A Model of Career Change: Part 2

Last week I discussed a different take on traditional approaches to career planning. Viewing an individual’s career aspirations through the lens of self-understanding, planning and implementation is a tough-ask when you are stuck in a career rut. So, I raised the idea of our Do-Meet-Be model of career planning, which focusses on taking action. The first step looked at the “Do” part of the model. This week, I introduce the second component.

Step 2: Meet. The biggest single hurdle to shifting career is not having any networks in areas outside your past experience. Many people stay in their ‘rut’ because they don’t have the networks - and therefore the information, leads and ideas – that will help them find other opportunities.

By doing different activities you’ll meet different people. These people will expose you to new ideas and new possibilities that you hadn’t previously considered. Attending events or having a one-on-one coffee with someone outside your normal sphere of friends is a great way to meet different people. Think about someone who you’ve met only once or twice through a mutual friend – acquaintances are a great start. Give them a call and ask about their career story or organise a more formalised setting to undertake an informational interview.

Increasing your exposure to new ideas through exploring other people’s ideas and garnering knowledge means you will be more equipped to start formulating your goals. You’ll also get the heads up about possible opportunities.

I’ll discuss next week Step 3: Be in the final part of this blog series.

Do. Meet. Be: A model of career change

Taking action is the secret to a successful career and to getting out of a career rut. This three part blog series looks at how people can shift gears to stop thinking their careers to death when stuck in a rut. Too often we see people dream of possibilities and dream of changing, but don’t take any action.

Traditional career planning doesn’t work if you feel stuck in a rut. The traditional approach is: understand your strengths and interests; make a plan; then implement the plan. The problem is that the shift is too difficult – it’s too much of a leap to go from current rut to utopian goal.

Instead, I recommend a three step approach called the Do-Meet-Be model of career change.

Step 1: Do. Go out and start doing things differently. If you’re interested in shifting to a different profession, go and volunteer in their industry association or get involved at the grassroots level. “Do” is about taking action, like speaking to people to broaden your horizons and becoming inquisitive to find out what careers are out there. Often we don’t know what it is family members or friends actually do, so that’s a great starting point. People get stuck because they don’t know what’s out there or what the possibilities are. At a practical level, get involved with activities outside your normal realms of career focus and related in some way to what you are curious about.

Next week, Step 2: Meet will come into focus.

Why Job Search is Hard

Adaptation occurs in nature when the outcome of something is predictable. For example, take plants of the savannah areas of Northern Australia, where the main source of water is deep underground. The eucalyptus trees and hardy grasses synonymous with these regions adapt because of the predictable nature of the environment where the water table exists in perpetuity. With long tap roots, this predictability allows plant life to survive in the savannah, providing food and shade to its fauna.

But adapting to a job search, that is, becoming comfortable with it, is almost impossible because the process is unpredictable. A typical job search involves waking up in the morning to a phone call asking you to come in for an interview only to receive a rejection email that same afternoon. Adaptation is difficult as we never know what the outcome of our next activity will be. Will that next phone call land an interview? Will the next coffee meeting uncover your dream job? Will the next job from seek.com be a tedious one with selection criteria?

The uncertainty of not knowing what will happen makes it impossible to ever be fully comfortable with the process. It’s not that finding a job is impossible (yes, yours is out there), it's just that the “finding” part isn't always easy.