How can you create a flexible career transition plan?

I am going to speak with those of you who are more experienced. Before you would ever consider a SWOT, what is your heart telling you to do? If you are too frightened to know, have you taken any career assessment exams to give you any ideas yet? Have you spoken to a few people who do that type of work to see if your idea of the career matches with reality? Once you've done these few things, then you can move to a SWOT

Your career is one of your most important life relationships. Making a transition like going back to dating. If you start with a SWOT analysis, you're basically filling out a dating profile - you might find a career that ticks all the boxes, but still lacks the spark you're looking for. Start with self-reflection: → Why am I unhappy here? → Why do I want a change? → What tasks or roles light my fire? You probably don't want just a job (or to date just anyone), it's about a career (relationship) that will bring you joy and satisfaction. Reacquaint yourself with your values, passions, and what excites you. Starting inwardly lowers the chances of having to go through this all over again anytime soon. #careermanagement #careertransition

Go beyond the SWOT analysis and engage in quiet introspection. Ask yourself these questions: When you look back at your career thus far, are you happy with the trajectory? Given a chance, would you have done anything differently? For example, would you have chosen the same major in college? What would you be doing if money or time were not an issue? Another way of looking at it is, do you have any hobbies or passions that you would love to incorporate into your job/career? What do you like to do at work? What type of work feels worthy of your time, skills, and interests? What type of tasks do you dislike? What makes you feel bored, demoralized, or underutilized?

At Walnut, we create personalized Career Intelligence Reports. In those reports, we carefully curate opportunities based on the details clients shared with us, diving into their professional journeys, personal aspirations, and potential career paths that align with their unique skills and interests.

Talk. To. People. LinkedIn is the perfect platform to do this. → Follow thought leaders → Participate in relevant conversations → Ask for virtual coffee chats Just as important is to know what you want to know. Ask about their: → Normal activities - will you enjoy doing those? → Role's biggest challenges and rewards - does this synch with what you want? → Opinion on future industry trends - is it promising? → Journey there - did they make a transition like you're looking to do? The goal isn't to gather names. You want real, relevant information. This is why LinkedIn is perfect, typically people recognize it as a business-supportive platform and will help others along their way. #careermanagement #careertransition

I recommend my clients to explore career options and develop a plan: ? research labour market info ? conduct informational interviews ? work with a Career Coach ? plan to upskill/retrain Research the labour market to check viability in today’s job market. Explore any upcoming trends, changes, and challenges. Do informational interviews with hiring managers. Email them to set up 15-minute meetings for advice to help you transition into a new role. Find a Career Coach that helps you in your career transition, identifies your transferable skills and create a job search plan. You may need to upskill or retrain for a new career. Research training institutions, and check for availability of government funding to cover the costs.

Instead of focusing on HOW to set the goal, let's concentrate on making MEANINGFUL goals. Ask questions based on your research, such as: → Do I need additional training? Set a goal to achieve it. → Am I conveying my value correctly? Practice. Get feedback. → Am I connecting the dots from where I was to where I'm going? Identify transferrable skills. Incorporate into your resume and LinkedIn These are your real goals - and they're SMART, too. They're specific actions that will measurably increase your confidence, convey your value, and improve your transition. #careermanagement #careertransition

Develop a learning plan to continue growing your skills and knowledge. This plan should connect to your goals, helping you stand out. Your learning plan might include taking online courses, attending webinars, or getting new certifications.

Your career is continually evolving, as you are. It's not a sprint or marathon, not a static tactical plan. It's a process. Trust yourself, trust in the process, and trust your decisions. It's not only okay if the path doesn't unfold exactly as you planned it, sometimes it's better. Change often involves a degree of uncertainty and ambiguity. Stay on course: → Do the inside work → Research → Set meaningful goals → Take action → Adjust → Keep going There will be detours, there might be setbacks. That's okay. You'll get through it by being flexible, open, and adaptable. You just might find where you want to be wasn't even on the map, but you couldn't have gotten there without taking these steps. #careermanagement #careertransition

Most people don't have a lot of time to take a highly structured approach to a career transition. My reminder is to take small steps daily, weekly, bi-weekly, whatever works for you to move the idea ahead of doing a career pivot. One of the things people hire me to do is to send them a text weekly to check in with them about their goals. This accountability helps them to continue to take action so they can make the change they want. (Don't ask your wife/husband/partner/neighbor/kids to do this. It will affect your relationship with them.)

I help set up career pathways in data science, because data scientists are pretty unique, and have to brand themselves outside of a college program. I find the best way to start is to ask them to imagine themselves in one year working in a different situation - an ideal situation. What does it look like? i.e., : 1) Is it in-person, or remote? 2) What does the work schedule look like in terms of hours per day, and days per week? 3) What kind of work would you be doing all day? 4) What kind of boss do you have, and what kind of team do you work on? The questions are a little different depending upon your career, but starting with an ideal picture of "You - working - one year from now" is a good way to back into, "How do I proceed today?"