‘Tis the Season for Career Change
Despite outward appearances – heavy traffic, busy shops, social events – Christmas can be a good time to kick-start a career change.
There are more than a couple of “opportunities” over the holidays for you to look out for and take advantage of.
Your circumstances will dictate how much or how little you can do but remember: if you want to make a change, a small step forward is better than standing still!
A break with routine
Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is a career change
Christmas messes with your routine in a good way. Plodding in and out of the office every day doesn’t leave much room for creative thinking. You’re tired from the dark mornings, the head cold you caught last week, and having to carry an umbrella ALL THE TIME because it never seems to stop raining (okay, that last one’s directed at Dubliners. So much rain!).
Welcome the time away from your computer if you’re a would-be career changer: not simply because you’re escaping from work but because a change can be as good as a rest. Embrace Christmas shopping, meet friends, and go for bracing walk on the beach or anywhere in nature. A change in routine is good for seeing things differently, getting ideas and clearing your head.
Meeting friends, old and new
And family. And work colleagues at the Christmas party. And neighbours. Christmas is all about talking to people. If you’re an introvert like me, you may need to take time out to recharge but it’s a golden opportunity to connect with people who could help you with your career change.
Use this opportunity to chat to your neighbour’s daughter who’s returned home for Christmas and has started a course in the area you’re interested in. Find out exactly how your cousin got that new job with the type of company you’d love to work for. As for that friend you only see once a year at Christmas because they’ve moved abroad; how do they find working in a different country? Be mindful of which elements of their experience appeals to you.
Consider starting to talk to trusted friends and family about your desire for career change. You might be surprised how supportive people will be. Or who will say, “you know who you should talk to?” and give you a brilliant lead that you can follow up in the new year.
Of course, exercise caution – this is not the time to make a drunken confession to your boss that really you’d rather be anywhere else than in his or her employ – but start to breathe life into your career change by airing it with people you trust.
A note on “comparisonitis”
If you’re unhappy at work it can be all too easy to focus on how rubbish you feel when someone asks “how’s work?” and you wish you could say anything other than, “oh you know, same old same old”, having been in the same job for 13 years. Don’t succumb to comparisonitis but aim to make even the tiniest shift in perspective. If you see someone who has achieved what you’d like to achieve, ask them how they did it! People are usually only too happy to help.
Be observant about what exactly you’re envious of when someone says they’re doing something or have achieved something you’d like to do. Mull it over rather than dismissing it as something you’d rather not be feeling. Are you envious of their lifestyle, the income that they earn, their “luck”, or some characteristic that you perceive them to have that you don’t (e.g. being smart or successful or courageous)?
Break it down. Let’s say a friend from college calls in over Christmas and they’ve started up their own business. You feel that familiar pang of envy mixed with regret that you haven’t done something similar. But hold on, would you want their life? What is it that you wish you could have? Perhaps it’s flexible hours or the autonomy of being your own boss. Being an entrepreneur might not be your thing but these conversations provide clues to the direction your own career change could take.
Reconnect with what’s important to you
In coach-speak, we call this aligning with your values. Helping clients to work out what’s really important to them is a BIG part of what we do. There are all kinds of benefits to clearly identifying and then living your values, including factoring them into decisions about your career and any changes you want to make.
Christmas is a time of heightened emotions. There’s this huge build-up, we spend more money than we should, and we rush to finish work before we wrap up for the holidays. Then there’s the last-minute shopping - food and presents - the cooking and cleaning, and the various family get-togethers. Yet these events can provide insight into what’s important to us. They highlight things about ourselves that we may not otherwise have noticed.
Take this opportunity to reflect on why something bothers you. For example, I get tetchy when my every moment is accounted for. As Christmas gets closer, my calendar starts to fill up and I feel slightly claustrophobic – even if it’s something I enjoy like meeting a friend. The same phenomenon translates into my working life. I like having the flexibility to work how I want when I want, at least some of the time.
Conversely, watch out for the times when you’re having fun, when you’re in the flow. What are you doing? Who are you with? What do you find easy and enjoyable to do that for someone else is a chore? Keep a record of the values and strengths that you identify when you’re out of your normal routine. These can be tremendously helpful when it comes to career change.
New Year, New Career?
Even better than Christmas for career change is the impending New Year. You can set goals at any time of the year but there’s something special about the momentum gathered by New Year’s resolutions. If you’ve been in the same career for a long time and it’s time for a change why not create a goal around career change? Take a look at last year’s career planning post if you want to get a head start and/or sign up to my newsletter for career change tips and techniques so that you can get a regular reminder about where you want to be with your career this time next year!