In today’s day and age, changing directions in a person’s career is common. If a career change is done right, it can be the most satisfying thing in life. But how can we pivot successfully?
- Learn something new: If you are interested in a particular career which requires a certain qualification, you’d better get the qualification as early as you can. Never stop learning. Apart from technical skills, you also need to develop your soft skills (including people skills) to help you stand out from the crowd. According to career strategist Robert Greene, without people skills, your technical skills wouldn’t work.
- Dig the well before you’re thirsty: Statistics show that most successful career pivots come from career contacts and business connections rather than your close friends. That means you should totally build a powerful network and stay connected to your network. Remember: Your network is your net worth. Therefore, you must keep in touch with your most valuable contacts and see how you can help them (Yes, I said must, not should). By that I mean you need to see if there is something that you can offer other people first. That’s how you maintain your network. Don’t wait until you need to get a new job (nobody likes transactions); just do it now.