Are you thinking about pivoting your career? Feeling a bit stuck with how to go about that process, or intimidated by all there is to do? Before you get frustrated with the process, or spend a bunch of money on re-training, I want you to meet Michele Heyward. Michele is the founder and CEO of PositiveHire, a tech company dedicated to accelerating careers of women in tech.
I attended a Women in Tech meetup recently with Michele, and captured these three gems for you from her presentation. See if you can plan action around one of these three this week to take steps toward your career pivot. And frankly, even if you aren’t considering a change, these tips are applicable and helpful to anyone.
Tell People Your Goal
Share your career goal with the people in your life. Michele shares that people don’t often let themselves declare a career goal, let alone articulate this goal to others. She encourages professionals to claim their goal to the people in their lives – significant others, families, kids, and friends.You might be surprised by how active people are in helping attain your goal. Consider this, where are you keeping your career goals to yourself? In keeping this private, you cut yourself off from the support and resources those close to you want to offer. Perhaps you start with one more person. Who in your life can you share your career goal with next?
Gaps to Close
Identify what gaps you have currently that get in the way of your career pivot. Michele offers three main categories to consider here: network, education, and self-confidence. Once you audit yourself and recognize where the gaps are, you can create steps forward to address those gaps. For example, you might identify that you don’t know anyone in a career you’re interested in, you don’t have someone to talk to about the pivot, or you’re perceiving that you’re missing training required for the job. Once you can identify those gaps in your network, education and self-confidence, you can design steps forward more purposefully. Which of those three categories would have the biggest impact for you, if you could move it forward? Start there.
“Don’t spend the money yet”
Take time to do your research prior to spending money and time on a program or degree. Make sure that investing in training will actually be necessary and pivotal to your career change. People often see a job description for a position they’d like to apply for, and spend a bunch of time and money making sure they have all of the trainings listed in the description. This method works on the assumption that the company actually requires all of these listed trainings and experiences. While that might be the case at some workplaces, it’s certainly not the universal rule. Employers often list more in a description than they require for the job. And, beyond what they’d expect in someone they hire. Find out what is needed for where you want to be.
It can be easy in a career pivot to get overwhelmed by the options available to you. This is where I often see coaching clients get stuck in a career paralysis. The steps forward are either vague or too abundant, and this overwhelm keeps them from making progress forward. What I like about these three tips I pulled from Michele’s presentation, is that they get you moving. When you’re feeling stuck in a career pivot, it’s all about taking the next best step for you. I encourage you to consider these three tips, and decide which next incremental step forward is right for you, and do that. Identify your gap, get information from the right people, and involve your community.
MORE ON MICHELE HEYWARD
I really enjoyed this webinar with Michele. If you’re looking to work with her, or would like to learn more about her work, connect with Michele Heyward online and on Twitter @michelecheyward.
