2 Ways to Focus Your Career Pivot
It's that time of year again! We reflect and reevaluate the current year and make goals for what's ahead. One thing to consider as we look at our careers is how we can be open to the opportunities that come our way, whether taking advantage of our current roles or making a career pivot.
My 29th birthday trip.
In October 2017, I had just turned 29, and I was desperately looking for a transition. I was starting to dislike a lot of what it means to live in NYC. I felt like I was in a hamster wheel chasing my tail. I needed a change, and I knew there had to be more to life than this.
To make the transition, I needed to be open to different things. I started to become open to leaving the city of my dreams to try again somewhere else. Two weeks after this birthday, my company announced that everyone would be remote in 2018. The door flew wide open for me to make a pivot. Thank you, God.
Another thing I needed to change was the company I worked for and the role that I was in. It was time to evaluate where I currently was and wanted to be. By doing this, I focused on exactly the thing that I enjoyed most and what people saw as my value add to my past and current teams. I learned that I was strong in content development, loved the art of storytelling, and wanted my next pivot to be just that.
When accessing what you want next for your career, think of two things:
Think about past projects you loved working on and why you loved them. What was it about the work that made you feel excited?
Think of the times your team leaned on you for your opinion and knowledge about something. Think about the times your manager showed trust and let you own a particular project or function of your team.
Both steps require a deep dive into your past. I went back to even my internship days. At every stage of my career, my managers let me own some content. I did it all from social, newsletters, blogs, ghostwriting on behalf of leaders. They let me do my thing because they saw that I was good at it. Another thing I noticed is that whenever there was an email, presentation, press release, or any long to short-form copy that my managers wrote, they always sent it to me to give it another look. All of these things happened, and I never embraced it or understood its value until I took a deep dive into my experience.
Just imagine taking notice of these things early in our career and turning it into our power when it comes to negotiating salaries, getting a promotion, or shaping a new role for ourselves that is more aligned with what we want to do.
By thinking it through, you'll start to discover what type of work you love and want to be doing more of. It will also show you what others believe you are good at and reveal your expertise. Knowing both will help you move forward with what you want to do.