Myth busting on changing careers

When you’re thinking of changing careers, it’s common to start thinking up all the reasons and excuses that you can’t. It’s not rocket science - it’s neuroscience! Our brains are hardwired to resist change because when things stay the same and are stable and consistent we feel safe, can plan, know our place and feel comfortable and confident. So we come up with these common “career change myths” that stop us from believing in our dreams and taking action towards them.

Here are the 3 most common career change myths:

1. I don’t have enough experience to change careers
2. I don’t have enough skills or the right skills to change careers
3. I’ll have to take a pay cut to change careers

Let’s look at each of them in turn - and more importantly, BUST THEM!

Career Change Myth #1: I don’t have enough experience to change careers

When I was interviewing for my first ever Change Management position, I could tell I’d be offered the job. But I wasn’t sure I was ready! I said to my future leader: “Are you sure you want me? I don’t have any experience in Change Management!”  And she said, “You do! You do have experience in Change Management! You may not have been calling it that or following a process, but you’ve been doing change!” Ironically, instead of me trying to convince her to hire me, she was having to convince me to take the job! And… she was right.

The truth is: you don’t have enough experience for your career change. Of course you don’t! You’re changing careers and carving a new path, not going through a fast-food drive-thru that’s the same in every city across the state. So some truth talk: When you want to change careers, you won’t have buckets of direct experience. And more truth talk: it doesn’t matter. Because you have oodles of transferable experience. When my leader said I do have experience in Change Management, it’s because of all the work I’d been doing in Marketing that directly correlated to a new career in Change. When you go to change careers, you want to celebrate and calibrate on your transferable skills and experiences, not your direct ones. I define “transferable skills” really simply: they are "skills that can be used in any role, any company, any industry, any country". They are the skills that are non-technical and non-specific. That’s why Change Management is so easy to move into. Pretty much no one ever started out in their career doing Change Management. They started somewhere else and moved into Change, bringing their transferable skills and experience.

Career Change Myth #2: I don’t have enough skills or the right skills to change careers

A lot of people thinking of changing careers get caught up in needing to be an expert in every skill that’s laid out in a job ad before they apply. 

They try to build this expertise through:

• Secondments, internships, projects, etc.
• Training and courses, sometimes leading to “procrasti-learning” where they just do course after course without ever feeling skilled or qualified enough to make the change
• Certifications, accreditations and licenses (do get the certification or license if it’s legally required to practise in your field or prudent to do so, such as for the protection, health and safety of yourself or others physically, emotionally, legally, financially, or psychologically).

I’m not saying these things are bad. I’m saying don’t be a perfectionist about trying to become an expert before you’ve actually made the career change. You’ll never learn more or build skills quicker until you actually work in that career and get real-world day-to-day practice. Most of the degrees, training, courses, certifications, and accreditations don’t actually teach you how to do the job in industry. They focus on methodology, theory and concepts, rather than practical tools, templates and techniques. This is definitely the case in Change Management, and it’s actually what caused me to create my Leading Successful Change program so you can walk out of LSC and know exactly what to do with confidence on Day 1 of a Change role.

Career Change Myth #3: I’ll have to take a pay cut

This is a big one for most people dreaming of making a career change. There’s a belief that you feel like you’ll need to start at the bottom, do your time, and take a pay cut. Because of your transferable experiences and skills, you are perfectly eligible and within your right to get a pay rise when you change careers. And if you don’t believe me, let’s take myself as an example.

• I moved from Hospitality to Advertising and got a pay rise.
• I moved from Advertising to Marketing and got a pay rise.
• I moved from Marketing to Change Management and got a pay rise.
• I started Coaching and got a pay rise.
• I started my own Change Management Consultancy and tripled my rates.

Every career change I’ve ever made, I’ve gotten more money, not less. And that’s because I actively chose career paths that I knew paid more. I made these decisions based on the life and lifestyle I wanted to lead, not just what I happened to study at uni or roles I fell into and then took the salary I was given. 

So these three most common career change myths are now busted. The key - choose a career path that pays more and harness your transferable skills to make the change. Change Management is an incredible highly-paid, female-dominated profession that helped me triple my salary in the space of 3 years to almost $200,000. 

Anything is possible when it comes to a career in Change, and I share all this and more (especially how to grow in any gaps in Change) in my free Change Tools Masterclass. 

We kick off on Tuesday 5 March and it will be a week-long immersive experience into all things Change Management tools and templates.

Register your free spot today:

CLICK HERE to register for my free Change Tools Masterclass

And if you've already registered, be sure to jump into the private and exclusive VIP Group and introduce yourself!

Lata xx