Feeling Stuck In Your Career? Here’s My 3-Part Framework for Finding Your Next Career Move
Most of my clients come to me because they feel stuck in their careers.
(Side note: you’re not alone. This happens to A LOT of people.)
Some clients like aspects of their job and aren’t sure they’re ready to leave yet but want to be intentional about where their career is going.
Others are tired of trying to make sense of their swirly thoughts and realize they need help getting unstuck. And other clients have tried a bunch of things haphazardly without getting much traction and recognize the need for a more structured approach.
If any of those sound like you, here are ways you can start to get unstuck:
1. Ground Yourself First
The first step in finding your ideal career is self discovery. Better understanding yourself can help you pinpoint what truly matters to you in a job. These are some things we start with:
Clarify Your Values
Your values are the guiding principles that shape your decisions and define what's important to you. Reflect on how your values have been met or unmet in your past and current jobs. What aspects of work matter most to you? Find a list of values online and see which ones resonate with you, particularly in a work context.
Define How Your Career Fits Within Your Broader Life Goals
Your career is just one piece of the puzzle. Consider your broader life goals and how your career fits into that picture. Ask yourself where you see yourself in the short term (1-3 years out) as well as what you want over the course of your lifetime. What are your aspirations and how can your career path support those?
What Has to Be True?
A lot of clients tell me they don’t know what they want. But in our conversations, we realize they do have some inkling of what they are looking for. You likely know more than you’re giving yourself credit for but haven't put it into words. List out what you know must be true in your next role. And it’s ok to start with what you know you don’t want. This can be a living, breathing list. The point is to get it out of your head and start documenting what you want.
2. Inventory Your Interests and Strengths
Once you understand your values and goals, it's time to assess how you bring your talents to your work.
Identify Your Talents and Skills
Review your past performance reviews and think about the feedback you received from friends and colleagues. What skills and talents are you consistently praised for? Think about how your skills can be transferred and applied in different contexts and through a variety of careers.
Do an Energy Audit
Review the past week or month to identify what energizes you and what saps your energy. With this knowledge, you can align your next step to do more of what energizes you. This information can also help you identify whether it’s the role or work culture that’s the problem, giving you important data for what needs to change.
Collect Inspiration
I was once at a point where no job sounded interesting, which made me think I’d never find career satisfaction. What worked was when I’d look at job descriptions, if even one bullet point sounded interesting, I’d copy and paste that into a document. Do that enough times and you’ll see a pattern emerging.
Identify Themes from Personality Tests
Who doesn’t love a personality test or assessment? Even without counting the Cosmo quizzes I did when I was 13, I’ve chalked up a fair bit of these tests. They provide valuable insights into your work style and strengths, which can guide your career exploration.
But they're just one piece of the puzzle. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a magic machine where you can answer a bunch of questions and it spits out that your next step is to be a VP of Sales or a Senior Finance Director. Which is why there’s no getting around the next step.
3. Assess and Pressure Test
As you start to generate ideas and options for your next role or career pivot, do some market validation and pressure test your options.
Understand a Week in the Life
Talk to people doing the type of work you’re interested in. Get a realistic sense by exploring what a typical day or week looks like in that field. This can help you decide if it aligns with your expectations and lifestyle. One client realized that publishing wasn’t for her after talking to industry insiders.
Validate Your Assumptions
Recognize and validate any beliefs you have, especially if they might be limiting your idea of what’s possible. Is it true that client service roles require you to upsell your clients, or is that based on your current company’s business model? Do you really need an additional degree or certification, or is that your assumption?
Identify Pathways Into the Job
Certain roles and sectors are harder to break into than others. Research how others entered your desired field. Understanding their journey can provide inspiration and a roadmap for your own career transition.
These are the types of things I help my clients work through and what I’ve used myself at various points in my career.
Getting unstuck isn’t easy. It can take time. Be kind to yourself and recognize that each step is getting you a little closer to getting you the clarity you need.
However, there are times when it’s hard to get enough distance to see yourself objectively – I like to say that it’s hard to read the label from inside the jar. In those cases, it can be valuable to have someone who can help you make sense of your thoughts, spot patterns, and provide a fresh take on how your strengths and interests can align to a new role.
That’s where I come in. If you’re feeling stuck and want to make faster progress, schedule time to learn how my process can help.