07: Lost with what career change to make?

Do you want to make a career change, but don’t know what to pursue? You’re not alone. So many people are struggling to figure out their career switch as shown on Facebook groups for career changers. The most common post on these groups goes something like this, “I’m so unhappy doing what I do right now at my job, but I don’t know what else to do with my career!” 

Here to the rescue is certified life and career coach Deirdre Taylor. Deirdre helps her clients discover their passion and purpose, and prepare for success in their careers. In this episode, she offers some direction on how to look past simply what you do (or did) on the job to figure out what career switch to make when you’re lost.

Episode Highlights:

• Designing the life you want
• How to figure out what you’re best at vs what you enjoy doing
• Determining the market demand
• Consider what you want in your next job at this stage in your life
• Using the power of loose connections
• Talking to others who’ve made a career change for ideas and support
• How to answer the question, “What do you want to do?” when networking with new people in new industries
• How to use AIR (Advice, Information and Referrals) to figure out what to pursue next 

Find Deirdre Taylor at deirdretaylorcoaching.com.

Music credit: TimMoor from Pixabay

Podcast info:
What's your career switch? What do you think about this episode and the show? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Transcript

Lixandra: Hi everyone, I'm Lixandra Urresta, and this is Career Switch Podcast. This show is here to encourage you to take action with whatever career change you've been considering or are working on. In some episodes, I talk to people who've made their own career switch, whether by choice or circumstance. They share the good, the bad, and the truth about their journey, including what worked for them and what didn't. In other episodes, I speak with experts who offer their best career advice on issues that can come up during the process of making a career change. After all, it takes guts to switch things up, and it's not easy. However, it is possible. 

So, I hope you hear something in this episode, an idea, a suggestion, a piece of wisdom that'll spur you into action with your own career switch, whether it's taking that first bold step or trying something new. Welcome. I'm glad you're here. 

When I started Career Switch Podcast, I joined a bunch of Facebook groups for career changers to see what issues people are facing when it comes to making their career switch. The number one post I see on these groups go something like this. I'm so unhappy doing what I do right now at my job, but I don't know what else to do with my career. If you're in the same boat, I can relate. After my own layoff from magazines, I knew one thing. I had to switch industries. Publishing is shrinking and layoffs at my company had been the norm for years. I knew my next job had to be in a new field, but I didn't know how I could use my skills in other industries. I had been a research editor, a.k.a. fact checker, for my whole career. I made sure articles were accurate and free of errors before going to print. What other good-paying industries used fact checkers? I was lost. If you're also trying to figure out what in the world to do next career-wise, here to the rescue is certified life and career coach Deirdre Taylor. Deirdre's transformational programs help her clients discover their passion and purpose and prepare for success in their careers. In this episode, Deirdre offers some direction on how to look past simply what you do or did on the job to figure out what career switch to pursue when you're lost. 

Hi, Deirdre. Thanks so much for being here today. Trying to figure out what career switch to make is a big problem for a lot of career changers. It was for me. How often do you get a client who wants to make a career switch? However, they don't know what to pursue.

Deirdre: Actually, it happens with surprising regularity for a number of different reasons. There's so much change in the world today. Businesses are changing. Some industries are shifting. Your industry of publishing is a perfect example. And there really always have been historically times when a technology that was highly valued or a skill set was highly valued is really no longer in demand in the same way. Also, what happens is sometimes people's lives change and they have children or something and they take a break and want to come back and realize they don't want to do what they were doing before.

Lixandra: What about when there is an unexpected event such as a layoff and you're caught off guard?

