Making a Career Change: Mistakes to Avoid

3 career change mistakes

Sarah Vermunt: [00:00:00] So you've decided to do it. You've been thinking about it for years and this year, you finally want to make it happen. You're going to make a career change. You don't know exactly how yet or precisely where to start. But the will, is there. It's time. But you want to be smart about this. You don't want to fly by the seat of your pants and you don't want to get it wrong. So you're wondering. Is there anything I should know? 

Like, is there anything I should do or not do so I don't screw this up. The answer is yup. We're going to talk about three of those things today, three of the most common career change mistakes, and how to avoid them. I've got you on this and we're going to make sure you don't steer in the wrong direction. Let's go. [00:01:00] Welcome to Careergasm. This is a place to help you find your way to feel good work. I'm Sarah Vermont and I help people navigate their careers. I'm a career coach, bestselling author, and It's a place to help way to foot work. I'm Sarah Vermont people navigate there. I'm a career coach, author, and my place is like for Inc entrepreneur money. career change, We talk about shin and cringe. side of work, where the professional is personal. The side of work, fashionable April. about navigating your career. Including Nuanced about navigating, including squishy feeling. at And with being a hick. Thanks for listening. 

I'm glad you're here. 

So you've deciDed this career [00:02:00] change thing is going to happen. It's time. And so maybe you think the best place to start is going to take a look at some job postings. So, let me know if this has ever happened to you. You're scrolling through some job postings. Maybe you've been doing it for five minutes or so. Nothing's really coming out . 

Nothing's really floating your boat. So you keep scrolling maybe for another five minutes, maybe for another 10 minutes. And. Nothing's really landing for you. You're not even sure if, if you're looking for the right things. Suddenly you start to feel your resolve around this career change. Dwindling. You keep scrolling for another five or 10 minutes. And wow. 

You feel even more disheartened because you're not really seeing anything that feels like it's it. 

This is one of the main career change mistakes that people [00:03:00] make. Looking at job postings before they actually know what they're looking for. 

I tend to work with a lot of people who are wanting to make a career change and they don't yet know what they want. And so they think. They, they think that if they just scroll through some job postings, Maybe that magical dream job will jump out at them. And when they see this posting, then they'll know what they want to do. 

And instead they do this scrolling thing and they end up feeling disheartened, frustrated. Discouraged. Depending on how long you're scrolling suddenly your will to live starts draining. It's not exactly an inspiring experience for a lot of people. And there's a reason for this. It's because it's hard to find what's right for you. 

If you don't know [00:04:00] what you're looking for. So if you're the kind of person who already knows exactly what kind of career change you want to make and exactly what kind of job it is you want. Have at it, go take a look at those job postings, but for a lot of people. This scrolling through job posting things as a first step. Is the wrong move because it actually takes the wind out of their sails. 

It's really hard to find something that's a good match. 

If you don't come into your job search with some clarity. So I always tell folks. Clarity before strategy. Doing a job search is, one of the later stages of making a career change. It's one of the things you do after you've done all of the soul searching and all of the internal work to figure out what kind of change it is you want to make. [00:05:00] And if you do that too soon, if you do that before you have the clarity you need, it's like putting the cart before the horse. It's it's just going to jumble things up and you'll find you can't really get anywhere. Because if you don't know what you're looking for. It's not going to, to jump up and bite you. Scrolling through job postings without knowing exactly what kind of job you're looking for. Is kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack, except you don't even know what a needle looks like. So if you're one of the folks out there who's had this really disheartening experience, scrolling through job postings. That could be why this is a really, really common experience. Something that's related to this in terms of frustration. Is just trying to conjure. The ideal job title out of nowhere in your mind. It's too much [00:06:00] pressure. We talked about that a little bit in the last episode. 

Also related is just panicking and picking something. You know, maybe you really hate your current job and you sense that you have to get the hell out of there. Really fast. And so, maybe someone, you know, has suggested you apply for a job. Or maybe you see a posting and you're like, well, I don't know if this is it, but maybe it's at least a little bit better than what I'm doing now. Sometimes that's the right move. 

Sometimes you have to get out of a really bad situation. But sometimes what happens. Is you make a panicked decision? And a decision that really wasn't grounded in a lot of, self-awareness a lot of understanding what your needs and wants are for this next phase of your career. And then what happens is you feel a short burst of relief because you've left the job [00:07:00] that was. Bad. But you're now in a job. That potentially also isn't quite right. 

So you get the short burst of relief sometimes followed by. A little bit of malaise, a little bit of regret that maybe you didn't take your time, a little more to figure this thing out. And then suddenly in six months or a year, you're doing another job search. Because the panicked approach. Put you in a job that also wasn't right for you. 

