If you are trying to make a career change, then curiosity is a great approach to adopt. Curiosity without being critical of yourself allows you to work out how you lost your career direction and how you can find a new route forwards. If you don't plan your career change with a curious and enquiring approach, you run the risk of finding yourself going back down the same well worn tracks.
So what do you need to get curious about? Here are my top tips for using curiosity to help you make your career change a positive one.
Be curious about yourself
How well do you really know yourself? What are you good at? What interests and excites you? What values are really important to you? What is your personality and how does that influence the work you will feel comfortable doing? If you don't take the time to get to know yourself better, then how can you be sure that your new career ideas will be a better match than the last ones?
Be curious about your experience to date
What has gone before is a great place to start. What led you make the career choices you have made up to now? Why did you think they would work for you? What have you enjoyed on the job so far and what have you come to thoroughly dislike? What were the high and low points of the work you have done? What have you learned - not just work skills, but about yourself?
Be curious about the messages from your childhood
What were the messages you got about what kind of career you should pursue when you grow up? What was expected of you? Name these messages, pin them down and then decide if you still want to go along with them. You can choose whether what you think you should be doing is actually what you want to do. If not, then its time to make a change.
Be curious about other people's jobs
Once you have looked in at yourself, take a look outwards. Look around you at what other people do. Become a curious roving reporter. Ask them about their work. Find out what a typical day involves, what do they love about what they do - and what drives them nuts!. The more information you can gather about a wide range of possibilities, the more ideas you will generate for yourself.
Be curious about other ways of structuring a working life
If you are in a 9-5 job, it can be hard to think of other ways of working. But there are many ways of structuring a working life. What about part-time, shift work, freelance, consultancy, short-term contracts and portfolio careers? If you are considering a switch to a less well paid job, what alternative income streams could you set up? Break out of the 9-5 mindset and be open to new approaches.
Be curious about just what you would do if there were no obstacles
Allowing yourself to do this kind of open minded star gazing can really liberate your thinking. This is not necessarily about having a dream and then expecting to just go out and get it (though you never know, you just might!). Simply thinking outside the box can help you come up with some great new angles that would not cross your mind if you are not curious enough to take off the blinkers.
Yes, but...
Maybe you are thinking 'yes, but didn't curiosity kill the cat?' Maybe it did, but that just freed the cat up to move on to its next life. So what about freeing yourself up to move on to your next career? Life is too short just to have one! Getting curious is the first step on the road to a great new career future.
And the next step is to take action!
If challenging to you to get curious has got you thinking, then I invite you to come and take a look round the How to Change Careers website, http://www.how-to-change-careers.com. It takes you through a step by step process that will help you make the career change you know you need. You can also download my free Career Change Blueprint which explains the 5 essential steps to career change success as well as offering you 5 great bonuses.
So what are you waiting for? Get curious and start taking action now!
From Cherry Douglas, Your Career Change Guide
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