“I Need A New Career: Now What?”
Every year thousands of people decide to transition careers. And earlier this year I was one of those people.
I had spent approximately 10 years in the game and entertainment design industry — making games, toys and amusement park attractions. But after 10 years of both fun and huge uncertainty I decided I was ready for a new challenge. (More on that in a future article!) But just because I knew I was ready for something new, didn’t mean I knew what that something was.
I will confess, I felt lost. What should I do? Where should I start? And how do I know what I am even qualified to do? These were just a few of the questions I kept asking myself.
In this article I’ll guide you through my process of finding that “something new” and share a few of the things I learned on the way.
Self-Assessment
I started with a frank assessment of my career — looking at both my strengths and the skills I needed to improve. I believe that we if we are honest with ourselves, we should have a pretty good idea of what skills and assets we can offer a team.
But then again how could I be sure I was being totally honest with myself? I couldn’t. So I needed to get some outside perspectives.
In what was either a sign of extreme bravery or extreme idiocy, I sent 18 former coworkers a request for frank and honest feedback of what it was like to work with me.
What did you like about working with me?
What didn’t you like?
What are my strengths?
Where was I lacking — in skills, training, temperament?
Would you work with me again?
I asked them to be brutally honest — I even suggested that they were welcome to send feedback anonymously if they felt uncomfortable to do so otherwise.
I’m a big believer in feedback — both giving it and receiving it. If we aren’t willing to give useful feedback, we can’t expect someone to grow professionally and personally. And if we aren’t willing to accept feedback, we will be similarly stuck.
The feedback from coworkers gave me a lot to think about. Some of the feedback was expected, while other points were quite surprising. But overall I used this information as a guidepost in finding a new career direction.
I Reflected
Following my self-assessment, I spent time reflecting on my career up to that point. I forced myself to look at my career as a whole — the good and the bad.
“But what could possibly have been bad about the game and entertainment industry!?” you might ask. Despite what you may think game development is not all fun and games. I loved many aspects of my career in games: the people, the variety, the chance to be “out of the box’ creative and the opportunity to create something that made millions of people happy. Making games was a lifelong dream that I had been fortunate to make come true.
But other parts of the industry were extremely challenging. Game development is a competitive and somewhat unstable industry that is notorious for its breakneck pace and long grinding hours. In some cases my dream had become a nightmare.
I then reflected on what I wanted out of a career. I understood that what I wanted in a career when I was 25 was different than when I was 35. Let’s look at who I was at the beginning of my career:
- Single
- No Children
- Willing to move to find to find the next “cool” project
- Willing to work very long hours
- Willing to ignore the outside world in pursuit of a creative goal (often at the expense of relationships and my personal health).
- Looking to work on “big” projects with prestige
I am now in a different place in my life. I am:
- Married
- Have a child in Kindergarten
- Setting down roots in our family home.
- Expecting to work a fairly standard 45 to 55 hours a week
- Expecting to have time for family, friends and the ability to take care of my physical and mental well being.
- Looking to work on more stable projects
Comparing these desires led me to create one more list: “What do I want in a career?”. I came up with the following:
- “I want a career that leverages my design/computer science skills, while also pushing me to learn more”
- “I want to work with people who understand the need to work hard, but also understand my responsibilities to my family and myself.”
- “I want to work on projects that have interesting challenges — both technical and in terms of design”
- “I want to work in a career that is more stable and less prone to sudden layoffs than the game industry”
- “I want to work on projects where I can flex my creative muscles”
- “I want to work in a field that allows me to interact with clients and partners”
Through reflection I was able to see where I had started, where I was and where I wanted to be. But “where I wanted to be” was still vague. It was time to research.
I Researched
With a self-assessment and personal reflection under my belt, I started to dig into potential paths forward. I knew my strengths and I knew what I was looking for in a career, but I still didn’t know exactly what that new career was.
I started by talking with friends who had left the game and entertainment industry for new sectors. When I am trying to do something new, I often find comfort in talking it through with people who have had similar experiences. Not only did I get good advice, but the whole process felt a little less overwhelming (as I knew other people had successfully gone down this road). These conversations also led to career options to consider.
In addition to talking with friends and colleagues, I consumed as much as I could about job hunting, career transitions and work culture. I read career blogs. I watched YouTube interviews with people who had made career transitions. I even took a few quizzes with titles like “Answer these questions to find out your perfect career” (despite the quiz results, I do not think “Celebrity Chef” is in my future).
I started this process with a long list of potential career options and used this research phase to gradually pair that list down.
Ultimately I decided that Digital Product Management seemed to be a good option for me because…
- Digital Product Management allowed me to leverage my existing skills.
- Digital Product Management is an in-demand job in the expanding software industry.
- Digital Product Management is needed even by non “tech” companies — meaning jobs would be more plentiful and available.
I Leveraged My Network
I did it! I had a new career target: Digital Product Management. I was so so so happy!
But then came the big question: how would I get a job as a Digital Product Manager?
I had spent 10 years designing video games and amusement park attractions, would companies really be interested in hiring me to work on their non-entertainment focused products? At this point I knew that I had to utilize my professional network.
First, I sought the help of a select part of my professional network to help me reengineer my resume from that of a game designer to that of a product manager. (My recruiter friends were particularly helpful here — yet another reason to always be kind to recruiters!) With help from friends (and my research and reflection) I was able to show how my skills in game design translated into digital product development. This step gave me the confidence to do what was next.
Next I reached out to my wider professional network letting them know I wanted to switch. I did this through email, social media posts and in-person conversations. I was blown away by the support and encouragement I received, which was a real morale booster in a stressful time.
Eventually, I reached out via Facebook to a person I met at a networking event. We had followed each other on social media for months, where I noticed we had a lot in common:
- both of us are in the tech industry
- both of us have younger children
- both of us utilized the same community center
- both of us lived in the same neighborhood.
He was gracious in his message and agreed to have lunch.
During lunch we chatted about the neighborhood, parenthood and the larger tech industry in the area. When he asked how he could help, I laid out my process and thoughts on the table. He was immediately supportive and offered to make introductions.
From there it was a quick process: he introduced me to the folks at my present job and we seemed to hit it off. I found a sane and centered, yet bold company that was the perfect place to share my skills while simultaneously learning and growing.
I had done it! I had made the transition! Now it was time to get down to work.
Transitions are the New Normal
My aunt had one job from the time she left high school until she retired a few years ago. That’s 30+ years at one company! Most of us will not stay in a job that long, let alone stay in the same career path. To navigate this winding career path you’ll need to be ready for, and even embrace, transitions.
In this article I laid out a few of the strategies I used to make my career transition. And if you’ve read this far, I’ll share one more thing: be prepared to help others with their career transitions. I could not have made this move had it not been for countless people who were willing to give me feedback, review resumes and make recommendations. And lets not discount the people who were willing to just talk with me and share their valuable experience. Career transitions can be a stressful, unnerving time but having support makes the process far easier.
