Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
As a professional coach, many people look for advice and directions for changing jobs. They keep sending resumes to companies that don’t have much (if any). They interviewed the work, which made them feel frustrated with their future. They entered the search without clearly understanding what they were looking for, and thus hopped onto the employer’s conveyor belt and turned into sausage.
No wonder they feel pain about their prospects. After all, they have no goals and surrender their careers to employers who cannot trust their careers. After all, employers prove themselves time and time again that they are not worthy of this trust, by transferring people to jobs that no longer require a career and fire them when they are no longer needed.
What can you do? Design your own career trajectory by thinking, researching, researching, investigating and actually deciding what suits you and your interests, rather than landing like a feather drifting in the wind wherever anyone decides you should land. Under these conditions, the possibility of landing in a place that is for you and your interests is small. So here are some tips to help you plan your own informed path:
1. Think about what matters most to you when your next job is. Just make a list of qualities. Some people seem rather irrelevant, but don’t worry. Create a long list. Including things like happiness, money, recognition, power, status, diversity, career opportunities, your commute, taxes, and job requirements. Everything is fair game and can be included in the list.
2. Prioritize lists, starting with the list you think is the least important. No. 1 is the most important thing. No. 68 is the least important.
3. Research by talking to people who go further. Those who stand out from you, and many others, can provide valuable insights on what it takes to get there, what it looks like to work, what it looks like to challenge, and more. This information discussion is crucial to separate the reality of future work from fantasy. People often seek advice from people without real-world experience on how things work in the organization and lead professional rabbit holes that they can’t escape. Find out what a real expert might have.
4. Once you have a list, understand that, like you, employers wear a nice veneer for work that must be filled. The job description and what the hiring manager tells you are loosely related to the role you are employed and the roles in the environment you are going to enter. So, given that you and they are both going to be in good behavior to create a positive impression, what do you need to see or hear to know that the company will meet your most important requirements?
5. When you interview for a job, make sure to evaluate the organization and its priorities. Ask the hiring manager for the outstanding performance of the group (this can be in a department, team or business unit – whether the most relevant descriptor). Ask them: “Who is your best person and what makes them stand out?” By asking the stars of the group, you will learn a lot about the organization and its priorities.
6. Once you join the next company, start planning your next step immediately. Whenever you are presented with new opportunities, be aware of new opportunities. When you are ready, few of them arrive. Usually, when you are not, they arrive.
You need to remember that you are the chairman responsible for your life and career. Give your employer or employer the power to design your career in a way that serves them, not necessarily a gambling that you are not worthy of. It’s your career and it’s up to you to decide on the choices that influence it. No one else.
ⓒMajor Game Hunter Company, Asheville, North Carolina, 2019, 2021, 2023
Photos of Sebin Thomas
