7 Mantras to Pivot Your Career
The coronavirus pandemic caused massive downturns in numerous industries across the world resulting in unemployment, pay cuts, furloughs, and layoffs. This has changed the idea of a career pivot from something a professional considers for a change, to the necessity for survival. Even employers have noticed and utilized the advantage of people who pivot their careers.
Today’s professionals change their careers multiple times. Career pivots allow people to make agile transitions and create different, better paths for themselves. It is important to change and adapt.
What is Pivot?
Jenny Blake defines career pivot as doubling down on what is working to make a purposeful shift in a new, related direction. Pivoting is an intentional, methodical process for nimbly navigating career changes.
A career pivot puts you on a new path with a new way of thinking. It often means venturing into something unknown, unfamiliar, and uncomfortable. In both cases, a pivot is not starting over; it is using what you have in new ways. A pivot opens you up to new opportunities and serves as a framing strategy to direct an individual’s career and to refresh how they market themselves.
Career pivots offer:
P = Possibilities
As the career changes, a pivot puts you on a new path with a new way of thinking and often opens you up to new possibilities.
I = Interactions
Pivot broadens interactions and innovative partnerships to help you stay updated with current trends and engage with individuals.
V = Value
Pivots constantly create new values for your career and for others when you utilize your growing skill sets and accumulated experiences.
O = Opportunity
The new circumstances, interactions, and challenges encountered during a pivot provide opportunities to showcase your flexibility and openness to innovation.
T = Transferable Assets
Transferable assets are the qualities, experiences, and skills that you have accumulated in one situation and apply to a new situation.
S = Satisfaction
A final advantage of the career pivot strategy is the satisfaction you experience by enjoying a new adventure, new challenges while pursuing your passions.
Mantras To Pivot Your Career
1. Develop adjacent skills
Many companies are looking for freelancers and employees that have adjacent skills to address shortages of emerging skills. Developing adjacent skills is a way to complement what you already know and create new possibilities for your future. It may be helpful in a very work setting to differentiate yourself and collaborate along with your teammates.
Some very useful adjacent skills are technical writing, business skills, data analysis, management, and security skills
2. Learn the in-demand skills to create new opportunities
Learning new and in-demand skills is a great way to position yourself as a strong candidate for job openings. The in-demand skills are very helpful in building new opportunities. When considering what skills you ought to learn for the longer term, it’s important to consider what’s going to be relevant to your career and what’s most desired by companies.
3. Rework on your resume and add transferable assets
Make your brand presence online on LinkedIn, professional Facebook Page, Twitter profile, personal website, or blog, etc. Change your resume summary, the description of your jobs, your keywords, as well as your interests and proficiencies to make yourself appear attractive for the opportunities that interest you. Additionally, add qualities, experiences, and skills that you have accumulated in past. Polished-and-ready resumes are being sent a request to schedule an interview without applying to jobs.
Some tools to improve your resume — Enhancv.com, Novoresume, VisualCV, etc
4. Cloud Certifications
Cloud Certifications are in high demand. Cloud computing certifications can grant you extra flexibility when it involves trying to find your next role. These certifications are valuable for cloud architects, solution architects, and developers alike. Additionally, since certifications aren’t industry-specific, you’re able to access positions in a very broad range of environments and organizations.
5. Secondary Certifications to add value to your future career path
a. Design Thinking certificate
Design Thinking can be used to solve all kinds of tricky business problems. It prioritizes tangible outcomes, allowing you to focus on finding solutions rather than fixating on obstacles and challenges.
An Agile certification gives working professionals knowledge and authority over agile practices and how to implement them within their organization. This expertise can be used in project management strategies throughout the company. This demonstration of skills can lead to a higher pay package or salary for employees.
c. Change Management
- Prosci Change Management certification
d. Blockchain
e. Project and Portfolio Management
f. Enterprise Architect TOGAF, Zachman
g. IASA Global
6. Professional Courses
a. Sustainability
b. Negotiation and Conflict Management
c. Empathy / Empathetic Leadership
d. Precision Questioning
e. Growth Mindset
f. Digital Transformation
7. Track Your Progress
Monitor how you’re doing and what should be your next. If you’re going to invest time and energy to make this happen, invest the time and energy to track your progress. Your progress will provide you with satisfaction and happiness.
4 ways to track your progress
- Don’t distract yourself
This is the foundation of keeping track of your progress and achieving your goals. Look at the bigger picture and work in the same direction to achieve your goals.
- Plan and organize your time
Organizing your time is key to accomplishing your goals. Once you have identified your goals, you should plan and organize the steps that you need to take in order to accomplish them.
- Look for Accountability
Holding yourself accountable will make you responsible and help you complete the task on time. Working with a coach is the best way to help you track your progress.
- Celebrate Small Victories
With each accomplishment, it’s important for you to take a break and celebrate your small win. This will help you avoid burnout and motivate you to stay focused.
Please let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions or additional questions regarding this part.
