Reinventing Your Career

Gone are the days when young professionals signed on with a company and stayed with it for an entire career. Now, many people find that the best way to move up is to move out, trading one position for a better one with higher pay. Companies that used to value loyalty now are often are looking for fresh talent – people with proven experience who can hit the ground running and immediately produce results that add shareholder value. This environment, in our struggling economy, has left many experienced people wondering what they should do next. Some are desperately trying to position themselves to retain their jobs, while others are dealing with unemployment and job searches. If you are stalled, it may be time to reinvent yourself. But how do you do that? I left my job last year, recognizing that the company I had worked for almost 28 years was becoming a different kind of place; one in which I couldn’t visualize being successful. Fortunately, I had some financial flexibility that gave me time to think about my next steps. One book I read, called Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career (by Herminia Ibarra), truly spoke to me. The premise is that instead of engaging in a process of lengthy introspection before making changes, one should get out and try things, make adjustments, try other things, make new connections, and find new mentors and guides. Your ultimate career will surface through experimentation and discovery - over time. It’s inspiring to talk to people who have been through the process of reinvention. Among my friends and acquaintances, there are several people who are just now following their true calling in a new career. One, whose interest and strength has always been in building a work team, now works with a major career services company. Before obtaining that position, she volunteered her time with a non-profit career management and networking organization. That experience led to the connections that helped her obtain the job she really wanted. Another acquaintance, after being laid off from a large corporation, is following his passion for photography by starting his own business. If you dream of an alternative career path, find a way to tentatively stick your toe in the water, through networking, interacting with a mentor, volunteering, or using vacation time to explore possibilities. As far as we know, we have one life to live, and we should control our own destiny.