Steps to Making an Authentic Career Transition

By now, we’re all likely familiar with statistics that reveal widespread dissatisfaction with our jobs—for instance, a 2017 Gallup survey that found that only 15% of workers are engaged in their work. It’s no wonder that the majority of us have found ourselves pondering career changes at one point or another. Yet even when we have the requisite education, experience, talent, and skills to switch jobs, the journey to make a transition can feel daunting and scary.

“I should stay in this job because it pays well.”

“It feels too risky to leave a well-known company.”

“My peers have a certain title now. I don’t want to start all over again.”

“I’ve tried switching jobs before, and ultimately nothing changed for me—I was just as unhappy in my new job.”

When envisioning a move, these inner voices often discourage us from making a transition. They can also keep us on the “supposed to” path and prevent us from charting authentic career courses that align with our values and strengths. After attending a top-ranked MBA program and working at companies that regularly appeared on lists of best places to work, I found myself in this situation. From an outsider’s perspective, I had “desirable” jobs that I’d worked hard to attain, but I had to admit to myself that those jobs didn’t quite feel authentic to me, even though I had great colleagues and the work was interesting. I was confronted with a challenge: how do I begin to find an “authentically me” career path?

As I worked through this process over a year, with the help of colleagues, friends, and family I have found three steps that I’d recommend to anyone else seeking their own, authentic path.

1.) Get to know yourself through an assessment tool.

There are many assessment tools out there designed for the specific purpose of helping you understand what is important to you, which activities or jobs energize you (or not), and which type of working environment suits you. Not all of these tests suggest particular career paths to explore or jobs to pursue. But what I’ve found most valuable about the assessment tool I took (The Birkman Method) is how it helped me better understand who I am and what I value. For example, while I intuitively knew that having a variety in my job is critical to me, seeing the assessment explain that frequent change in activity in a job is in fact a key need felt very validating.

2.) Reflect on the past to inform your future.

Every job and role that you have had is a live experiment that can complement what you learn from an assessment tool. Your past can be equally helpful and important in uncovering what you like, what you are good at, and what motivates you. Even though you might have made mental notes of these things at various points in your career, there can be tremendous value in taking the time to revisit and understand your work history. What emerges through this exercise are themes that help you develop a list of values that matter to you. Through my reflection exercise, I developed a set of 12 things that are important to me in a job — like “limited excel analysis” — and this has served as a guiding post when I evaluate new opportunities.

3.) Work with a coach.

The journey to understanding yourself better and making the leap to a transition can feel overwhelming, scary, and lonely. It’s easy to fall into old traps and habits when you are doing this work on your own. (“I know I didn’t like working 80-hour weeks in that old job, but maybe I can put up with it one more time.” Take it from me: You can’t!) Enlisting the help of a coach who understands your strengths, your history, your values, and your ambition can help you identify your values and stay true to these as your consider new opportunities. The best coaches push you when you need to be pushed and steer you away from old decision-making patterns. For example, when I was about to take an offer at a well-known start-up, she pushed me to reflect on whether I was truly excited about the role, or the idea of working at a well-known company; a pitfall that I had fallen into in the past. If you decide to work with a coach, it’s important to recognize that not every coach is going to be right for you. I recommend talking to several in order to find one whose style, experiences, and personality fit best with yours. For example, I purposely chose to work with a coach who shared some similar experiences as me (MBA grad and consulting background) which made it easier for her to understand my history and some of the pitfalls I experienced.