Career Considerations in Shifting Times

With the world around us in flux right now, it’s no wonder that many of us feel unsettled as we navigate the daily ambiguity we face. Uncertainty tends to cause many of us to re-evaluate not just what matters in our lives, but jump starts us to consider what’s next in our careers. Do you stay where you are at due to the global turmoil, or do you start considering your next chapter? For some of us in various industries, a move is going to be mandated due to shifts in the economy.

As you adapt to social distancing, working from home, and an influx of video meetings, it’s a great time to take a career inventory to assess where you are at in your career trajectory and where you wish to go. You may feel 100% invested in your current organization, or you may feel it’s time to shift to a new organization or industry.

Even in uncertain times, when you are ready to make a career move, the internal dialogue tends to sound something like this:

• You feel bored. You don’t feel challenged. You are not growing.
• You don’t feel supported by your boss or leadership team. (In times of crisis, this is especially alarming!)
• You cannot remember the last time you felt your creative juices flowing.
• You can anticipate what your boss will say or do in a given situation – and it hasn’t been effective in the past.

Reflection and evaluation

When you are traversing unrest or a rough patch in your employment, it always helps to think back to why you took the job in the first place.

• A mission or cause that you really believed in?
• A leadership team that you couldn’t wait to be part of?
• The promise of a defined and exciting career route?

Sometimes in reflecting why you took a job, it enables you to examine when or how things went off track. Reality teaches us that not everything in our lives goes as planned, which is often a plus, as it opens us up to the new and unexpected. But sometimes things going off track leads to our demise, too. We may learn that the organization hasn’t lived up to its reputation, or that the career-route promised is not an option at this organization. Or, you may learn you are not cut out for the org for other reasons. The good news is that we can always learn something from any situation we are in: we may learn that we gave our all and that moving on is the best solution, or we may learn that we are not as flexible and adaptable as we would like to be.

When and why to stay

Sometimes, we intuit that our chapter at an organization isn’t complete, and that there’s more for us to learn, even if it’s not all fun and growth today. Given the current state of the world, we may also feel job security is critical right now and it’s not the right time to jump ship. It’s important to remember that things do not always get worse – sometimes they get better due to shifts in leadership, revised strategic plans, or upturns in an industry or the economy.

I have seen a lot of people leave roles or companies too soon, which shuts the door on potential growth opportunities. Each one of us, and most organizations, too, go through road bumps. It comes back to what you signed up for and what you accomplished to date. Sometimes seeing a job through the good and the bad times, whichever comes first, teaches us not just about ourselves, but helps us to become better equipped employees and leaders, too. Living through change enables you to develop new skills and hone existing skills.

Think back to college: regardless of how much you may have struggled with the academic or social transition, the majority of us did not leave college after a year or one bad semester as you committed to invest four years in your development. Consider a job in the same way and know that while moving on to another role or gig may give you new opportunities, when you stay, you get to settle in, learn, grow, reflect. There’s also the fact that the grass isn’t necessarily greener elsewhere. You may leave your role and realize that your new gig is not all that it was promised to be.

When and why to go

There are times in your career that an exit from an organization is your best strategy to move forward. It may be due to an unexpected turn in the economy, such as the current situation, or it may be because you’re working in a toxic environment in which people are not kind to one another. Then there’s ethical issues – financial or cultural – which set you running for an exit, with good reason. When it comes down to your wellbeing and mental health, trust your gut, use your best judgement, and move on if the environment is unhealthy.

It also makes sense to move on if you wish to shift gears in terms of industry or function. For instance, if you wish to make a career move from a corporate career to one in nonprofit, or if you wish to shift functions, such as moving from a career in marketing to fundraising. The key is to research the experience and skill gaps for the new industry or role and make a plan to learn what you need to, whether that involves taking classes or shadowing professionals. Then create a plan for your transition.

Another reason to move on is if you dread your daily work. Work isn’t always fun, especially in stressful times, but in order to be impactful, you have to be invested in some way, whether it’s in the people, the mission, the product. If none of that is working for you and it’s become a daily grind, you may need to move on. It sounds easier said than done, but you can start preparing for your next gig while you are employed. That entails everything from updating your resume and LinkedIn profile to taking online courses in areas that help you to grow, whether it’s accounting courses, writing/communication courses, obtaining certifications, or mastering Excel.

No dead ends

The key is to remember is that you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to your career. There are no real dead ends as long as you ascribe to a growth mindset, and are willing and ready to do the work necessary to either ride it out at your present job, or pursue your next one. When it comes to careers, adaptability is critical in all instances. We live in shifting times as we have witnessed in the past few weeks, during which careers and industries are transitioning daily. You can bemoan it or opt to be proactive and think about what’s next for you. Having a vision of what’s right for you and creating a plan to work through it in the short and long term empowers you and sets you up for enduring success.  Take the time now to ask yourself critical questions pertaining to your career, spend some time reflecting, and then if appropriate, spring into action updating your resume, doing some research regarding careers and organizations, and committing to some outreach while many professionals are working from home and accessible.