Chapter 2: The Strategic Pivot - How to Recognize When it's Time to Make a Major Career Change and Steps to Prepare for It
For some of us, it's easy or obvious to recognize when a change is needed in our professional lives. Maybe you're on good terms with a manager who informs you of impending company-wide layoffs, in which you're unfortunately impacted. Perhaps you're constantly working late nights for demanding and unthankful stakeholders in what should otherwise be a predictable 8-5 role—sacrificing time with family or friends that you'll never get back for recognition that will never come. Or, maybe you're the type who's safe in their current position but not challenged or fulfilled—so you seek a greater risk before the opportunity passes by.
Whatever the scenario, the result remains: It's time to make a change.
I'm no stranger to that feeling, myself. I've encountered it several times over the course of my career. For better or worse, I'll share them with you. Maybe you can relate and take comfort in knowing that other professionals experience these things.
The first time I recall this feeling, I had been working in enterprise governance, risk management, and compliance technology consulting for years, and practically living in New York City for months at this point. The client was demanding, unappreciative, and generally uninspiring to work with. The only aspect of the engagement that kept me going was my team—from leadership to my peers. I had a great support system at this company, and I'll remember the culture on this team for the rest of my life. Nevertheless, the months of fruitless workshops, assessments, and deliverables left me feeling burnt out. Ergo, I needed to make a change. So, I did.
Fast-forward almost five years. I had worn a few different hats at a tech company and been enjoying the exposure, learning different facets of a fast-growing business. The goal, like most growing tech companies, was to sell at some point. The question was when? Then, to many people's surprise, that day finally came. The company was to be acquired. Now, acquisitions can be many things to many people. Exciting, uncertain, dreaded, the list goes on. It was a first for me, so I was determined to be optimistic. I quickly found that the well-oiled machine we had built was not to remain itself under its new ownership, and that new framework was simply too bureaucratically jarring for my taste. The result? A change was in order. So, I made one.
For almost four years I decided to get back into enterprise technology consulting—this time with one of the Big Four. Now, I made this change in February 2020. Anyone recall what happened right around this time? For those that are fuzzy, let me remind you.
Quick footnote: Employment with the Big Four is generally accepting a life of frequent travel. In February 2020, I traveled for the first time for orientation—the first trip of what I believed to be of many. Wouldn't you know it, I traveled exactly one more time during my tenure. Fascinating.
February 2020 was the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Suffice it to say, my entry to middle-management at a large consulting firm was a unique encounter. At that point, I needed to determine if the feeling of uncertainty was temporary and worth working through. It turns out, the choice I made to stay through the trials of the pandemic was overwhelmingly beneficial.
The culture and many of the people I worked with at the Firm, in my experience, were exceptional. Not just professionally, but humanely. It was an environment that encouraged, even required, its professionals to invest in their professional development—hard and soft skills alike. It was here that I was able to develop and explore my coaching and leadership capabilities, and the individuals who I coached or advised in any capacity taught me more about what it means to lead than I ever could've hoped to learn in an alternative setting. I'll cherish those relationships for the rest of my life.
In consulting, you take comfort in your team. You're in it together. You bond over the ups and downs, the wins, the challenges, the celebratory dinners and late-night deadlines. You endure the challenging clients together. After one challenging client too many, I convinced myself it was time to make a change. So, I did.
As I mentioned in Chapter 1, the last time a professional change occurred wasn't on my terms, so preparing for it wasn't exactly straightforward. If you find yourself in a similar position, here's what I can recommend:
Don't rest; start having conversations as early as possible. It's a low point in life and you'll need all the positivity you can get as early possible to invoke some momentum.
From the time you submit an application, it can take some companies several weeks just to schedule an interview, so make sure you're accounting for the lead time by applying often and following up with hiring managers directly. In a competitive market, you can't just be another name on a list.
Try not to get discouraged. It's too easy to beat yourself up. Don't join the chorus of critics in your head.
Dig deep to think about what you enjoy doing, what you're good at, and if there's overlap in that Venn diagram.
That's what led me to make my strategic pivot. Is it time you made yours?
-Chris