Before making that decision, I went through a period of doubt and uncertainty. Did I really want to leave my team and employer? And what did I hope to get in return?
I decided to resign and step into the unknown because I could not let go of the idea of doing something that genuinely suited me.
>> Fast forward to today.
As a coach and career coach, I work with people who face the same choice I faced then. At the time, I needed a seven-month sabbatical in Australia to figure out what I wanted. Fortunately, the process I now use with clients is a lot more structured and compact.
What has not changed is the most important question: how do you find out what genuinely suits you?
By now I know that the process looks different for everyone. I also know there are a number of phases and checkpoints that almost everyone moves through.
Why your search should not start on LinkedIn
Before you read about the model I use to help people find work that suits them, I want to explain something.
Many people start their search for a new work environment on LinkedIn, a job board or another vacancy site. That is a perfectly good way to find a new job when you already know exactly what you are looking for.
If you do not yet know what you want, job boards are not the right starting point. Why not?
Browsing vacancies takes little energy. You scroll through jobs and decide whether each one fits. I call this an ‘outside-in’ approach: responding to external options. The advantage is that it feels easy and gives you the sense that you are taking steps towards a new career.
The downside is that when you do not yet know what fits, you cannot identify the right options. In fact, all those vacancies can distract you from what you need to focus on first: yourself.
It also means you are trying to answer three questions at once: What do I want? What am I capable of? And what opportunities are available? That can quickly become confusing.
The opposite is an ‘inside-out’ approach, where you begin with yourself. First determine what matters to you and what fits. Available jobs and salary ranges can come later.
An inside-out approach helps you determine much more clearly which work environment and role genuinely suit you. You know — and feel — when it fits.
A proven step-by-step approach to finding work that suits you
I developed the model below while working with dozens of people. Like me, they decided to follow what mattered to them and look for a career that genuinely fitted who they are. Read the model from bottom to top.
The model consists of four phases. Each phase comes with a set of questions to answer before moving on to the next.
Phase one: Search inside yourself
In this first phase, you stay close to yourself. When I work with clients, I use a number of exercises and homework assignments. You can also work through these questions independently.
The essence of this phase is finding ways to remember who you are and what matters to you in life.
That only works if you temporarily set aside practical matters such as salary, travel distance or current vacancies on LinkedIn. The last thing you want at this stage is to rule out options for practical reasons too early.
In this phase, you work towards answers to questions such as:
- “Who am I?”
- “Where do I come from?”
- “What makes me happy?”
- “Which values matter most to me?”
Once you can answer these questions clearly, it is time for the second phase.
Phase two: Your talents and what you want from work
This phase is more transactional: you look at what you have to offer and what you want to get from your work in return.
To get a clear picture of your talents, knowledge and skills, it helps to use more than your own perspective. Ask people around you for feedback, or complete a personality questionnaire and discuss the results. Both can broaden your view and give you a more complete picture of yourself.
You also define what matters to you in work at different levels. That ranges from practical matters such as salary and commuting distance to organisational culture and your sense of meaning — and everything in between.
Phase three: Define possible new career directions and test them in practice
The first two phases prepare you for the final two. In this third phase, you formulate several possible career directions and test your ideas against reality.
By the end of phase two, most people I work with already have some sense of what they might want to do next. Usually there are one or two less obvious options as well, perhaps based on a hobby or passion that is not currently part of their work.
Some people find it harder to define options. With them, I spend a little more time on this step.
The first goal is to formulate several possibilities. Each combines a particular work environment with a particular type of role.
For example:
- Option A: Online marketer at a commercial company in the Netherlands that offers plenty of room for professional growth
- Option B: Self-employed interim marketer working for large organisations
- Option C: A marketing communications role at a development-focused startup abroad
Once you have defined several options, it is time to find out whether they genuinely suit you. You do that not only from behind a laptop, but in the real world.
Are you considering a different type of organisation — larger, smaller, non-profit, commercial or government? Or a role that is substantively different from what you have done before?
In all cases, test your ideas before moving on.
Talk to people and, ideally, get a feel for the potential work environment, role and colleagues. People often assume it is difficult or impossible to try out a new career direction in advance. In practice, it may require little more than finding the right person and politely asking for half an hour of their time. In my experience, more than half of the people you approach will be willing to help.
Phase four: Strategy and execution
The first three phases have helped you determine a new direction. In the final phase, you work on the strategy needed to make that direction real.
This is especially important if you want to move into a role, type of organisation or geographical area in which you have not worked before. In that case, simply sending a CV and cover letter may not be enough to get an invitation.
Put yourself in the position of the employer. To what extent do you resemble the candidate they are hoping to find?
If your CV does not immediately show a recruiter why you are a strong candidate, you will need to do more.
That often means finding another route into the organisation. There are many ways to make yourself visible as a credible candidate. Which strategy works best depends on the company and on the gaps in knowledge or experience you need to bridge. Often, it comes down to contacting one or more people inside the organisation and meeting them. If you do this well — without immediately applying for a role — people are often willing to help when they see that you could be valuable to the organisation. That can help you find the right sponsor or sponsors.
If you speak with the right people, you may be invited to interview without first being filtered out purely on the basis of your CV.
These strategies can be very helpful, although their effectiveness will always depend partly on the organisation you are approaching.
Finally
I have used this model in practice with dozens of people. It offers a useful structure for finding a new direction.
I hope it gives you something practical to work with. Curious about how to apply the different phases to your own situation? Send me a message. I am happy to think along with you.
Continue reading: explore career coaching, or read Looking for work that truly fits you? and I want a different job, but which one?.
