talents you have.
Beneath each skill, list out pertinent experiences along with accomplishments from previous stages of your employment history. Bear in mind that skills acquired through volunteer or non-professional work are also important. For instance, if you've assisted friends or relatives with their tax returns, that experience can be pertinent for an accounting role.
Highlight applicable degrees or certifications for the new job role:
Display any academic degree, certification, or coursework that pertains to the new job role — regardless of whether you've completed it or currently pursuing it — to demonstrate to the recruiter that this career move is important to you.
Lastly, leverage your cover letter to present a more detailed argument for your candidacy. Refer back to your motives from step #1, and articulate what motivates you, your career aspirations, and how this transition aligns with your long-term aspirations. Incorporate what steps you're taking to equip yourself and why you would be the perfect fit for the position, despite the absence of experience (your soft and hard skills, dedication, and enthusiasm).
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Preparing for the interview
Even after reviewing your application, recruiters are likely to inquire about your motivation to leave your current position or industry. Many leaders we've interacted with expressed that they're keen on understanding that you're moving on for the right reasons, such as improved opportunities, increased challenges, and career growth. They're interested in how well you'd perform in the role and why. The more you can demonstrate that your decision to switch jobs is deliberate and well-considered, the more reassured they'll feel about considering you.
Here's what recruiters generally look for:
Have you adequately researched the company and the position you're applying for?
Can you present an engaging narrative that underscores your abilities and past experiences, helping the interviewer see why you're suitable for the role?
What unique soft skills do you possess? These might include self-awareness during interviews, effective communication of your ideas, or successful collaboration and leadership within diverse or international teams.
Are you sincere and genuine during the interview? Interviewers want to get to know you personally, not just as a potential hire.
Do you ask insightful questions about the position and organization?
In essence, recruiters aim to comprehend why you're interested in a career change, evaluate your capacity to learn on-the-job, cooperate with their team, and assimilate into the company culture.
Keep these pointers in mind while responding:
Refrain from defaming: Even if unhappy in your current job, steer clear of denigrating your present employer, manager, colleagues or industry as it may backfire.
Be detailed: Highlight that your intent isn't merely to quit your present job but focus on how this new role will enable you to better fulfill your requirements – be it acquiring new skills or aligning with your interest in the industry or company culture.
Demonstrate curiosity: Use this opportunity to pose thought-provoking questions about the company, its culture, and potential learning or career advancement prospects.
Keep an eye on the future: Conclude your response by talking about your future goals. Discuss how this role or industry aligns with your passions, how it will aid personal and professional growth, the anticipated challenges and your strategies to tackle them, and the positive impact it would have on your career.
When articulating your reasons, concentrate more on the interviewer. Your objective isn't to justify why leaving your current job is best for you. Rather, you're there to convince the recruiter that your expertise, abilities, and accomplishments make you an ideal candidate for the position. Shift the conversation from your past work experiences to emphasize your potential as a future employee.
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Conclusion
If you aren't thinking about a career transition today, someday you will. As and when that day comes, approach it with curiosity, conviction, and commitment. Career transitions are messy, but they can also turn out to be catalysts in shaping a future self you will be proud of. There is no way of guaranteeing success, but trying might just leave you with regrets.
Always remember, a career transition isn't just about leaving one job for another. It's about exploring new opportunities, learning and growing, and ultimately finding fulfillment in your work. So, embrace the uncertainty, trust in your abilities, and take that leap of faith when the time is right. Who knows, it might just be the best decision you ever make.