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Evaluating career directions

In today's rapidly evolving job market, evaluating your career directions is crucial for successful transitions. This article explores four key paths: mirroring previous roles, exploring transferable positions, leveraging your existing experience, and embracing new challenges. Each path presents unique opportunities for growth, allowing you to align your career choices with your personal goals and lifestyle preferences.
Oct 10 / Stephenson Mansell Group

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Evaluating career directions

Evaluating different career directions regarding both role and industry is essential in your career transition journey. The diagram below outlines four key paths: mirroring previous roles, exploring transferable roles, leveraging your experience, and taking on a new challenge. Each option offers unique opportunities for growth and development.

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Mirror roles

Same role | Same sector
This option is initially the most logical and easiest to attain. Logically, your new role will build on the skills and competencies that you have developed; it’s easy because the territory is familiar to you, and prospective employers are known.

Transferrable roles

Same role | Adjacent or different sector
Could it be the time to ‘ply your trade’ in a new market? Stepping outside of your recent sector can help reinvigorate your interest and add value to your résumé. This step can require more research into new industries to find the best way to transfer your skills and experience.

Leverage your experience

Different role | Same sector
Have you ever thought about stepping outside of your functional field? Fancy a change from Operations to Human Resources, from Sales to Operations? Can you leverage the skills and capabilities you have built over your career to transition across functional boundaries? Talking to people who have made this transition is a good way to test the viability of the move.

New challenge

Different role | Different sector
Now might be the right time to do the thing you’ve always dreamt of. Why not?1 in 4 SMG clients choose this moment to follow their passion and completely shift their lives and careers. What is your dream, your passion? What inspires you? What fills you with joy?No dream is too wild. Add it to the list and discuss it with your coach.

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Additional career options

As you continue to explore your career transition, it’s important to consider a broader range of options that may align with your goals and lifestyle preferences.

Contracting

Contracting for a period of time can be a great option to:

• Keep some income coming in between career moves

• Test out new industries and sectors

• Manage finances while taking time out for yourself and your family.


Ad hoc or fixed-term contracting opportunities are available in the market. Talk to your Coach and a specialist contracting recruiter about the viability of this option for you. Some professionals like the flexibility of this option so much that they become career contractors!

Consulting

There are a number of variations to the consulting option ranging from going it alone and establishing your own consulting business to joining an established consulting practice. The direction you chose will be influenced by many factors, including your comfort with business development (selling), your ability to invest in setting up your business, your connection with existing consulting practices and your network of potential clients.

Start your own business

Remember that great business idea you’ve always had? Maybe it’s time to turn that into a reality. Is it feasible and realistic? How do you assess its viability? What are the key steps in starting your own business? Now might be the right time to give it a go. Discuss with your Coach and partner.

Retirement

Is now the time to step away from work? Have you been thinking about retiring partially or completely? Has a severance payment accelerated your thinking?

Sea or tree change

How about something completely different? Do you have a hobby or passion that you have long craved to turn into something more concrete? Perhaps you’ve always wanted to hit the coast and open a surf shop, lead treks to distant lands or retrain as a teacher.
There may be other options that we’ve not considered here. Our advice is to think as broadly as possible. Something that may initially appear absurd or unattainable may end up being the right choice. The key is having a structure for evaluating your options. SMG offers a step-by-step process to follow. This is within the Career Planning module, which is part of the Career Transition series. 
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This content was extracted from the online module Career Planning, which is part of our Career Transition series.
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