What’s Your WHEN?
Understanding WHY you do what you do (or what you want to do) sets the stage for a satisfying career. When you love your work, it doesn’t feel like work! But your career doesn’t simply exist in a vacuum; it thrives within the context of your life.
Your career decisions are shaped by a confluence of factors, including timing. We like to call it your “when.”
When is the right time to change jobs … head back to school for an advanced degree … explore a different career … or even retire? Only you know the answer, which will be determined by your energy, schedule, urgency and reality.
Take Your (Energy) Pulse
Career exploration and job search activities require tremendous mental and emotional energy. Looking for a new job involves a lot of grit, from getting your resume in shape and expanding your professional network to applying and interviewing for specific jobs.
The process will likely include periods of excitement, frustration, disappointment and hopefulness — in unpredictable waves. Are you up to riding them at this time? Or is stability higher on your current list of priorities right now?
You may not be able to see mental and emotional energy, but you can certainly feel it. Expend too much, and you’ll feel the deficit. Because your energy levels play a significant role in determining your when, it’s important to tune into how you feel, recharge your batteries when they start to run low and recognize when it’s time to refocus or rest.
Can You Make the Time?
Fact: You have 24 hours to use every day. Another fact: You have to sleep, eat, work, take care of yourself and possibly several others, walk the dog and [fill in the blank with the details of your own life here].
It’s never a matter of finding time for career exploration and job search activities; rather, it’s a matter of making the time based on your current commitments — to yourself and others.
You don’t need Captain Obvious to announce that your plate is full. However, taking an objective look at how you spend the hours of your day can help you assess the value of the activities you fill them with, from scrolling through your social media feed to curling up with a good book.
You’re the judge and jury in evaluating how you spend your time. You’re also the only one who can decide how much time you’re willing to make for activities that will bring you closer to realizing your career-related goals.
The “Right” Job vs the “Right-Now” Job
The COVID outbreak has wreaked havoc on the economy, with a higher unemployment rate than our nation has seen since the Great Depression. If you’ve been furloughed or laid off, with a family to feed and bills to pay, urgency might turn your “when” into “right now!!” And your right-now job may or may not be your dream job.
The same may hold true if you’re still employed but hovering on the brink of overwhelm. Juggling work, helping kids with their e-learning and taking care of your elderly parents might be all you can handle. Sticking with your right-now job might make sense. For now.
Related: How to Find More Meaning at Work
Once you can afford the luxury of time (and energy), you can explore your options. Pursuing your ultimate dream job involves curiosity, intentional hard work and patience.
Reality Check
There are dreams … and there’s reality. Sometimes they meet in the middle. Other times, they collide.
Certain facts and realities will undeniably influence your “when.” So will your tolerance for risk.
How willing are you to put your resources (time, money, energy) into training for or applying to jobs with a low hiring probability? Do you know where to find?
Are you open to considering new career paths? Before COVID, you might not have considered a career in public health or contact tracing, but now both are poised for significant growth.
Johns Hopkins University recently launched a free online Coursera training program in contact tracing that has already attracted over 82,000 registrants. Hundreds of thousands of contact tracing professionals are already needed — and it’s a job that can be performed remotely. Oakton Community College is also offering a free class to learn how to conduct contract tracing, since Illinois will be hiring thousands of contact tracing workers to fill the growing need, which is a national priority.
(Note: We’ve included a few additional resources at the end of this post that might be helpful as you explore new opportunities.)
Your dream job might be in the hospitality industry, but reality might dictate otherwise — until the hospitality industry rebounds, anyway. You’re never guaranteed a job in any industry, but in this economy, at this time, some industries are far less likely to be hiring than others.
Do Your Homework
In one of our favorite books, Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career, author Herminia Ibarra recommends “trying on possible selves,” doing the research and talking to people who do the kind of work you’re contemplating. Mix and mingle in that professional environment a bit, in whatever way you can, to get a taste of it. Attend a conference, or a panel discussion on Zoom, and see if you connect with the subject, the people, the industry you feel drawn to. It’s like test-driving a career or new job before committing to one permanently. And it can be incredibly helpful in your decision-making.
The strategy is a lot like renting before buying a home in an unfamiliar neighborhood. If you’re thinking about making a career move, consider asking if you could work on a temporary, part-time or project basis — even if the position isn’t advertised as such. This arrangement gives both you and your potential employer a chance to test the waters.
While it might be hard to determine if the job is a perfect fit right off the bat, once you’re in the environment, you’ll be better able to evaluate it. Do you enjoy the job? How well do you click with your coworkers? Can you see yourself fitting into the company culture? Would you like the job better if it were in a non-profit setting?
“Trust Movement.”
Should you ever do something before you really feel prepared to do it? Psychologist Alfred advised, “Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.” And we agree.
Taking any action, even a small action to start, is a powerful antidote to feeling stuck. While it’s never a great idea to jump blindly into action, thinking, thinking, thinking — without ever taking action — will get you nowhere.
Somewhere in between the two extremes lies taking informed action — whether today, or in a couple of years — using the information that you have to make an educated move. To begin.
And that’s your when.
Additional Resources:
LinkedIn’s 2020 Emerging Jobs Report lists industries that are expected to see increased career opportunities, including data science, online learning and mental/behavioral health.
CNBC released a list of companies looking to expand their remote workforce.
An ABC News feature, The New Normal: Who’s Hiring During the Pandemic, includes an interview with Karen Fichuk, CEO of Randstad North America, who highlights industries currently in hiring mode.
Nobody aspires to be a job seeker.
We’re here to make the process manageable, and whenever possible, fun, too.
Learn more about our Career Coaching services.