One of the biggest mistakes most people make in a career change is to follow the old rules. We used to hear that finding a new career meant following these three steps in this order:
Step 1: Turning inward. You’d answer questions like, “What do you want engraved on your tombstone?”
That’s fun but a lot of people got caught up in these steps and never moved beyond. Career change depends on action.
Step 2: Identifying one or two career paths to investigate, based on the results of Step 1.
This idea also makes sense … except for two things.
First, many careers today just didn’t exist five or ten years ago. Ten years ago, for instance, being a life coach was way out there. Today it’s a mainstream option for many people.
Instead, start by investigating opportunities that present themselves. Then use the results of those investigations to plan your next step.
Second, research shows that most people do not identify their ultimate career choice ahead of time. They stumble into it through serendipity.
Step 3: Go out and do some interviews for information till someone offers you a job.
This advice is especially dangerous today.
When Parachute was written, the economy and the career world looked very different. Managers really did have time to take calls and answer questions about careers.
Today you may be able to do the same thing, but more likely you will hit a wall. You need to know who to call, how to approach them, what questions to ask, and how to follow up.
Based on my most popular special Report:
Your 21-Day Extreme Career Makeover
You can also work with me via one-to-one consulting:
https://midlifecareerstrategy.com/services.html