After a hiatus from writing – I’m back! And not a moment too soon. I’m excited to get back to it so without further ado, let’s get started.
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The path to your dreams is not often a straight line
I knew this guy who came out of his undergrad program with a major that was good as a pre-law degree and not much else in the job market. He had a vague sense of what he wanted to do – marketing! What his vision was for that? He had no idea. He knew to some degree from the one marketing class he took as part of his minor in Commerce, and from his marketing internship, that there were different areas of marketing. Which area would he pursue? Again, he had no clear idea. He ended up trying an area of marketing that didn’t play to his strengths and wasn’t necessarily a choice area of focus. After his contract ended, he was left to wander around in the wilderness for a bit, with no further sense of his next career steps.
The guy I knew was no other than me. This is not just my story; it’s the story of so many bright eyed, newly minted Bachelor degree holders (and let’s face it, Graduate degree holders as well). When I get contacted by someone who is struggling to find their path, my heart goes out to them and I feel their pain.
Don’t grab for your box of tissues, there is a happy ending to this story after all. I, like so many other people, made a pivot in my career. A pivot that was successful. It’s resulted in being gainfully employed in a job I enjoy (in IT transformation), working within an organization and with a group of people that are second to none. And like so many others, this pivot didn’t happen overnight.
So how did I do it? Well, the truth is there isn’t a magic formula where you input data points into an equation and (boom!) your dream job is the output laid out right in front of you. I did however see some things I did do that helped make the pivot happen and seem to be common threads with the people I do help re-focus their career visions.
Here are the four areas that helped me make my career pivot:
1. I acknowledged I had a career issue
This was not an easy one initially. To admit that I chose the wrong path and everything I built up to that point would have to be reevaluated and repositioned on my resume stung. I pride myself on seeing things through and not being stymied by roadblocks. That’s a tall order to do all the time and this was a case where trying to run through this career roadblock didn’t make much sense. It was time for me to walk away and find a path more in sync with my interests, personality and abilities.
2. I dabbled
As mentioned, there is no exact formula to reposition your career path and pivot. What I did was take a look at my interests. An offshoot from my undergrad was crime analysis – I had taken a class on organized crime analysis at UBC which I enjoyed so this seemed like a good fit. I was set! Well, it’s funny how your path changes as you go forward. I had to take a number of pre-requisite courses at BCIT to attain a certificate in crime analysis. One of which was a Microsoft Access course. Before I had taken this course, my conception of what databases looked like were along the lines of my conception of what paint drying looked like – not much of anything! I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed managing, sculpting and analyzing data in MS Access. I realized that what I really wanted to do was database management. This was the beginning of several pivots I took over the next 8 years.
3. I focused on my own stuff
A real struggle for me while I was trying to forge my own path was comparing myself to other people’s career success. I only “compared up.” It’s funny how those comparisons never really work out in your favour and never moved you forward. Now that I had a passion and was dabbling with different areas of interest, I was excited. I started to focus on my own progression. I started to realize that as long as I improved from yesterday’s version of myself, I was successful.
4. I started conversations
I can’t emphasize this point enough. With curiosity and motivation for a pivot, I began to chat with people in my field of interest. It started with the professors that instructed my courses. Getting to know what it’s really like to work in a given field is tough. Getting a sense of it secondhand is a great start. People enjoy talking about themselves and their careers. This is a goldmine for you to glean what you can, and to better determine if a field of work is suitable for you.
Looking back at that time in my life, I am proud of my career progression. Although, I am more proud of the steps I took to make that pivot.
Tell me about your career pivot in the comments section below. If you have questions, leave them below and I’ll give you some feedback.
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