There Is No Progress Bar
“Career Transition Success Depends on Action”
As a Career Consultant, I cherish the times that I receive a phone call, email, or personal visit from one of our candidates telling me that he/she has landed in a new career position. In addition to feeling a bit of self-satisfaction, for possibly playing a small role in their success, I’m truly happy for them – as I do remember what it was like when I went through my last career change. The feeling of relieve and accomplishment is still fairly fresh in mind.
Unfortunately, empathy is a two-way street. While I revel in the success of candidates, I also feel their frustration and, often times, despair when they’ve been involved in this process for some time without success. Especially when they’ve done everything that is suggested to them as the “proven” way of achieving career transition results. During these times, it’s hard to come up with the right words to say, or the right things to suggest, that will keep them optimistic. The hard truth is that all of the advice I provide is only that, advice. It doesn’t come with guarantees, despite what I might make it sound like, and there is no one clear path to success.
One of my colleagues sums it up best in the continual credo that she stresses with her candidates that “there is no progress bar for success in the career transition process”. Judgments of who will help, what events are worth attending and what networking contacts will be of the most use, are guesses at best. Nobody can really determine what person, event, or occurrence will be the one that will lead to a successful landing. There are simply too many variables at play. Being in the right place, at the right time, with the right contact, at the time a company is hiring, remain the determining factors. For one person, that might happen a week after leaving one career. For another, it might be 8 months or a year, even if that person is doing everything in their power to take a pro-active approach to the process.
So, how do you measure your success in the “hunt”? How do you know if you are doing everything you should to secure that next great career? Simple answer – you don’t.
Metaphorically, it’s like tending a garden. You can plant the seeds at the right time, following all of the directions on the package to the letter; fertilize the soil with the most recommended mix; and keep it free of weeds and chase the birds away on a daily basis, but you can never predict accurately when your plump red tomatoes and sweet yellow corn will be ready for the market. The weather and unforeseen pests will still play a major role in determining when you have success.
The one thing I can guarantee however, in terms of both successful gardening and the career transition process, is that the amount of effort you put in is normally proportionate to the amount of product you get out. The more one tends to their garden, the better chance they have for a fruitful harvest. Likewise, the more a person puts into their career transition process, the better chance they have of finding the next best career path for them. It may happen tomorrow or next month, but it will happen.
Maybe the best way to approach the process is not to worry about measuring progress in terms of where you are and how much further you have to go. Maybe it would be best to forget the “progress bar” and instead focus on the “action bar”. Ask yourself, what am I doing today that is pro-active in the career transition process? Am I researching companies? Am I networking effectively and extensively? Am I open to suggestions? Am I brushing up on skills I might be weak in? Am I reviewing my branding documents to be sure they’re in line with the current job market? Am I reviewing job descriptions and requirements to ensure that I am using up-to-date terminology? Am I……….?
If you are taking action, you are progressing. And, if you are progressing, it means you are moving toward success. When you’ll get there – nobody knows. But moving forward (action) seems to be the key!
So, my advice (for what it’s worth) – continue to be proactive, don’t measure yourself against others (it’s a wasted effort), and continue to trudge that happy road to destiny that will surely come.
Just keep DOING the next right thing and your next best career will find you.
