Reboot your career with 4 simple steps
As a career coach, I find women rebooting careers are often insecure about the skills they bring to the workplace. I remind them of the incredible assets they possess that are beneficial to employers, like maturity, wisdom and experience - much of which was developed while volunteering or raising families. Many hiring managers believe these individuals are great for the culture because they often value meaningful contributions over self-promotion, and can serve as insightful mentors for younger employees. Ready to dive into your encore career?
Here are 4 suggestions to get started:
1) Take time for self-reflection. Aligning your core values with your career is essential for fulfillment. Many people I coach are not clear about their core values. For some, it’s flexibility as an empty nester, or a paycheck and benefits to cope after a divorce. For others, it’s getting out of the house and developing meaningful relationships. For most, it’s feeling and staying relevant. Too many people slip back into what’s easy to do and don’t take time to create a dream job that, as Marie Kondo would say, “sparks joy.”
2) Have a growth mindset. Be willing to learn new skills and step out of your comfort zone. Embrace failure as a source of new information that sets you on a different path or inspires you to dig deeper. Those of us who are not digital natives need to find comfort in learning new technologies. Our work world is ever-changing, and being able to keep up is key to survival. (Growth Mindset is a concept pioneered by Carol Dweck at Stanford.)
3) Rapidly prototype new career options. This is a design thinking principle that serves rebooters well. Many want to try something new—writing a book, teaching a class, opening a restaurant, coding—but don’t know whether they’ll enjoy this new path. “Sampling” it through a shadow visit, online class, or short-term trial is a great way to determine whether it’s a career worth pursuing.
4) Find an accountability partner. Most people have great ideas, but even greater inertia. The women in our program who have developed accountability partners have made the most progress. They create reasonable short-term goals and have people by their side who ensure they’re completed. Not only do they make headway, but they enjoy the support and camaraderie of like-minded individuals.
Hope this is helpful advice. We would love to hear back from you. Contact us at reboot@rebootaccel.com to keep the conversation going!
About the author- Diane Flynn is the co founder and CEO of ReBoot Accel helping women get current, connected, and confident to resume careers after a break.