Understand Transferrable Skills
I am always surprised to hear people say, “But I can’t do that job; I don’t know Powerpoint (or Photoshop or how to write a business plan). When you want to transition, you need to look for more general skills that can be used across disciplines. And, you need to understand what the important skills are in the job(s) you are going for. I never realized how critical my 18 years in sales and marketing would be to getting my own coaching practice up and running.
Are you an effective writer? Do you connect easily with people? Are you good at execution? Are you a detail oriented finisher? Do you work better on a project basis, or on maintenance? Are you incredibly patient? Do you embrace the challenge of politics in a large organization? Are you unflappable and would do well in a start-up situation? All of these are the kinds of skills that are invaluable across job functions, companies and industries. To better understand your transferrable skills, try looking at Strengthsfinder 2.0 or at Please Understand Me II, which interprets the Myers-Briggs profiles.
Be Strategic
While I was in business school a professor said, “Surround yourself with good people and your career will make itself.” I would add one dimension to that. ‘Good people’ doesn’t just mean people who have been successful in their work. It means people who believe in you. If you are joining a company where others have more experience than you do, make sure that you have advocates with decision making power. Coming with experience or knowledge that the company is looking for is even better. In the first year or two, you need some wiggle room to learn and make the occasional mistake. Feeling protected will keep stress levels down. For a great description of support systems in an organization, see Carla Harris’s, “Expect to Win.”
As professionals who have invested so much time and effort into our training and education, I believe that we should be allowed to pursue careers that we love. My own experience has been one of peeling away of the layers of the onion until I found what suited me best. We don’t have to know what we want to do at age 22 or even 27, but if we want sustainable career satisfaction, we may need to make the occasional adjustment.