Answering your questions – Part 4
Let me address that “stuck” feeling first.
Feeling “stuck” at different junctures of our working lives is quite common.
The reasons behind that “stuck” feeling vary greatly from one individual to another, but they are often tied to our experiences with and relationship to work and career: something has noticeably changed, shifted, or become challenging day to day.
Feeling stuck could signal:
- A waning interest in or motivation for your work.
- You may feel you have outgrown a particular role or occupation, which can manifest as feeling intellectually stagnant or unfulfilled.
- The meaning of work may have shifted for you, and that shift has affected your attitude and engagement with work.
- The future stability of your role or profession may be uncertain, prompting you to make a difficult decision.
- Other life contexts may be taking priority, and this is affecting your commitment and engagement with work.
- The work itself, or the responsibilities associated with the role, may have changed in ways that leave you increasingly underutilized and unable to contribute your strengths, skills, and expertise.
- You may be in a role or position you are ill-suited for and feel increasingly uncomfortable and less confident each day.
- You may have been given added responsibilities without added resources or support, making every day a challenge to meet expectations or deadlines.
- You may want, even need, a change, but the financial security of the job makes real change unrealistic. This leaves you with an ever-present feeling of being “stuck”.
- You may be experiencing burnout and feel overwhelmed emotionally, psychologically, and physically.
- You may be experiencing conflicting feelings about a career change and are expending emotional energy trying to “iron out” these different feelings.
- You may strongly desire change but be unable to pinpoint the type of change you want or what questions you should be asking.
This list could go on. Do any of these points resonate with you and what you are experiencing?
Let’s now expand that “stuck” feeling to include contemplating changes to your career.
Contemplating career change at any stage of our working lives often sits at the intersection of personal experiences, personal aspirations and expectations, the current state of the job market or a particular profession, and perceptions of career changes and professional identity.
Assessing the viability of change, what change might look like, and how change – if chosen – could be executed often means, therefore, considering not just the personal, but the specific contexts that are present and how they intersect.
Many clients I have worked with who feel stuck come to our conversations knowing that something about their current profession, work environment, role, responsibilities, motivation, engagement, or commitment has changed. They want to explore whether the shifts they are experiencing in their relationship with work and career mean change is the answer, whether change is feasible, what changes may be possible, how change would affect their career trajectory and life outside of work, and what they may need to consider.
First, there is no one-size-fits-all script for this process. It begins with the personal and experiential. Key components include exploratory conversations, reflection, gathering information, testing ideas, and gaining perspective and clarity. These are essential for identifying, creating, organizing, motivating, and executing subsequent steps.
Second, it’s important to reflect on, scrutinize, and contextualize dominant narratives about the job market and/or specific careers. These narratives are always present, always fluid, and they do play a part in shaping our assumptions, expectations, and even career goals. The information and perspectives you gain from this reflective process help to inform and support your decision-making.
Third, career changes always involve practical steps such as conducting labour market research, researching a specific industry, profession, or organization, organizing and conducting informational meetings, and networking to gather information, assess shifts in the job market, identify potential areas of growth, and determine the skills, expertise, and experience employers are seeking.
Fourth, identify your target roles and the reasons; layer in your personal reflections, insights, unique experiences, accomplishments, and overall value; layer in the perspectives you’ve gained on dominant narratives; layer in the practical information you have gathered; and adjust your strategies for these roles. This layering helps you redesign and tailor your resumes, portfolios, and social media profiles, and prepare for job interviews with greater focus and confidence.
Consider the following sample questions for reflection:
- What does “stuck” feel like? How would you describe it?
- How does your “stuckness” manifest at work or in other areas of your life?
- In what ways is your “stuckness” affecting your relationship and engagement with work??
- How do you feel about change at this stage in your career life? What do you imagine a change will eliminate, make room for, or potentially lead to?
- What concerns you most about change, and particularly a change now? What feels exciting, even possible, about the prospect of change?
- How feasible is a change at this stage of your career life? What factors in your life do you need to consider? What resources and support do you have that would support change?
- Write down 2 or 3 specific questions related to your current professional interest or general interests. How could these questions guide initial research? For example, if you are interested in and curious about climate change and health care, turn that into a question or set of questions. Where might these questions lead you in terms of research?
- How would you describe your current value? What unique experiences, skills, knowledge, and expertise do you currently hold?
- How do you want to work going forward? Which skills, expertise, perspectives and strengths do you want to emphasize?
- How would you describe your relationship with work and career at this stage of your working life? What do work and career mean to you at this stage? Are these factors shaping how you view change, or are they the impetus for change?
Start a career conversation. Contact Canvas Career Counselling at [email protected] for more information or to book a consultation.