Deirdre: Anytime there's a really dramatic event like a layoff, there's an emotional charge with that. It's shocking for many people. Some people expect it and some people actually welcome it because they sort of saw the whiting on the wall and didn't have the courage to make their own change. Then they find that their job has been eliminated in a restructuring and they flounder around for a while, trying to find something similar to what they had before, usually, and then finding there really is no market for that. What we have to have when we're looking for a position is we have to be clear on our skill sets. We also have to understand marketability and market demand. When there's no more demand for what we've been doing, then, you know, we're forced to find something else. And that's hard. there's bound to be a period we call resistance where there's some anger and sadness and blaming and processing of the past. A big mistake people make is to get a bad resume out as quickly as possible and just start firing off job application after job application online and or taking a job that is absolutely the wrong job for them and being shocked to find themselves back in the same situation six months or a year later and having to go through the whole thing again. So deep breath, it's an opportunity to move away from some of the things that weren't working anyway in your life and begin to say, okay, how am I going to design my life? How am I going to take control here and design a life that I would love going forward? And that takes some time and it takes sometimes some coaching and it takes some support from your friends and family, but it's absolutely worth it.

Lixandra: So what first steps do you recommend for someone who needs direction with what career switch to make?

Deirdre: I recommend people start with a pretty deep self-assessment about their strengths. And I define strengths as the crossover between what am I really, really good at? I get good at lots of things in the course of a professional life. But what am I best at? Combined with what do I most enjoy doing? What do I really love? So what are those things that when I'm doing them I lose track of time, I feel really great, and sometimes people aren't really even sure what those are. So then I suggest that you start with an accomplishment that you're proud of. Think of something that you feel really good about from any point in your career, and think about what did it take to get that done? What skills did I use to get that done? And out of those skills or those competencies, which do I most enjoy doing and which would I be happiest continuing to do? So we can use you as an example, Alexandra. You were a fact checker in a magazine environment and the demand, the changes in the publishing industry, especially for magazines, very, very dramatic changes going on.

Lixandra: Yes, that's right. I actually survived about 10 rounds of layoffs at my company before my time was up. As the fact checker, I had to make sure articles in every issue were accurate and up to date. I had to research any facts that were used in our stories, such as statistics. I also had to contact the people we had interviewed for the articles and make sure the information we had attributed to them was correct. If anything was off, I'd make the necessary corrections to ensure there were no errors before we went to print.

Deirdre: So the next step is to go a little deeper to say, okay, what does it take to be good at being a fact checker? So in your case, for example, you are a fact checker, but that requires research and curiosity and tenaciousness and going a little deeper requires interviewing people. So that's the next level is to take the strength and then you take it apart and say, okay, what are the elements that make me good at what it is that I do? And then the third part, of course, is where in the world might I reapply those? At the top level for you is where else in the universe might there be a demand for fact-checking? And if you can't figure that out, or there's not an environment in your area or an area that's interesting to you, then you go deeper and say, all right, Where might there be a demand for me as a researcher, as an interviewer, as a, so the elements, right? And that's kind of the process we get to begin to brainstorm possibilities for ourselves.

Lixandra: What if someone tries this three-part process you just described and needs more options? What are some other things you can do to figure out your career switch?

Deirdre: Then we have to go a little deeper and think back really through our whole lives and scan really all the way back to our youth and even our childhood. What came naturally to you as a child? What did you excel at in school? What were your extracurricular activities that you enjoyed? Was there something in your life, perhaps an art form or writing or, you know, something that you did that came naturally and easily to you younger? You know, because various interventions of your life, you never pursued that. And is that something then that you want to really go back and revisit? I've had clients, for example, that took an early job in an administrative kind of a role and grew in that role and stayed with a company for 20 years, maybe even a little longer. And finally, the layoff came. went through a big emotional time because, in this person's case, they were very attached to the people and comfortable in their role and secure with the income and so forth. But on further thought, really never enjoyed the actual tasks, never intended a life as an administrative person. And digging deeper, realized that their fascination had actually been psychology and how people work, what makes people tick, Their joy in life was actually the relationships they had, not the tasks they were doing. And in this person's case, they decided to go back to school for a master's in clinical psychology. So that's a pretty dramatic change, but this woman couldn't be happier with her choices, even though they're hard and it's not easy to go back to school in your 40s.

