Fear of Career Change
From the interviews that I have done so far, it is apparent that career change is inevitable for all of us. The reason I say all of us is that career change is overlooked by some. This is because it can be something as simple as moving to another firm or company. Even though we may be doing something very similar there is still a new environment and a new way of doing things which all can lead to new problems. It can also be extreme cases that entail going back to school and learning something entirely new. And then there is something in between which is where people are taking their skills and using them in a new industry.
In addition, it is very difficult to figure out at a young age what we would like to do and as we age, we change, our interests change, and combined with our experiences we look for new ventures. There is also the economy and how the world can change that can make us do things differently as well. So, knowing this, how do we deal with a career change and or more importantly the fear of it is the purpose of this blog and the next several. I will share some examples from guests that have been on my show and how they dealt with career changes. There are many tips and suggestions from all the stories that people have told on the show and perhaps it may help out someone that is reading this blog as they may be at a crossroads in their life.
My interview with Paul Rogalski https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/a-chef-that-is-continually-re-inventing-himself illustrates how he has gone from working as a chef to owning a restaurant, public speaking regarding food sustainability, and the hospitality industry, and, doing a TV show “Survivor Man Wild Man Harvest” where he was able to combine his love for food and nature. All of these ventures had to deal with cooking so there was a common denominator that he built from, which did lower his risk level and fear. In the Book “Range” by David Epstein https://www.thecareerguy.ca/blog/a-book-review-on-range-by-david-epstein moving your career more laterally as Paul has done can lower the risk of fear as mentioned. There is a fallacy that a person is not advancing their career if they are not moving up or horizontally. This is not true and Paul is a good example of this. He has moved his career more laterally as shown he has incorporated working with food into a variety of industries.
My interview with Ron Salahub follows a similar path. https://open.spotify.com/episode/0oLcw03CAhAXKkYs0bRtCH Ron started his career as an automotive mechanic. Working in this field he developed his mechanical aptitude which he transferred over to other areas, including working on oil field equipment. This eventually led him to get his journeyman certification as a heavy-duty mechanic as well. He does point out in the interview that it was his frustration with the automotive sector that initiated a move to another industry. As with Paul, Ron is another good example of how he took his mechanical skills and moved into another industry. Ron currently works in safety and this is ironic as late in the interview the discussion went to safety and longevity in the workplace and this is based on an injury that he took on and the experiences he has had working in the trades.
Lou Rosenfeld is the owner of “Lou’s Performance Center” a ski shop where custom ski boots are the specialty. Lou indicated in his interview https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/engineering-for-ski-performance graduating from high school he worked in a ski shop and he knew one day that he wanted to open his own shop. It was a chain of events that led him to do this after several years (20) where his career meandered in which he worked as an engineer. The idea of a ski shop was always in his head though. It was during the end of this tenure that circumstances entailed the right people, economics, and the mindset for Lou to go back to school to establish his credibility in this industry that led him to open his business. In essence, he never lost sight of his vision for himself, he waited, and when the timing was right and the opportunity was presented to him, he then moved on it. Sometimes we want to do something but we are not ready yet and it comes later in life as we still need to mature.
Paul McNeil went from working as a mining engineer in the oil sands in Northern Alberta where one-day a remnant of a dinosaur was discovered, this sparked his interest in pursuing a childhood fantasy of his, studying dinosaurs. In looking into grad school, he met his two future supervisors that would oversee his work on his doctoral thesis. He points out in the interview https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/a-passion-for-dinosaurs-working-as-a-paleontologist that in meeting his two supervisors there was an instant connection, and right away he had a good feeling. Knowing that someone who is capable and that they have your best interest in mind can help ease the fear. Not to mention Paul did go through an intense engineering program at Queens as well, which means that academically he was capable of doing the work. The point here is to remember that even though we desire to change, it is the unknown that can scare us. In Paul’s case, his thesis supervisors had his best interest in mind and this can lower the fear for sure.
It is also worth considering and keeping this in mind as we seek to change where we may want to go be it a different company or in Paul’s case, a university is it really in our best interests? And the place that we want to go to do they have our best interest in mind as well? Our intuition or gut feeling will let us know it will not lead us astray so we need to listen to our gut feelings. As Paul pointed out he had a good feeling about his supervisors which made the move easier.
Bruce Voigt started in radio as a broadcaster shortly after high school. Thirty years later his career ran its course as he explains https://www.thecareerguy.ca/episodes/serving-the-public-radio-broadcasting-to-real-estate-and-still-growing. In moving over to becoming a relator he researched it well and talked to people in the industry then he found a brokerage firm that would mentor him. It was this and the fact that he did it part-time for a few years that helped him establish himself in this industry. It was a slow transition at first that eased the tension for him. Starting as a realtor is hard as Bruce points out because you are independent and you have to establish your credibility. Even though you have completed the course work and passed all the tests, having a mentor helped him with this transition where he learned how the industry works. We are always learning is a key element here.
In this blog, I have given five examples of how some people have encompassed career change and in doing so how they have overcome fear or anxiety. There are a couple of key elements that do stick out and that assisted all of them that are worth pointing out.
One is skills. In all the examples the guests were able to transfer their skills. Paul Rogalski and Ron moved their career more laterally as they both took their basic skills and moved them into another industry. Paul McNeil and Lou came from an engineering background which entails the ability to solve problems a skill that can be used in any field. More importantly, they both had hidden ambitions (becoming Paleontologist and opening a ski shop) that they hung on to. It was faith, circumstances, and timing that helped them pursue their passion. Bruce had good people skills for sure from all the radio stations that he worked at and this helped him n real estate. In addition, he was willing to learn and this brings up the next point.
With all the examples in this blog, everyone is willing to learn and this requires humility and humbleness especially when it comes to being mentored which they all were. I will also add it is a skill to learn how to learn. We all should keep this in mind and all the guests do point out that learning can be fun and adventurous, exciting and above all, it is being creative. There are many more examples I will provide on this topic of fear and career change. I thank you for reading this and I hope that this blog helped.