I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how many people feel stuck in the “in-between” of career transitions – and how powerful it is to have support during that time.
This has led me to think back to two big career transitions that I’ve been through, and how one of them was more successful than the other.
The first one happened 10 years ago.
The first big career transition
10 years ago, I was in a job that was destroying me.
OK, maybe that’s a little bit dramatic. Let me back up and give you some more context.
A couple of years earlier, I had gone back to school to learn about analytics. While I was going to school, I got a job as a marketing analytics intern at a theater company. I loved working there – being surrounded by creativity, being a part of a small team building something I loved, brushing shoulders with celebrities – in my mind I was living the ultimate New York dream.
But I wasn’t making very much money, and I started to feel like I needed to learn more and spend more time putting what I learned in my master’s to use. (And make more money – living in New York is expensive, and I had student loans to pay.)
So I left my job working at the theater company to work at a large advertising agency.
From the start, I felt overwhelmed. Looking back, I can now see why. I had never worked for such a big company before. I had to meet lots of new people, understand their roles and how they related to mine, and satisfy demanding clients from big-name companies. I remember physically printing out my daily meeting schedule. I wasn’t yet used to managing such a busy work schedule.
Almost everything was new to me. But I didn’t have this perspective at the time, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well – as I had in everything in my life.
As time went on, I felt lost and incompetent. I was afraid to ask for help for fear of looking like I didn’t know what I was doing. When I did build up the courage to ask for help from my superiors, I was met with impatience and an attitude that I should somehow magically know how to do my job without asking for help. It felt like an endless downward spiral.
I felt a lot of shame at the time. My biggest fear was to be judged as stupid. I worried about not living up to others’ expectations. I had just graduated from Columbia University in New York with a Master’s degree in Marketing Science. Obviously, I was not (I am not) stupid.
But the demands of my job felt overwhelming. I couldn’t keep up – and it wasn’t just me. My teammates and I used to spend late nights at work, ordering takeout, working long hours to meet our client’s unreasonable deadlines.
I hated it. But I felt like this was just the way it had to be. All of my friends worked in jobs with long hours too. I thought, this is what work is supposed to be like. I didn’t reach out for help beyond my closest relationships, and there wasn’t much they could do for me except listen.
Eventually I did get out of that job, but it was a difficult period in my life, full of tears and self-doubt. Looking back now, I can see that I was lacking the right support to transition from a small theater company where I knew everyone to a multinational advertising agency where I was just one of thousands.
The second (more successful) career transition
Fast forward to last year, and I had just been laid off from my tech job. I felt like I wanted a career change, but I didn’t quite know what my next steps should be. I decided to work with a coach to help me to work this out.
Under my coach’s guidance, I got clear on what I wanted to try next. I worked through my perceptions of risk that were blocking me from trying something new. I walked away with a plan for my next steps – and I successfully followed the plan. I researched coach training programs and enrolled with Erickson International.
That brings me to today. Thinking back on my overwhelming job transition 10 years ago, I can see how much I would have benefited from having a coach to support me. I know I would have found more confidence to deal with that job. I know I would have figured out sooner when I needed to walk away from that job, and have more clarity about what to walk toward.
Now, I want to help others through career transitions
Today, I want to be the coach to others that I needed for myself all those years ago. I feel fulfilled when I’m able to help shine the light for people going through career transitions or other types of transitions in their lives. I’ve been there. I know how lost and stuck you feel. And I want to help give you back your direction and feel unstuck.
So this month, I’m offering a handful of free coaching sessions on the topic of transitions. If you’re currently going through a transition, and you could use some support, please reach out. I would love to support you.