While there may be newer reasons to pivot your career—from AI making more and more workers redundant to workplaces now mandating a return to offices for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19—doing so is certainly not a new concept.
What is new, however, are the high stakes of doing so. Earlier this year, inflation reached an all-time high, and costs of education and other training leaving countless in debt for years, even decades at a time. Pivoting, these days, can be especially devastating if it’s not into the right industry.
So, how do you know you’re ready for a change in your career? And how can you know if where you’re planning on pivoting to is a good, long-term plan for you?
Three Factors to Consider before You Pivot
As Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic iterates in “What to Ask Yourself Before a Career Pivot,” there is no ideal age for changing your career. So, no matter your age, you may in fact be able to pivot your career with no problem.
Before you do, however, it’s important to consider the following.
1. Your Reasons for Wanting to Leave
As Chamorro-Premuzic states, all key drivers for career change can either be considered to be situational (or external) or personal (or internal). The former category includes changes in the economy or talent landscape that might push one out of a field. But this category also includes “pull” factors, such as emerging opportunities that might draw one into a new field.
The latter, on the other hand, might include personal experiences, developmental stage and self-conceptions, skills, talents, and personal networks.
Consider, then, which of the above are those that are pushing you to pivot (or are doing so the most). If there are only a few and they are subject to change, the pivot may be risky.
But if there are many reasons behind your need for change, and are not short-term resolutions to a long-term problem, pivoting might be your best bet.
So, where to next?
2. What You’re Well-Suited For
Whether you already have an idea of where you want to go next or not, it’s important to consider your current job to determine what you are and are not looking for.
Ask yourself, for instance, what you do like about your current or past jobs. What do you dislike about your job? How does your current work environment suit your individual needs as a worker? Is there another environment that would more closely suit them?
And perhaps more importantly, what are some job functions or fields of work that would allow you to exercise your skills and talents best?
That is, you’ll want to consider what you’ll be well-suited for in both your preferences and your abilities. After all, it’s one thing to want a career in a certain field, and it’s another to have the personality and soft skills needed to succeed in it.
3. How Adaptable You Can Be
Lastly, you’ll want to consider what roles will allow you to be the most adaptable and prepared for any future external or internal drivers for change again.
Of course, over the course of a lifetime, the market will make drastic changes and personal factors will similarly affect how you work. And there’s no way to anticipate everything that can and will inevitably change each workplace you find yourself in.
The best way to stay agile, then, is finding a job that can allow you the ability to adapt to meet these changes.
That might look like being able to work from home should the time come (again). It might also look like teaching yourself skills that can apply to both this new job and future jobs that might be more sustainable in the future.
So, before moving onto a new position, consider what easily transferrable skills you might gain in it. Are there many you might be able to use to adapt to new changes in the workplace? Are there more that are specific to the field that may not be as transferrable?
If you do end up switching to a new career, how might you make certain skills or abilities you learn into those that can make you agile and adaptable in future circumstances?
How to Find Your Top Potential before You Pivot Your Career
Considering the above factors can be a daunting task without professional help from career experts and/or tools to help you make a fully informed decision. After all, so much is at stake when you pivot your career.
Take some of that guesswork out of this task by using a self-assessment, like our very own Packfinder.
Packfinder is the perfect tool to use for when 1) you know what career you want to go into, but want to determine how well-suited you are for it, and 2) when you have no idea what career you want.
The soft-skills assessment determines which among 60 unique job functions best align with your personality and tendencies, all in under 30 minutes. This means you’ll have a better understanding of how well-suited for a job you are before you make any long-term commitments.
And the cherry on top? It comes at no cost and provides a wealth of information regarding your compatibility within various work environments and social contexts. Additionally, it rates your compatibility on a scale of 1 to 5 for 60 distinct job roles.
So, before you pivot your career without any additional advice or tools to support your decision, take Packfinder to see how well-suited this shift might be for you.
Job seekers can take Packfinder for free by signing up for a free Workwolf personal account. Follow the link here to sign up and discover your next career path today.
