Usually, when we hear someone explain that they are transitioning careers, we think of someone who has worked for a few years in one specialty and is now pursuing a different career path. Even if you have not established your career yet, it may be time for a transition.
You may be transitioning from what you thought you would do.
Perhaps, you have graduated with a degree in English Literature. You once thought that you would go on to graduate school and eventually earn a PhD. Now, a combination of student loans, an uncertain job market and an uncertain passion are making you rethink your once concrete plans.
That’s okay.
There comes a time when we need to evaluate if we are pushing ourselves to achieve something we really want, or just something we think we should want.
It can be difficult to transition our mindset. It can be more difficult to work tirelessly towards a goal that no longer fits who we are and what we want.
You may have already transitioned your mindset once in college.
When you first filled out your college applications and you marked a major, did you have a career in mind at the time? Like many college graduates, you may have changed your major. You may have changed it more than once.
Some people even change their major twice in a semester. Ahem.
Changing your major in college is expected. It is fairly common. Now, changing your career path after graduation is becoming just as common.
Transitioning your ideas about your career does not mean giving up on your dreams.
What it means is finding a way to make your dreams work in reality. You need to get creative. We’ve answered the question, what do you want to do. Now it’s time to ask how.
You may want to be a fiction author. Have you considered searching for a position that will utilize your research, writing, and proofreading skills and will give you spare time to write your novel? Perhaps you could look into a position that will put you in touch with contacts at a publishing house or agency. You are no longer looking for a job as a fiction author, but a job that will support you as you pursue your writing career.
You may want to be an accountant. Just because you have not received an offer from a big 4 accounting firm does not mean that your career is over before it starts. If you want to be an accountant, reach out to everyone you know and ask them to reach out to their accountants. Set up lunch meetings (not during tax season). Ask them to keep you in mind for any per diem, part-time or full-time positions in accounting. You may not have the opportunity to work for a big 4 firm, but you still have the opportunity to be an accountant.
You may have wanted to work with a marketing firm designing high profile advertising campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. You may need to start smaller and look to local marketing firms to grow your portfolio. You may need to actively solicit and engage clients for the firm in your first few months. It may be a much different experience than you expected, but that does not automatically mean it will be worse.
To transition your career mindset, be honest with yourself and your passions. Just as you have had to make networking work for you, you can make your career work for you. Be open to creative opportunities. Be open to experiences that do not play out as you expected. Build and maintain strong networking relationships.
Most of all, remember that your first job will not be your last job. You will learn from it, grow from it and eventually move on from it. But to move on, you will need to rely on the skills, experiences, and the networking connections that you have built along the way.
I wish you the very best of luck as you forge your road to success!