Lixandra: You mentioned at the beginning that you recommend your clients take a deep assessment of themselves. What else does it entail?

Deirdre: Another part of the assessment has to do with what is most important to you in your life today. So our values shift over time. When we're right out of school, we're eager to get going on our careers, we're excited. As we move into our early 30s, that's when we start to want to make more money and perhaps start a family, want to have a home. So we're more inclined to want to work very, very hard, long hours. As we get a little more mature, sometimes our values shift. We've already put some of those pieces in place and now we might be at a stage where we really want to be more relational or give back in some way or The product or service that the company is offering has to have intrinsic value. You know, we have to sort of believe in it. Sometimes people find themselves working for companies where there's some ethical questions and some of the things that they see going on, they don't believe in that. So it's very, very hard for us, for any of us, I think, to sustain a career path when we're out of alignment with our values over a long period of time. So part of this self-analysis process is to get clear on what's important to me. My work in terms of, you know, is there a cost to my health, my sleep? My work in relationship to my relationships, my family. Is there a relationship in terms of the money-time balance? Some jobs, you know, you work 60-hour weeks, you make good money, but at what cost? You know, there's no time to enjoy. I work with quite a few people who come to the realization that the fabulous job they had as a young person traveling all over the world and changing time zones and all of that, they're now much more interested in being in a community and staying put. So that's one example.

Lixandra: So once you've done the self-assessment, what are the next steps?

Deirdre: Well, it's one thing to get clear on what you would love in an ideal world. Unfortunately, the voices of doubt come up. I just need money. I just need a job. One thing I want to say to your audience is that it's very important to focus your thinking on the what would I really like, what am I good at, and what are my values, and not try to figure out the how am I going to do this in the first moment. First of all, let's get clear on what would be ideal. Now once you're clear, then we do have to address the how. What steps can I take to get from here to there? So you need to start thinking about, if you look at those skills, what professions, what professional environments have a need for those kinds of skills? So it becomes a research project. It becomes a series of conversations. Sometimes it's online research in the beginning. You want to start out by looking for what's the low-hanging fruit? What do I mean by that? So you were fact-checking in a particular environment, happened to be publishing. So what are the close-in industries related to magazines that might also require your skill set? So you start with sort of the things close in, and then you go in concentric circles out from there. By concentric circles, let's think of a farther out. You could have considered a government role, gotten your civil service license, done the test, and applied your skills in some sort of government agency that does fact-checking, let's say.

Lixandra: What else should you keep in mind?

Deirdre: The other things that you want to make sure that you're looking at is, do you want to work in a big corporate setting again, if you come from that world? Or would you prefer a smaller company, a startup company? So you want to think about size. You want to think about the length of your commute. How far out do you want to go? Are you willing to move? And they'll evolve. You may not know them all at once, so have patience with yourself. But you want to think about these things. And then if you know anybody else who's had a career change, it's very comforting and helpful to reach out and just have some conversations with people who've done it, who are on the other side, who actually made the switch. It's important to understand that when you make a career change, the traditional job search tools become less and less effective. Essentially, our job boards and our recruiters are set up to put a round peg in a round hole. Job boards particularly, you know, it's a set of keywords. The people who are looking at those resumes that come in are looking for someone to meet, you know, check, check, check, check all the things on the job description. By definition, if you're making a job change, an industry change, a career change, you're not going to have all of them as written, right? You're going to be looking for someone to take a chance on you. someone who can make the translation from, you were really good at doing this in this environment and with very little upstart and learning curve, you're going to be very good at doing even this because you have strong skills and you have strong soft skills and you're a quick learner and because you're committed and passionate and all those things. Those soft skills really only get communicated in conversations with people. So the amount of networking that you have to do when you do a job change goes way up. And consequently, the length of time for your search can go way up. Put a date on the calendar and go for it 100% for your ideal role until that date If you have to have money coming in at that point, that's the point where you look at the B-roll or the C-roll and you do whatever you have to do, but you never start looking for what it is that you'd really love to do. allow yourself to be surprised. Sometimes in conversation, when we just say, this is what I'm good at, this is what I love, this is the values that are important to me today, this is the size of company, and I'm hoping to find something within a 20-mile radius of my home, or working from home three or four days a week, or whatever it is that you've laid out for yourself. People sometimes surprise you, and they'll say, well, have you ever thought of, or maybe you should talk to my friend so-and-so, Or my husband's mother runs a company that could really use someone like you. You never quite know where it's going to come from. I call it the power of loose connections.