And boy, that's disheartening. I have a lot of people. Who come to me for help with a career change after doing something like that, after doing the panic and bail approach to a career change. And realizing that that didn't work for them and they don't want to do that again. So. What is the solution to this, to this sort of simply scrolling or even the panicked and picking [00:08:00] something approach. The solution is to focus on clarity first. And what I mean by that is. To sort of separate. The process of figuring out what you want. And then applying for jobs. Sometimes people just panic and jumble, all of that together when I have my clients do is we press pause on the job search. Until they know what they're looking for. This can be done in a matter of weeks, sometimes a couple of months. But we take some time. To figure out what it is they actually want. What would be a good fit for them so that they can do a targeted job search when they're ready. And let me tell you that not only makes the process a lot more fun. A lot less filled [00:09:00] with And frustration. But also. You're going to do a way more effective job search and your application is going to be better because you've sort of done the. The roadmapping for what it is you want. And that helps you articulate that when you're doing your job searches. And also when you're actually preparing your actual application. So it not only makes the process. More pleasant. It makes your application stronger. So that's my first piece of advice. Don't hit the job listings before, you know what you're looking for. If you can give yourself some time to figure out what that is, who this process is going to feel so much better for you.

Number two. The second thing that people do when they're making a career change, that really [00:10:00] gets in their way. 

A really common career change. Mistake that I see. Is people not addressing the mental and emotional side. Of career change. I actually think the emotional stuff keeps us stuck more than anything else. Especially if you are someone. Who is still in that phase of figuring out what you want. You don't know exactly what the next thing is. 

I actually think this is like a huge gaping hole in the career navigation community. 

So perhaps you've noticed there are a lot of people and programs and services out there. That will help you if you know what it is you want. So there's the resume writers. There's the recruiters. There are. Courses you can take to help you Polish things up, prepare for your interviews. That stuff is great and important. [00:11:00] And it only helps people who know what they're looking for. For folks who don't know what they want and don't know what they're looking for. That's not especially helpful. Because you can't write a good resume if it's not tailored to something specific. And you can't exactly work with a recruiter. 

If you can't tell them with some specificity, what kind of stuff you're looking for? So. A lot of the people I work with. Are like, yeah, man, I've tried figuring out this career change thing before, but. You know, I don't think just polishing up my resume is going to do it. Like there's some bigger questions I have to figure out first. And so right now, at least in my industry, the career navigation industry. There aren't a lot of people and programs to help people with the beginning, part of making a career change. Which is this [00:12:00] clarity piece. 

We just talked about figuring out what you want for so that you can do all of the tactical strategic stuff. So. That's a little bee in my bonnet. I won't go on a huge rant about it, but I know a lot of you have probably experienced this frustration too. There's not a lot out there for you. If you don't know what you want. And so this frustration. Is difficult for people. And I think it's difficult for people because the, they sort of need someone to help them. Take a look at some of their mental and emotional blocks. And that's actually the stuff that helps them get unstuck and finally figure out what it is they want. A lot of people who want to make a career change. Have a ton of fear, a ton of anxiety, and they feel the sense of sort of paralysis around it. It's like there's, there's this path they want to go down, but [00:13:00] there's this huge Boulder. In their way. And that's the fear and anxiety around making a change.

Now having fear around a career change, I think is perfectly normal. And actually a certain degree of that, that sort of sharpness feeling that the awareness that fear gives us, we're talking low grade fear here. Can kind of be good in a way. Because it helps us pay attention to any potential risks. It helps us keep our eyes open and make sure that we're assessing things in the right way. But what a lot of people struggle with is. Fear with the volume turned up way. Two. Hi. So it's almost like fear has this massive megaphone. And it's sort of taken over and now it's the director. Of your career change. [00:14:00] 

And anytime you think about your career change, anytime you try to start doing some of that exploring that I talked about in the last episode. 

Anytime you do that. Fear will rear its head. And, you know, it might say things like. Well, that seems risky. Don't you think? Or. You're never going to make enough money. If you'd make a career change. Or. Oh my God, but you've already worked so hard for this path. Isn't it kind of silly to be making a change at this stage in your career? Those are just a few things. Your own fear might be saying other things.

But what happens is if you don't address the fear and gently work with it and understand it. Your fear can sort of. Hijack the process. And maybe force you to consider. Only what you see as the. [00:15:00] You know, quote unquote safest options or the quote unquote, most practical options. And that's not especially freeing for people. In fact, if your fear is really strong, it might say something like, well, instead of doing the total 180 that you want, maybe we should just do a tiny pivot into this other area. Or. Maybe we shouldn't be doing this career change at all. 

