Contrary to popular belief, most people don’t usually have a crystal-clear sense of “what they want to when they grow up.” And many folks—including myself, as a career coach—eventually find themselves working in occupations that they wouldn’t have imagined when they were younger. In many cases, these accidental career paths work out swimmingly. As people accumulate more and more experience in their field, they end up liking what they do for a living.
However, there certainly are plenty of people who fall into career situations that don’t end up fitting them well. Whose jobs don’t play nicely with their natural skills, interests and strengths. What is one to do in such a situation? If you’re stuck in an unrewarding career path, read on to discover the best way to go about breaking out of it and how to make the switch to a new industry or profession with these three tips for building a bridge to a new career.
1. Consider a Tangential Shift, Versus a Complete Career Change
In one recent case, I worked with an individual who had been a physical therapist for about a decade and felt unchallenged. She also needed to increase her income due to family obligations. At first, she assumed she’d need to leave the healthcare profession altogether and embark on a total career change since she thought the only options were to advance up the clinical treatment ladder — which she didn’t enjoy.
However, I encouraged her to think hard about what she’d learned over the years and do some brainstorming (primarily via keyword searches on Indeed.com) to see what other career paths out there might appreciate her existing healthcare knowledge. Her brainstorming efforts turned up a job role she’d never really thought about — working as a healthcare recruiter.
She channeled her understanding of the healthcare world—and the credentials, attitude and experience that various medical roles typically required—into a role recruiting medical talent for a local hospital. Not only was the nature of the work completely different from what she’d done previously, presenting new challenges, but she also increased her overall earning potential.
2. Boost Your Prospects Via Educational Credentials
Another former client of mine had spent decades working for the government as a social worker —looking into claims of child neglect, abuse and endangerment to determine the facts and recommend appropriate resolution steps. Eventually, she grew a bit burnt out on the field. She decided it was time to transition out of the public sector into a role working with a private company or, ideally, for herself.
Knowing that she’d need to boost her marketability to make a change and require a greater degree of personal confidence, she explored her educational options. She came across a University of Washington certificate in private investigation. This new path seemed like a complete departure from her past work—and in many respects, it was. However, upon further inspection, the new path took advantage of numerous strengths and qualities she’d accumulated as a social worker.
Private investigation required deep reserves of patience. It required a wide range of investigative and computer research skills as well as the ability to navigate bureaucracy. The job demanded grace under pressure and the ability to deal calmly and professionally with any conflicts that might arise, such as potential hostility from certain parties she was investigating.
One year later, having completed the certificate, my client felt armed with the knowledge necessary to pursue her new calling in the PI arena. With the combination of her newfound education and her transferable social work skills, she could embark successfully on an exciting new path.
3. Reframe Your “Weakness” Into a Key Point of Differentiation
Want to pivot in a new direction but don’t have the typical background for a given role? Think hard about how your inherent strengths and personality traits could set you apart instead of automatically assuming they’re a liability.
For example, I have a friend who has always dabbled in computers as a hobby but as a liberal art major (English) and had never completed any formal IT certifications or training. He applied again and again to online advertisements related to software programming and IT engineering, but alas, he couldn’t snag a single interview.
After analyzing his full range of skills and qualifications, I encouraged him to hunt for hybrid jobs requesting a combination of BOTH writing skills and technical prowess. Sure, it wouldn’t allow him to achieve his immediate dream of being a software programmer. Still, it would (hopefully) get his foot in the door within a technical environment so he could gain some valuable experience.
After some deep-dive exploration, my friend was able to turn up quite a few jobs he didn’t know existed that required a balance of both hardcore tech skills, as well as soft skills in writing and communications. Examples that caught his eye were technical writer, technical trainer, content specialist, curriculum developer and business analyst.
Excited by these possibilities, he started reaching out to a series of IT managers around town through mutual connections. He drew upon a quick tutorial I gave him on using LinkedIn to network with hiring managers, which is a critical step when changing careers, since resume submission alone usually doesn’t work well due to the competition factor. Eventually, he convinced one manager to bring him on board in a junior technical writing assignment.
Ultimately, most people who successfully pull off a career change almost always find a bridge between their past and future. Police officers, for example, often can shift into positions in corporate security where their investigative skills, physical training and grace under pressure are in high demand.
Ex-journalists, on the other hand, might pursue careers as PR specialists or public information officers. And with some proactive outreach and potential further schooling, former teachers can often snag corporate training assignments, educational consulting roles or positions within non-profits that aid children and families.
So, if the career you’re in currently doesn’t seem to the right one for you, long-term, don’t abandon it right out of the gate. Be sure there’s not another occupational path you’re overlooking that leverages your current skills and industry knowledge in a non-traditional and rewarding way!