Making a Successful Career Transition

By Allie Roth A successful technology consultant facing a mid-life search for meaning in his work goes back to school for a master’s degree in counseling psychology and is excited about building his family therapy practice An automotive detail engineer, bored and frustrated after twenty years in his field, follows his love of nature and takes a job in a rural area, writing an environmental newsletter for a non-profit agency. A high-level international banker, yearning for autonomy and challenge, launches an independent consultancy that draws on his Ph.D. in political science and his extensive global network. The marketing director at an international fashion company decides to pursue her interest in writing and soon becomes the editor of a major magazine, bringing alternative health to a mainstream audience. In my twenty-five years as a career consultant, I’ve been fascinated by people such as these who make major changes easily while others who have dreams fail to act upon them. Why do some people become immobilized by fear at the mere thought of change? In a dynamic world, change is a constant whether we choose it or whether it is thrust upon us. As individuals, we are impacted both by external changes and by our own internal changes in awareness, interests, values, needs and life-stage. Change is energy. If we resist it, we wind up tired, burnt-out, uninspired, spending our energy holding on with clenched fists, fighting for the status quo. Fear runs us. Our creativity and productivity plummet. The irony is that many of us are holding onto a job, system, relationship or lifestyle that we don’t even really like or that no longer supports who we are. Successful career changers embrace certain principles. The following comments are based on my integration of Jungian psychology and Eastern philosophy with traditional career development and my observations of my clients’ transitions. Start with Self-Knowledge Each of us is a still point in the sea of change. By going within and connecting with our deepest sense of purpose, we can become the anchor in our own life. Taking the time to introspect and re-contact moments of high creativity, as well as themes, values and interests that have run through our lives, we are freed from defining ourselves in terms of success and failure at our most recent job or career. As one client said after going through my career transition process, “My whole self-concept was redefined.” Choice and Visualization At some point it is necessary to stop the inner self -exploration, make a choice, and begin to take action. This is a difficult shift for many, moving from the “yin” of self-reflection to the “yang” of making it happen. Visualization is helpful here. Twice a day clients visualize themselves reaching their goal. They see themselves taking steps and overcoming obstacles along the way. They sense the energy and excitement in their bodies. Focus and Synchronicity Carl Jung defined synchronicity as meaningful coincidence between events separated in space and/or time. Again and again, I see that when a client has a focus-especially when it is connected to a deep sense of self- the right people and events seem to be attracted to him/her and change unfolds easily. Everyone has experienced this in some way. A schoolteacher entering the field of training wonders where her first job interview will come from. She goes to a cocktail party and the first person she meets is the vice-president of training at a major bank where there is an open position. Successful career changers are open to synchronicity and follow through on these seeming coincidences. Tolerance for Ambiguity Change doesn’t happen overnight, and it often proceeds in unpredictable ways. Successful career changers make choices, then view obstacles that occur as lessons bringing them closer to their goals. There is an important interplay of structure and flexibility. As in sailing, we need to chart a course, monitor closely the weather, wind and currents, and adjust accordingly. rnAllie Roth will be teaching Encore Careers: Creativity, Work and Meaning in the Wisdom Years (http://www.opencenter.org/encore-careers-creativity-work-and-meaningin-the-wisdom-years/) at the New York Open Center in New York City on Sunday, September 18th. She can be reached by visiting http://www.allieroth.com.