And so what can happen is your fear is so loud and so persistent. That it won't even let you do. The exploration work, the research required to even make a decision. And so there you are paralyzed on this path with that big. Boulder in front of you.

So. What do you do? When you're paralyzed by fear at the beginning of your [00:16:00] career change journey. The good news is we don't need something like fear to go away. In order to move forward. We just need to soften its edges. You just need to soften the edges enough so that you can move with it. You can move around, you can move through it. I don't actually think it's realistic. For. Us to think that we can make our fears go away. But what we can do. By working with our fear is we can find a way to turn down the volume. And the way we do that. Is by getting curious. About our fear. By actually inviting fear to the table. And seeing what it has to say. 

Some of us are so busy trying to make our fear go away. That we won't even look at it. You're just [00:17:00] trying to sort of power through or ignore your fear. But if you actually listened to your fear and you notice what the fear is saying, that allows you to think rationally about whatever it's saying. It allows you to take a look at some of the assumptions that are coming up when your fear gets triggered. And that's really good. It doesn't mean you automatically have to listen. You know, you don't have to automatically heed your fear. 

For example. But it does allow you to see what the fear is all about. It allows you to ask a couple of questions and notice what's going on. 

Now many of our emotions are related to. Thoughts and stories and assumptions. Often ones that were given to us by someone else. You may have had. A parent who [00:18:00] had a particular hangup or story around careers, you may have had a mentor who you really respected, who. Sort of. Programmed at your thinking about careers in a certain way. All of us. Come with a little handful while maybe more than a little handful of you handfuls. Of thoughts, stories and assumptions about the world of work. About careers. And some of those are really helping us. And some of them probably really aren't helping us. 

And so one of the things that can be helpful to do. Is to start to notice. What those assumptions are. So that you can see which ones are triggering your fear. 

I kind of like to think of [00:19:00] making a career change as something that happens on parallel tracks. On the one track. You have to figure out what it is you want and go after it. But then there's this other invisible track that a lot of people don't address and that is. Doing the internal work you have to do in order to get out of your own way. And taking a look at some of your emotions, like fear. I'm only talking about fear today because that's the primary one I help people with, but it might also be something like guilt or shame you're dealing with other uncomfortable emotions about this change. By taking a look at that stuff. That helps to balance out your decision-making and helps you to ultimately land on a decision that feels more aligned for you. So, yes, there's all of the, the tactical stuff around making a career change. And then there's also this internal side. And so really what I want [00:20:00] to encourage you to do. Is to not ignore the internal side. Of making a career change. And one of the best things you can do when you notice you're experiencing some of those uncomfortable feelings. Is to get curious about those feelings that come up. And just start noticing what they're saying and where those emotions are coming from. That's something that can start to soften the edges so that you can at least move out of paralysis and start moving forward. And like I said again, We don't need those emotions to go away entirely. We just need to understand them and soften them and maybe turn down the volume on some of them. So that we can move forward. 

Okay.

The last thing I want to talk about today. Another common career change mistake. Is making assumptions about what is required to make a change. [00:21:00] So. You might have an assumption that this is a pretty common one. You may have an assumption that you can either have a job that pays the bills, or you can have a job that makes you happy. 

Isn't that interesting. 

The binary thinking there. I think a lot of people walk around with this assumption. 

And we have to ask ourselves. Is it necessarily true? In my experience, it's not necessarily true. There is a whole lot of room. Between those two very extreme things. You see how, if you carry an assumption around like that, you're inevitably going to find yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Because you need money. You need to pay your bills and you also need to fulfill fulfilled and to have happiness in your life. And to have to choose [00:22:00] between those two things is always going to feel bad, a hundred percent of the time. Here's another common assumption. 

It's too late to make a change. It's so funny, you know, I've been helping people make career changes for 10 years. And this comes up. Literally, no matter the age. Of the person I'm working with. I have people in their sixties say this in their fifties, say this. I also have people in their twenties and thirties and forties say this when they have so much time left in their career.

So that's an interesting assumption to explore. 

A lot of people also have the assumption that, well, I'm going to have to start over again at the bottom. Can I have to start all over. At the bottom. Or. Well, I can't make a career change because I don't want to go back to school and do another [00:23:00] degree. Well, have you done your research D absolutely know that you have to go back to school and do a whole other degree. To do this thing that you want to do. In some cases, the answer might be yes. But in a lot of cases in my experience, the answer is no. And so what I don't want you to do. Is. Just Chuck your assumptions out the window. But I also don't want you to assume all of your assumptions are correct. What I would really encourage you to do. Is to notice what your assumptions are. 

