Avoid these 3 Mistakes for Easier Career Change
| Are you making the type of progress you want to in your career change? Making change in your work life is a complex process. Sometimes the approach we take makes it more difficult that it needs to be. Read this article to learn more about 3 mistakes that may be getting in your way. | Career & Work Life Matters ISSN 2150-6299 Vol 2, no. 14 |
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 Is Your Approach Working? |
Are you doing what you can to make your career change as easy as it might be? Recently I took a class from Tracy Campbell on managing digital information. I was frustrated with not being able to find files quickly on my computer. I learned that some of the mistakes I was making were adding to my difficulty. Do these mistakes apply to your career change? Sometimes we struggle more than we need to by choosing the wrong approach. But, the first step is to be aware of mistakes that might be getting in your way. | |
| Mistake 1: Looking for the Perfect Solution | ||
| One of the key lessons was that there is no perfect filing system. Information does not fit neatly into just one category. We need to choose a system based on our priorities. The same principle applies to career change. There is no perfect approach to use. It is essential to think about your personal priorities so that you can organize your own activities in a way that fits for you.If you are still in the early phases of your change, you may be spending more time doing self-assessment activities. This is appropriate for you at this point.On the other hand, if you have a clear picture of your skills, what you have to contribute, and your career goals, you will get results more quickly by spending more of your time doing other things, such as networking. If at this point, you are still investing a lot of time to get that perfect LinkedIn profile, take a moment to ask yourself whether what you are doing is helping your to achieve your goals. Are you making the mistake of focusing on perfection rather than the “best-fit” activities? | ||
| Mistake 2: Making Things Too Complex | ||
I learned that I had added so many folders to my filing system that it was no longer usable. I needed to simplify it. Do you need to simplify your career change by letting go of some of your activities?As you know, career change can feel like a juggling act.But if you are juggling too many things at once, you will soon feel overwhelmed.This is particularly true nowadays as there are more and more tools to help you. Each week brings new social media tools with new promises of what they can do for you. But to get the results you want, you need to be selective. Test your tools and approaches. Ask what is manageable based on your preferences and goals. Keep it simple enough to be usable. |
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Mistake 3: Having Unrealistic Expectations. |
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| One of the reasons that I was inconsistent in how I organized my information on my computer was that I took shortcuts when I was pressed for time. Not matter what great filing system I might choose, it will only work if it is easy to use.Often there are good reasons why you do things the way you do, such as trying to save time by taking shortcuts.Understanding these reasons is the first step in making a change. How can you set up your environment to help you be more productive even when you are under pressure?For example, unless it is easy to enter the contact information you gathered at your last networking meeting, you may forget to do that follow up phone call that you intended to do. | ||
| There is no one perfect approach to career change. But there are choices to make. What can you do to make it easier and increase the probability of the successful outcomes you want? | ||
| Share your experience below. What obstacles have you experienced? What have you done to make things easier? |
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September 1st, 2011 in
archives | tags: career mistakes, career transition, focus, managing information, overwhelm, stress reduction
