4 Reasons to Make a Career Pivot
Jun 23, 2020
Sometimes a Radical Career Change is Too Much
If you have taken our Career Change Assessment, you may have realized that change is necessary because frustration at work is negatively affecting the other areas of your life. Or, you may have a powerful desire to change your career for a good reason. Still others feel they could just use a change but are uncertain about what kind of change.
That last change could be just a pivot in the same career. Here are 4 reasons to make that pivot.
Pivot #1 – New Job for Fresh Start
Sometimes, a new job just gives you a fresh outlook on your career. Changing can improve what you do not like about your old job while keeping what you did like. However, be careful not to overreact to the current bad elements of your current job. Finally, do a deep and extensive dive into what you appreciate in your current job. That awareness will help you in interview discernment. Last, a career assessment helps reveal more about you and the environment within which you will thrive.
Pivot #2 – New Job for New Culture
Culture is critical. It affects everything. Many people completing our assessment mention that the culture of their company is bad or in conflict with their values. Operating out of your values can eat your insides out. While you may be a light in your current job, there may be a company in the same industry with a culture that better fits you. Therefore, you need to know your values, your personality, and other things about yourself to find the right culture. Career assessments should help you in all these areas.
Pivot #3 – New Job for New Boss
This reason is a commonly mentioned one. There is one test to see if your boss is the kind of humble leader that the book Good to Great by Jim Collins says is best. Do you have a formal Personal Developmental Plan (PDP)? If not, you need one badly in order to know where you are headed, how quickly your boss expects you to get there, how you can build on your strengths, what aptitudes need some special development attention, and so much more. It also shows that they respect you.
Without one of these, you are twisting in the wind with no direction on any kind of path to promotion. If you cannot get a PDP and want to pivot, a new job is in store for you. Whether you use our Career Assessment or somebody else’s, it is a fertile source for ideas to develop you into a more effective person in your current and future positions.
Pivot #4 – New Job for New Promotion Track
Rueben was going through our Career Assessment Coaching. It revealed a vast array of aptitudes he did not know he had, his ideal role in a team, and many other elements about him. As it turned out, the assessment was a semi-confirmation of the job and career he had – BUT for one problematic fact. He was too creative relative the average person in his career. He would be frustrated at not using this aptitude God had given him, so he felt stuck.
As an assistant professor, he was lamenting the fact that other professors hardly changed how they taught their courses with the same old material saving them lots of preparation time leading effectively to a part-time job, and so much other status quo behavior. However, Rueben liked to improve his teaching approach and content every year with new tools, techniques, and approaches. In other words, he had a little outlet for his creativity. Then, the Holy Spirit spoke and told me that Rueben needs to be a thought leader in his profession.
When Rueben heard this, his fast processing speed led him to say, “That’s it!! I would love to present innovative ideas at conferences and use my creativity in this field I love!” It all came together for him, but it took a deep assessment of him and his current career to get there.
Conclusion
You may be Rueben and only need a novel approach to your current career. A new boss taking you under her arm to develop you could be the answer. A new culture that respects and supports an employee like you with untapped potential could be the answer. Or, a better combination of job elements that fit how God made you could be it.
Take an assessment, get a coach, or use science to help you understand deeply how God has made you. Do something that will help you find the ideal career and organization so you can glorify God in your work.
Charlie Haines
