When you are thinking about making a Career Change there are 5 key concerns that might stop you from taking action.
Fear of the Unknown
If fear of the unknown is something that stops you from following through with a desire to make a career change you are not alone. It often seems daunting, especially at the beginning of the process because you are probably not completely clear on what career change means to you.
When you have not yet defined the exact field you are thinking of moving into you will not know whether you have the necessary skills. You won’t have knowledge of the typical culture you might expect to join, so are not sure if you will like it. Additionally, you will not be able to imagine actually adapting to a new role because you don’t yet know what it is.
Once, you do have a clear definition of what you would like your career change to look like the concerns above are easily allayed through focus research and networking.
Financial Concerns
There is absolutely no doubt that changing careers can be expensive, especially if it requires additional education or training.
Depending on your age or commitments, this can often be a make or break issue. However, if you apply a little innovative thinking you may well find alternative ways to move forward.
This could be to allow yourself a little longer to get qualified or additional experience – especially with almost everything being available on-line. You might take a detour i.e. move into a role that acts as stepping-stone so you don’t have to drop your salary. You might be able to do your current role in a company that would also sponsor you to gain another qualification.
Please don’t allow financial concerns to be the main reason why you give up your dreams, you owe it to yourself to see if you can find a way to accommodate your financial needs while also moving towards your goals.
Fear of Failure
Fear of failure is very common, but so is our inability to define what we mean by success!
If you think you are not good enough to do your chosen role – why are you thinking about it?
You are unlikely to dislike your new role if it requires you to use your skills, focus on objectives that are important to you and in a culture that clicks. Yes you might have to compromise to start with but its worth giving it a go.er, and that they will regret leaving their old job. They may worry about what others will think if they fail, and whether they will be able to find another job if things don’t work out.
Worried what others will think if you fail?
Let me tell you a story.
I had a client who was facing redundancy and was luckily enough to have a partner who was happy to support her whilst she changed career. She knew what she wanted – to be an Interior Designer BUT she was afraid.
During coaching we peeled this fear back through different fears, like an onion.
Initially she thought that people might think she was silly to be taking the risk! On questioning it turned out that those people were likely to be very risk averse and had substantial commitments that indicated it was the wrong time for them.
Next she thought she might fail the qualification. Having ascertained that she had the education and school qualifications required, I asked if she honestly thought she would fail to qualify if she was accepted on the course. ‘No’, she said. Another red herring was tossed aside.
Eventually she said ‘I’m worried that people will laugh at me if I fail to succeed in my new role’. I asked who specifically she felt might laugh at her.
…. after a few minutes of thought she sat back and said ‘this is rediculous. I’m not doing what I want to do because someone I don’t know (because no one I know would laugh at me) might laugh at me in the unlikely event that I either don’t qualify or succeed in my new career.
The last I heard, she was in her 2nd year and loving every minute of it.
The lesson here is that you have to work out the fear for yourself. No one should tell you it is not so – you feel what you feel.
If you have fears that are stopping you, you might want to contact me and arrange a 1:1 session to see about unblocking your fears.
Loss of Identity
If someone has had a role for a number of years it tends to become part of who they are. There are several reasons for that:
One of the common ice breaker questions we get asked at any social event is ‘what do you do?’.
At work promotions are built on what we have done previously, so our identify as a successful professional becomes embedded in what we do.
I have clients who have definitely identified with the brand they work for and feel their job gives them a sense of status. For example high status job could be things like: airline pilot / company director / doctor or surgeon / professor / etc. You won’t agree with everything I could put down here because we feel different things are important. For some a Priest/ Pastor? Rabbi would be high status whereas for others they wouldn’t.
Imagine the difference in your reaction to someone saying they worked for the Tax Office as opposed to working for say, Rolls Royce.
I remember when I first started careers coaching the issue went even deeper. There was the likelihood that I was working with people to had been 30+ years with one company. Not only was their identity bound up in this but their spouse’s as well. Thankfully we don’t usually attribute spousal identify now i.e. ‘Let me introduce Monica – she is the ‘butchers wife”
For you to consider changing direction and avoid this issue, it is important to have a clear vision of what you want to do, to be able to gain emotional attachment to it so you feel excited and driven. In this way you will start to ‘see’ yourself as something new and start to build a new identity whilst you are making the change.
There are many ways of doing this: visualisation; storyboarding; …..
Lack of Support
Finally, this concern about being unsupported ties up quite closely with the fear of failure and what people may think about you.
The more you research, plan and network to change a dream to something tangible the better. You will be able to discuss others concerns and misunderstandings.
Sometimes people will worry for you because they could not imagine doing it themselves and their fear leads them to try and change your mind.
Others will have some of their lives effected by your decision. For example colleagues could be dismayed because you leaving may potentially make their life harder, or their way or life may need to be adjusted. Indeed, some may be dissatisfied as well but simple don’t have the wherewithal to change themselves so feel quite jealous.
The most important group of people who may not support you initially could be your family. Inevitably making a change in your career could potentially have a financial impact on them – so this is definitely something you will need to discuss with them to get them on side.
Sometimes though there may be more realistic concerns. They may see things from a different perspective to you and it is imperative that you keep communicating so they can understand and stand by you.
Example
I remember reading something about Steve Redgrave (5 times gold medallist – rowing). This may not be accurate in all details as I can’t remember the source of the story but it is apt here.
I remember watching the interview when Steve Redgrave had won his 4th gold medal and he intimated he would not go for another. However he obviously changed his mind.
At some stage he was diagnosed with a health issue and when he told his wife he wanted to go for the 5th gold she was very against it as it could make him very ill. In fact I seem to remember she said she would leave if he went for it.
However, they kept communication channels open – his goal was not only the 5th gold but also to keep his family happy – the outcome was to ’employ’ his wife as his medical advisor and agree she had the last say.
In this way he got the support he needed, she felt in control and able to support as well, and he won the 5th medal with his health intact.
The decision is yours
Ultimately if you really want to make a change and, for whatever reason, your friends/family are not able to support you – find someone who can. A coach or mentor.
Changing careers is difficult, don’t make it more so by trying to do it yourself. At the least find a supportive group.