Happy Friday, friend! Last time on The Creator’s Roulette, we learned from Jennifer Lewy about how she went from freelance marketing to becoming a full-time author. Today, I am excited to talk to Anita Jobs about something more general but related – career changes. Anita reached out to me about her book, I Am Changing Careers: Questions To Guide A Job Seeker. Here is a little bit about her:
Anita Job is a millennial focused on helping her friends find fulfillment in their professional lives. After successfully transitioning into a lifestyle and work she enjoys, Anita found she could assist others in bringing clarity as they considered all the factors that bring about career success and satisfaction. Her question-centric writing style comes from her work experience as a facilitator, resulting in an engaging reader experience. Personal stories integrated into the book offer a practical guide to what might assist others as they explore their employment options.
When Anita is not writing or promoting her book, you’ll find her volunteering, learning, and spending time with family and friends. She enjoys traveling and trying new things, especially new recipes! In the summertime, you’ll find her conquering the next mountain peak or paddling a lake in her kayak. In the winter, she enjoys watching hockey and curling up on the couch with a good book.
Let’s chat with her and learn about the thoughts and considerations around changing careers.
Changing Careers
An interview with Anita Jobs
Hi Anita! Welcome to Armed with A Book! Career is a word that working people hear a lot. What is a career?
A career is “an occupation or profession, especially one requiring specialized training, followed as one’s life work” according to Dictionary.com. A career differs from a job in that a job is specific to an employer and has a much shorter duration. For example, if someone chooses a career in administration, they could hold multiple job titles and work for different companies ranging from an administrative assistant to secretaries and receptionists, to financial clerks or departmental assistants, and even executive assistants or office managers. It is important to note that role progression is normal. Some debate on whether or not changing industries is also considering changing careers, as each one can have very specialized language, training, and skill sets, while others have much lower barriers to entry. Some skills are transferable, while others are less so. The values, mindset, pace, and objectives of each industry differ a lot leading employees to feel like they are starting over even if they maintain the same job title from one company to another.
What are the reasons to change careers?
There are many reasons a person would be motivated to change their career. For example, from being a student to entering the workforce is a normal transition. Everyone expects athletes to have a different employment because performance peaks at a certain age and declines. Demands at home caring for young kids or aging parents might require stepping down from military service and choosing something more local. A mid-life crisis might lead someone to move from the financial industry to a non-profit organization that aligns with their values once financial stability is achieved. A medical diagnosis or injury might restrict a tradesperson from performing the physically demanding tasks that come with the work and lead them to take a sedentary role. Based on the reason for the transition, the pace at which career change happens might be sudden, or more drawn out. A nurse can be bothered that the constant lack of sleep from shift work impacts their mental health and choose to leave this career path. A spouse may find employment in a new city or country, forcing the spouse to find a new job if the current employer refuses remote work.
What’s the best time to change careers?
The best time depends on the reason. Social support such as family commitments and financial dependents or obligations might delay return to school for more specialized career changes that require formal education. Often, when a person has reached the peak of their learning or growth, but hasn’t let their performance suffer, it is the best time to end their career as others appreciate the work that person has done and miss them when they’ve moved on. Another time to transition would be when they’ve achieved everything they wanted to at the organization they work for and are ready for a new challenge. Getting married or having children is another time when transitions are more common as the needs or desires change to suit the new lifestyle. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Every person will be different and experience will teach individuals when the best time to make the transition is. Ideally, a person is in a good place in life when a change happens so that the decision is in your best interests rather than when you are in a desperate place or not confident in yourself. Stacking too many changes together can help some people but set back others. Only you know what will work best for you based on your experience.
What has your career journey looked like? How have you handled the transitions?
I have had a few different changes in my career. While in university, I choose to pursue summer jobs that taught me specific skills that I knew I needed to develop to get into the career I wanted. For example, I hated talking on the phone, so I got a summer job as a cold-caller for a company to overcome my fear of phone conversations. I was terrible the first week on the job, but my coworkers knew I was trying. By the end of the summer, I was decent at converting sales for the company I worked for. Another job was a side hustle in addition to my day job. It was outdoors, and after 9 years, I couldn’t fulfill as many shifts, and my skills on the ropes course were slowly deteriorating. I knew it would be best to pull out before I made a mistake that could lead to someone getting injured. In other transitions, my employers made the decision to let me go. While it wasn’t easy, I knew that it was time to go as well; I wasn’t enjoying the role as much as I thought I would when I first got hired. In short, transitions were both planned and unexpected, and it was the support of my community that helped me gain the next role. I talk more about those transitions through the questions I ask in the book I wrote.
What inspired you to write about this major life decision in a book?
There are a few reasons I decided to write on this topic. First, I’ve enjoyed some work I didn’t anticipate liking and hated work I actively pursued and left feeling disorientation and needing clarification. I want others to know that this is normal, especially for those under 30 who are developing clarity on what they want and what they like, especially as they move away from home and have more freedom to explore. Second, I want others to know it is possible to enjoy your career. I’ve read stats from many sources indicating that many people are unhappy with the work they do and this can impact their personal lives tremendously.
Have the courage to find work you enjoy!
The third and primary reason was that during the pandemic I had multiple friends lose their jobs as the industries they worked in disappeared overnight as well as younger cousins I wanted to help as they entered the workforce. This book was my gift to them, and if it helps you as well, I would love to hear about your journey! Fourth, career changes or transitions are not always received by family or friends with the same level of support as one would hope, and that’s why a holistic perspective was included in the book I wrote. The gap between an old job and a new job is a time you need to reconnect with the people who most support you while you are in a vulnerable state. Lean into life-giving relationships and ask for specific ways others can help you including asking for a contact, a listening ear, a hug, or something else they can tangibly do to support you that’s realistic for them to do.
What are the final thoughts or pieces of advice you’d like to share?
Personality and what you enjoyed doing as a child will play a fundamental role in long-term career satisfaction. I hope you grew up in an environment where the adults in your life fostered and encouraged the development of the things that came naturally to you. If they didn’t, it’s not too late to pursue it yourself now that you are an adult. Also, hard work and the opportunity to be mentored by those in the role you are pursuing is a chance to go further faster and to make a positive difference in the world. If you are one of the people who gets this chance, take it! Some people love the uncertainty that career changes bring and do well in the gig economy. Others prefer a steady and consistent role in the workforce that is respected. Keep the long term in mind when making your choices, as some short-term decisions may impact your ability to earn long-term. It’s normal to make a few mistakes along the way, and it is becoming more common to change careers multiple times before retirement. Enjoy the journey and the relationships you build with colleagues along the way.
Thank you for reading to the end of the post. I hope you enjoyed this interview. Check out Anita’s book on Goodreads and connect with her on Facebook. Another post on job seeking and career changes you can check out is this one by M. Michelle Nadon.
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