Coaching exercise: Finding your why
Coaching exercise: Finding your why
Key questions to ask yourself before you change career
There might be lots of different reasons why you’ve decided that now is the time to change careers. It might due to stress, or lack of progression in your current role, or that you’ve finally built up the courage to chase after your dreams. Whatever it is, getting clear on your why will help to motivate you and also be extremely useful when it comes to interviewing for new roles. So grab a pen and paper and reflect on the following questions:
Think about what’s not working for you in your current role. Is it the hours? The commute? The work environment? Low pay? Lack of opportunity for development? Toxic colleagues?
It’s really useful to know what you don’t want from a new career, as well as what you do, so that you don’t repeat old patterns. So try to understand what’s not working for you right now and what you’re not willing accept in a new job going forward.
Also by thinking about why you want to leave your current job, this will help you understand if you actually want to make a full career pivot, or just make a smaller change such as applying for the same role in a different organisation or industry, or perhaps applying for a different role in the same company.
Now reflect on what you do want from your next role. Is there anything that is particularly important to you e.g flexibility? creativity? learning and growth? What would your ideal working day look like? Take 5 minutes and brainstorm all the details of that day, from your commute (if you have one), to your work location, to who you are working with and what you are doing. How do you feel when you are doing this work? What do you do when you leave work?
Now that you have a clearer idea of what’s important to you and what your ideal work day would look like, you can begin to make a plan. Start by researching potential jobs and speaking to people who do them to find out what it’s really like day to day. These are called ‘informational interviews’. Find out if there are new skills you’ll need to learn or if you need to do a course? Think about the ‘ideal work day’ scenario and brainstorm the individual steps required to get you there.
Lastly, have your why answer read for interview. A potential employer will want to know why you left your last role, what your current career goals are, and if you’re ready to take on this new role. One way to approach this is to have a compelling story ready which focuses on the positive. So don’t mention all the reasons why you weren’t happy in your last job, but talk about why this new role/organisation is appealing and inspiring to you. Also, what have you done to bridge the gap between your last role and this one? Talk about your transferrable skills and any additional training or learning you’ve done.
Now have a go and let me know how you get on (or have any questions) in the comments section below.