00:00:00: Introduction
00:00:45: 1: Progress over perfection
00:01:26: 2: Curious career conversations
00:02:31: 3: Talents over titles
00:03:20: A watch-out
00:04:04: Consider bridging roles
00:06:01: Final thoughts
Sarah Ellis: Hi, I’m Sarah, and this is a Squiggly Careers Shortcut on Career Change. Now, we know that within a Squiggly Career, you’re likely to have at least four or five different types of career. So, this will feel relevant for all of us at some point; we’re all going to change careers at some point. It can feel both motivating and exciting, but also quite daunting and difficult to do. So, if you are thinking about doing something different in your Squiggly Career, what can help you to get started, whether it is a really significant squiggle, so doing something quite dramatically different; or whether it’s a squiggly-and-stay move, so maybe a move within the organisation you’re already in.
One, start with progress over perfection. You can’t think your way to a career change, as much as I might like to, as somebody who enjoys thinking and reflecting. You have to take action. And this action can be really small: experiments, small projects, volunteering. Find as any ways as you can to try before you apply. Get involved, even if it’s a really small opportunity. It doesn’t need to feel big or time-consuming, but the closer you get, the more relationships you will be. And also, it’s a good stress test for, “Does this feel like the right fit for me?”
Number two, have as many curious career conversations as you can. It will help you to understand the reality of different teams, different areas, what challenges they’ve got, whether that’s something that you’re interested in, so you’ll get a feel for fit. And also, you never know who knows who or who knows what. Now, we know with really big career changes, so if you’re looking to do something very different from what you do today, you need to find some new people to talk to, and that can feel really hard if you’re more introverted, like I am. So, ask for introductions. Remember, people really like helping people. So, have clarity on what do you need, so what is your ask. And it can just be something like, “I’m exploring a move into sales and marketing at some point in the next few years. Do you know anyone who could give me some insights into that, or who might be prepared to share a bit about their experience?” And usually, you will find someone will be able to help you, and people really enjoy talking about what they do. So, never apologise for asking for a bit of help.
Number three, talents over titles. You have to figure out your transferable talents and talk about them clearly and with confidence. My top tip here is think about how you do your job, rather than what you do. Often, we see ourselves in what we do day-to-day, like the tasks and the jobs that we need to get done. But think about, if you were doing a very different job next week, what would you take with you? It’s usually your ‘hows’. Are you a really good listener; are you an amazing collaborator; do you work really well cross-functionally; are you really good at creative problem-solving? What are those transferable talents that you’ve got? And then, start to connect the dots between those talents and where you want to go. How will they be useful for that team, for that organisation, for that department that you want to move to?
One word of caution: just watch out for job descriptions putting you off making those moves. Sometimes, job descriptions can read a bit like wish lists. And so, if you read a job description, you wouldn’t apply for any jobs, whether that’s similar to what you do today, or if you’re trying to do something different. But I think particularly when you’re in that career-change mode, you can look at a job description and think, “Well, I just don’t have enough to apply.” But think about those transferable talents, have those career conversations, do the progress over perfection. And if you can, if you’re thinking about a career change, if you can have conversations with people beforehand, that often puts you in a much better position to at least be considered, or hopefully get an interview.
Final thing to think about with career change, and this has definitely worked for me every time I’ve made any kind of career change, is bridging roles can be really useful. So, a bridging role might not be exactly where you want to go, but it gets you much closer. So, maybe there’s a bit of what you do today, so maybe it is within a similar team, or some of the skills that you’ve got, both your ‘whats’ and your ‘hows’ still stay relevant, but there’s some newness there that is getting you a bit closer to where you want to go. Successful career change does tend to happen incrementally and bit by bit, unfortunately. There’s no silver bullet of going from one thing to something very different overnight. And for most of us, we also need to make sure that we are still earning enough, and we’ve got all of those basics in place. And so often, having a bridging role, and in-between role, and it might be one or it might be a couple, but where you feel like you’re moving in the right direction, you’re getting closer to where you want to go, can be a really good thing to do.
When Helen and I first created Squiggly Careers and our company, Amazing If, we didn’t move from our corporate jobs to running Amazing If overnight. It actually took seven years. And we were doing loads of different things during those seven years, but that’s the biggest career change and the biggest career move that I’ve ever made. And I think one of the reasons that it worked out so well and that I’m still doing it today is that we did all of those things that we just talked about. We did a lot of testing and learning, lots of curious career conversations, really thought progress over perfection. Now, it might not take you seven years, but just be kind to yourself and think about your own expectations around how to make these things happen. We’re all going to be working for a long time in our Squiggly Careers, so don’t feel disheartened if you can’t make it happen straightaway.
I hope you found that useful. If you’d like a longer listen on career change, episode 379 of Squiggly Careers podcast, I interview April Rinne all about career change. She’s written and researched lots about career change, she’s also done it herself. So, if you want some examples and some more stories to bring to life some of the things I’ve talked to you about today, that might be a useful listen