Lixandra: I certainly learned about some options as to what I could do with my skills by networking with former magazine fact-checkers. For example, one had gone into academia, so I explored that avenue by teaching a fact-checking course. I hadn't even considered teaching until I spoke with that former colleague. However, the difficult part I found about networking was when I reached out to new people in other industries because the first question they usually asked me was, what are you looking to do? It was hard for me to answer since I thought it was a bad idea to tell someone who I didn't know that I was lost, then ask them for help. So how can someone handle that question, what are you looking to do when networking with new people?

Deirdre: It really doesn't have to be scary. Early on, it's just important to recognize that it is a research project that you're undertaking here, not a job search at this stage. So you want to tell people you're exploring a number of options. You don't need to have a set answer. You do need to say, you know, for the last few years I've been doing this, that, and the other thing, and I'm really good at this and that, and I'm really proud of a couple of things that I've done. But my industry is shrinking, or it no longer holds so much interest for me, or you know, whatever your story is. And so I'm looking at a number of options, and I'm talking to people really to help me with that exploration, because I know I have a lot of strengths as a researcher. I'm tenacious. I know that I am very comfortable reaching out to strangers and asking them hard questions, and I'm a very good fact checker. I'm also a good editor. So you lay out what you're good at, what you love. And I'm looking actually to talk to people about which kinds of industries might value those kinds of skill sets. The most important thing about networking, it's a conversation for information, advice, and referrals. We call it AIR, advice, information, referrals. And you start with information. You know, tell me about your industry. Tell me about your journey. How did you get doing what you're doing today? What do you like about your company? Is it growing? What do you like about your industry? In your industry, is there any position that you can think of or kinds of positions that use people with the kinds of skill sets I have? Not that I'm expecting you to know of an opening, but just do you have any advice for someone like me? Have you ever been through a career change? Do you know anybody who has who might offer some help to me? Is there somebody else that you think it would be really valuable for me to talk to or who would be mutually, I like these words, mutually valuable for us to know each other? I don't expect them to know of a job for me. At this stage, I'm just exploring options. So that's kind of the tone. You let one person lead you to another person.

Lixandra: Okay, great. To wrap up, what last advice can you offer our listeners who are trying to figure out their career switch?

Deirdre: I personally have been through three complete career reinventions. So I speak from depth of experience. Each one landed in a situation that was way beyond my wildest expectations and not something I perhaps would have been able to see coming when I started. Be open to the unexpected. Be open to ideas you haven't thought of. We only know what we know. So part of this exploration is to open our mind to some things we might not have thought of before, as you were saying about your own situation.

Lixandra: How can our listeners reach you if they're interested in working with you?

Deirdre: I have a website called Deirdre, D-E-I-R-D-R-E, DeirdreTaylorCoaching.com. I work with clients all over the country and actually around the world.

Lixandra: Thanks to Deirdre Taylor for being our guest today. If you'd like to contact Deirdre about her career and life coaching services, you can reach her at Deirdretaylorcoaching.com. 

You can find links to the resources mentioned in this episode and more helpful information in the show notes and on our website, careerswitchpod.com. While you're there, join our mailing list and follow us on Instagram and Twitter at careerswitchpod. So what's your career switch? Are you excited to take action after listening to this episode? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. We'd love to know along with any feedback you have about the show. We're a new podcast, so please rate, review, and share with your friends and colleagues. It'll help get the show out there. Thanks for listening today till next time.