And then ask yourself, is this really true? 

And if you're being really honest with yourself, a lot of the time, the answer will be. Oh shit. I don't actually know if that's true. I've been acting as if it's true for a long time. Uh, [00:24:00] but, but is it true? And if you find that your answer is, oh man, I don't actually know if this is a hundred percent true. Then it's time to do some research, the research part of exploring during your career change exploration phase. Is really, really important. What I have my clients do is, we do a lot of work to figure out some of the things that they think would make them happy. You know, a couple of shiny options for them to explore. And then they actually do the research. 

They actually talk to people doing that kind of work. And they get a chance to see if their assumptions are correct, or if they're wrong or if there may be partially correct, but there's some wiggle room with something or actually if they're mostly incorrect and there's this only, there's only this tiny little nugget. I have an area that they should be concerned about. 

But these assumptions that we, you know, All carry around. I have my assumptions [00:25:00] to any human is walking around with assumptions, but what happens when we explore them? Is we. Stop working with. Ideas. And we start working with actual information. Once you actually start doing their research. It is really. Empowering actually, to be working with real information instead of just stories in your head and all of a sudden you'll notice. Some options open up for you. And that is a really good place to work from to make good aligned decisions. Because a lot of our fears are based on assumptions. So that piece I was talking about, about addressing your emotions. 

That's tied to this piece, taking a look at your assumptions. 

And as I say, many of our assumptions were given to us by someone else. So you can think of this process. [00:26:00] Of examining your assumptions and doing the research. As kind of uninstalling the software. A lot of us are walking around with outdated software when it comes to. Ideas about the world of work. And how to navigate our careers. Another way to think about this is. These assumptions and this emotional stuff. These mental stories. 

They're like an invisible backpack that we take everywhere. Right. So you might not know. What it is. You're carrying around with you all of the time until you start actually committing to noticing what some of these assumptions are.

So, if you think this is something you have struggled with. And I'm going to gently suggest you probably have, because we all have our assumptions. What I would suggest is that [00:27:00] for the next week or so you just commit to yourself to noticing whenever that anxiety comes up, whenever that fear comes up, ask yourself. Oh, what was the story I had in my head right before this fear came up. What was rattling around in my brain. 

What story was I telling myself? About work about this career change. When the fear came up. And I can guarantee. There's probably an assumption underneath that. If you scratch the surface of fear, you will probably find a story of some kind. And it's your job to do two things. To notice those assumptions. 

Notice those stories. 

And to do the work required to see if they're true or not. You might have to edit some of your stories. And that's going to help you move forward. 

So. You now have three things to [00:28:00] help you. On this career change journey. You know, to focus on. Clarity first. Before you spend too much time. Scrolling through job postings. It is going to make the process feel so much better. And it's going to make that process way more effective. You also know that. Emotion is a big part of career change. 

In fact, you probably knew that on some level anyway, because you've probably been dealing with some anxiety or paralysis around this for a while. But now, you know, To get curious about the feelings that come up instead of just trying to bypass them or power through them. Because when you get curious about your emotions, when you invite them to the table, it helps you gently soften the edges of some of that stuff. And now, you know, you can take a little bit of time to just [00:29:00] start noticing. Your assumptions around some of those feelings that come up. Your assumptions around what is actually required. To make a career change. I can almost guarantee some of your fear and anxiety around career change. Is based on some very specific stories that you were probably given by society at large, or by someone you love and care about like a parent or a teacher or a mentor. 

And it's really important for us. Two. Examine the stories that we were given. And to see if we need to uninstall some of that software. Or at least update some of that software.

Career changes can be complicated. And they come with a lot of big feelings. And. I happen to think it's still worth it. It's not necessarily easy, but I know you can do it. So this week, I'm [00:30:00] sending you lots of love for that journey. If you would like some support for the clarity side. Of making your career change? 

I have a free three-day course called the Careergasm crash course. And it's some lovely, dare I say fun exercises. That will help you figure out some of the things that you want in the next phase of your career. So if clarity. Is something that you've been struggling with. I have just the thing for you and I will put it in the show notes and everything I talk about here. 

You can always find everything we talk about here at careergasm.com. Thanks for listening today. I'll see you next time. 

Hey. I'm still here. You probably know [00:31:00] someone who wants to make a career change or is at the very beginning of that journey. And this would be a really great episode to share with that person. Also, if you liked what you heard here, I would love for you to subscribe. And because the podcast is new, I would really super love it. 

If you would be willing to rate it and give it a review. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you next time.