3 Parts to Successful Career Transitions: Part 2 - Exploring Options

As we move through change, there are three parts or areas of focus that lead to successful career transitions. They’re listed here in sequence, but in reality they can overlap or happen out of order. They are: Self Awareness, Exploring Options, and Professional Brand. I’ll discuss each one separately in this and other posts.

Let’s focus on part two, Exploring Options. As we gain clarity about what is important to us, we have a launch pad for exploration. What industries align with our interests? What organizations share our values and priorities? What jobs or opportunities allow us to use our strengths?

There are many ways to research options, including using search engines (e.g., companies focused on sustainability, seattle, wa) and job posting sites (e.g., software developer, bellevue, wa). However, one of the most powerful ways to explore possibilities is through conversations with people doing work we are curious about. These conversations are an informal type of networking called Informational Interviews.

Informational interviews are 20-30 minute conversations, in person or via video conference, that allow us to gain information, advice and contacts. We can ask about a particular job, an organization’s culture, and/or the future of an industry. We may find we need additional experience or training to move into a desired role, or discover newly created positions that are an excellent fit. Perhaps most importanty, we gain connections with people who can help us reach our goals. Having an inside contact at a company of interest, or a supportive new colleague in a field we’re entering can help us learn about, prepare for, and land our next job.

Drawing from what we learned or affirmed about ourselves in Part 1 (strengths, values, interests, etc.), we can create a template for our dream job, organization and/or industry. This, combined with what we learn from informational interviews, allows us to evaluate each opportunity against our ideal. It’s an intentional process grounded in what is most important to us now.

Knowing ourselves and exploring options that match our goals creates the foundation for our Professional Brand. We’ll focus on this in Part 3.