Career Transition: A Step-by-Step Process

Career Transition: A Step-by-Step Process 

When I was an undergraduate, I had an acquaintance majoring in Electrical Engineering. It was an incredibly demanding degree that kept him up until the early hours of the morning doing homework and projects. One day, I asked him how he liked his major. 

“I hate it,” he said. “But it’s too late to switch. I’ll just stick it out.”

How many of you have felt this way, stuck in a major or career path that made you miserable? Maybe you didn’t know how much you would hate it until you started. Maybe you were looking for a stable, “sure thing.” The reasons are endless, but the result is the same: you feel unhappy. 

While there are many ways to escape this unhappiness, the one I’ll be focusing on is the process of a career transition. Changing careers can challenging.  It takes courage to switch career paths, change fields, and dive into the unknown. But I’m here to tell you that it is possible, and once you find your career fit, you will feel so much happier. 

The steps of a career transition can be summed up in three parts:

1. Assessment
2. Preparation
3. Action

I’ll go over each in later blogs, but I’ll give an overview for now. 

Step 1: Assessment

 Take stock of where you are now in your career and where you want to be. This includes:

• Understanding the emotions you have related to your career transition
• Assessing your finances 
• Writing down your skills and abilities
• Evaluating your career options
• Deciding your values, motivators, and interests
• Reviewing your accomplishments

Step 2: Preparation

Create, gather, and prepare the tools you need to job search and make a career transition effectively. This includes:

• Developing your personal brand materials, such as:

• Elevator pitch
• Resume
• Social media
• Website
• Building a network
• Choosing which companies you want to target
• Practicing interview skills
• Researching opportunities

Step 3: Action

Put all of your previous work into action and begin the job search process. This includes:

• Networking
• Working with recruiters
• Interviewing
• Negotiating
• Starting a new career!

 The whole process of career transition can span anywhere from a few weeks to a year or more. This may seem like a lot, but you’ll get to your end goal: a new, fulfilling career if you take it step by step. 

 I don’t know what happened with my acquaintance who hated his major. I hope he found a career he enjoys. No one—not him, you, or me—needs to stay in a job that makes us unhappy. Career transition is possible. 

 For more formal support in orchestrating a successful career transition, visit www.DontDreadMonday.com. 

 Happy career transitioning!

Sydney