Every jobseeker has a career transition roadmap they can follow. You have one too. It is like an internal GPS navigator, guiding you to the career you are meant for.
Unfortunately, not everyone follows their career roadmap GPS!
So after years at the wrong job, they end up in the same place where they started, needing to transition again.
If you have the need to transition to a new job, or want to make a midlife career change at 40 or 50, you want to get it right this time.
As a Career Transition Coach, I can tell you a career switch should be approached carefully. You have to map out a smart career roadmap and keep a strong mindset to navigate through to it.
A good way to understand my career transition coaching approach is look at it like a GPS navigation app.
What are now known as GPS apps such as WAZE or MapQuest are based on digitizing what used to be hard copy paper roadmaps.
The same GPS roadmap navigation concept can apply to your career transition.
Of course, the GPS automatically plots these steps digitally for you, but for this job transitioning example, visualize yourself plotting out the steps yourself, using a paper map.
As you would with a paper roadmap, a GPS uses three steps to get you to your destination:
You may have a few other considerations:
We will now explore these three steps in terms of your career path.
Your first step is to locate where you are now. (A GPS does this automatically of course.)
Determine where you are now in your career path. It is your starting point
This free career decision making tool can help you look at how you got here.
Next, you want to figure out what your destination is. In what career role do you want to land? What job can you transition to where you can be the superstar?
This will require a career self assessment, to identify the career role where you can thrive.
The third step of your GPS roadmap requires that you and your career transition coach plot out the steps of how you will get to your destination:
Following the above common sense three steps is your safest bet to avoid making a mistake during your career transition.
The best way to get a handle on step one and two is with a valid career discovery self-assessment.
Along with career transition coaching, it can help you step back and assess where you are now in your career path, and pinpoint where you want to go.
There is one other element that career transition coaching can assist you: your mindset.
You may need to change your mindset as you transition, from your vulnerable, uncertain mental state of mind.
Of course, you want the job search portion of the transition to be underway as quick as possible. You may be stressed, overworked, have bills to pay, or just want to get settled.
However you don’t want to miss the chance to do phase one and two right this time around.
That’s why I think the most overlooked phase of transitioning to a new career is the mindset transition aspect.
You can’t ignore what you are feeling, yet you can’t act out of desperation. You can’t be reactive. You have to keep your powder dry and be patient. You may have to change your mindset to do this.
You have to consider your mental state:
These step one “where you are now” roadmap questions and how you are feeling need to be addressed on some kind of a mental and spiritual level. Otherwise you just end up in the wrong gig again.
Let’s quickly address how a career transition coach can help you with the mental aspects of your transition.
To make a successful transition, there are 3 mental and spiritual aspects a career transition coach can help you to consider:
Yes, making peace with your past choices is easier said than done. But we are not talking about a psych evaluation here, all we are talking about is simple acceptance about how you ended up where you are now. It’s about being kind and forgiving to yourself so you can move on.
Once you have accepted where you are at without anger or blame, successful career transition requires you to embrace the present.
This means gaining a clear grasp about what career is right for you, and being true to your capabilities. Your past career roles do not have to limit your options as to what your next roles can be.
You naturally have uncertainty and trepidation about where you are, but once you make peace with it and embrace the present, you can look at the world in a peaceful way. Then you can maneuver yourself into a bright future career path – your Career Destiny.
To summarize, the whole point of the career transition coaching roadmap is a practical common sense approach to choosing a new career. You can’t just wing it with a gut feeling, or you can get lost on your journey.
You must plot a roadmap to define the career role you can thrive in.
Like a GPS you need to identify your career destination, and plot out the steps to navigate to it.
The beauty of this roadmap concept is once you are clear about your destination and are really, deeply mentally ready for it to happen, it can happen very quickly!
Did you enjoy this career transition roadmap approach concept?
To discover how to identify your career path destination, try my FREE career discovery and self assessment guide.
It will identify how to unlock your career destination and how to navigate to it quickly.
Larry LaFata is founder of defineyourcareer.com, a site dedicated to help you discover your Career Destiny, regardless of your background, education or experience.
His innovative courses include Define Your Career Destiny one week home study course and a two-hour Career Destiny Workshop for Friends.
Sadly, advice on the topic of how to navigate a transition to a new career is very random and arbitrary, even from authoritative sources!
If you are feeling vulnerable in this stage, you may grasp at solutions that aren’t a fit for you.
A career transition coach’s job is to be frank about how transitioning to your career destination isn’t always a clear path.
But because job transitioning is one of the most difficult things you can do, you can’t leave it to chance.
The wrong choices can land you back in the same old burnout job situation, or extend your transition from months into years. The right choices can guide you to your destiny.
So beware of unproven slapdash theories and advice while you are in a vulnerable stage of passage and evolution like you are now.
For examples of random theories and advice to be wary of:
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