Curiosity as a starting point for your career change
This too shall pass but what can you do about your career change in the meantime? The global pandemic has intensified your desire to escape your job and you’re stuck at home with only a laptop! Where would you even begin?
Here’s a simple suggestion: follow your curiosity.
There’s more than one starting point for a career change and exploring what you’re interested in is a gentle introduction to what’s possible, as well as extremely doable with relatively limited resources. Read on to find out how to follow your curiosity in a structured way so that you can get concrete results you can build on (even when we’re back to “normal”).
Why curiosity?
Can curiosity point you in a new career direction? Let’s find out!
Like many of my clients, I have a deep love of learning. I am curious about nearly everything, especially if it’ll enable me to do something better - if it has a purpose. That’s what led me to coaching. I was curious about this skill-set that was so effective in helping bring about change, overcoming challenges and achieving goals, personal and professional.
If you’ve been immersed in the same career for a long time (mid-career can be defined as 10 or more years in the same profession), it’s hard to imagine doing anything else. Curiosity is a thread that you can easily pull on without too much unravelling. You can explore your curiosity as much or as little as you like, expanding your sense of possibility as well as your capacity for change in the process.
Which careers are you curious about?
I always recommend a notebook or note-taking app to record your thoughts about your career and this situation is no exception. You need to tune in to what you do and don’t like as these observations tend to be forgotten unless you write them down.
Begin a list of what you’re interested in. Yes, of course, if there’s a career you’ve always been curious about - include that on your list – but it doesn’t have to be a career or profession in its entirety. It can be a specific project or a volunteering activity or a business idea. Try not to judge or dismiss anything at this stage. These are just ideas, possibilities: a place to get started. Herminia Ibarra, an academic with an expertise in career change, describes this activity as generating a list of “possible selves”. In her book, Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career she says:
“… although most of us would prefer to begin with a firm answer to the question, ‘Who do I really want to become?’ the best way to start is by asking smaller, more testable questions, such as ‘Which among my various possible selves should I start to explore now? How can I do that?’”
Conducting career experiments
The “how” takes the form of conducting career experiments. You’re going to explore something you’re curious about to determine whether or not you can maintain your interest, discover that you need to find out more, or you have the realisation that this option’s not really for you.
This process can be started at home. For example, let’s say you’ve always wanted to be a writer. You’re not completely sure what type of writer but it’s always been there in the back of your mind: an image of you tapping away on your keyboard creating something of value (and earning an income while you’re at it!). How could you explore this idea further?
There are so many possibilities! I wish we could sit down and brainstorm together but off the top of my head: starting a blog on an area of interest, starting a Facebook Page and composing regular posts, doing a free (e.g. a MOOC or Massive Open Online Course) or paid course (e.g. the Big Smoke Writing Factory here in Dublin has online classes), writing articles for LinkedIn, read a book about writing, create a writing habit by signing up for the Tiny Habits free 5-day program, curate your Facebook or LinkedIn feed so that you’re following writers you like and engage with their posts, perhaps there’d even be a volunteering opportunity you could engage in… what exactly you do and where you start really depends on you.
types of career experiment
Depending on what stage you’re at in your career change journey, career experiments can vary in terms of the level of commitment you’re prepared to make, in terms of both financial and other investments. However, there is a full spectrum of possibilities – from reading a book to something more substantial (e.g. part-time work or starting a side hustle).
Thinking of trying these things out as an “experiment” removes some of the pressure. Following your curiosity does not mean a big leap into the unknown. For many, career change is more likely to involve a series of smaller steps or experiments where you test the waters to a greater or lesser degree.
Again, use your notebook to record your observations: likes and dislikes. Were the findings of your experiment what you expected them to be? If you didn’t like what you were doing as much as you thought you would, was it the whole thing or simply an aspect of it? Is there another version that could be tested further?
Take action!
Did you enjoy this blog post? What’s your next best step?
How about joining a growing community of career changers who want a simple, strategic, step-by-step approach to creating the life and career they want?
Career change happens when you make a commitment to engaging in the process on a regular basis.
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