Career change starts with you.

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to jump to, within or outside the organization. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to make a CHANGE and needed to find the CHANCE. This is the lesson I’ve learned from my personal experience of jumping to another job after months of projecting a lift in my career. Writing this lesson down, I realized that all the points mentioned below are aligned with my personality as well as the way I approach the world in general. Apply them if you find them helpful! 🙂

1. While you still don’t know what you want or can do next:
   Keep learning different skill sets. Learning is never too much; it will serve you on one occasion or another. You will always have the chance to use it.
2. Open yourself up to talk and learn from others:
   Colleagues, friends, and people from different organizations each project a different world. Their experiences and opinions will enrich your learning.
3. Stay alert:
   Pay attention to your organization’s announcements of job opportunities, new joiners, newly opened departments, etc. You might find an opportunity among these announcements by proactively approaching people you consider “influencers” or “decision makers.” You never know—one day, they might be your colleagues or even your manager.
4. Be transparent:
   Talk to your direct manager about your objectives and your intention to make a change in your career. Seek their support. If you’ve spoken with other people in your organization, be transparent about it with your manager. Sooner or later, they will hear about it if others consider you a potential member of their team.
5. Comfort zone:
   It’s easy to stay where you are because it’s comfortable. But you don’t want to wake up every morning, rolling on the bed, wondering if you want to go to work or what you should do next. Get out of your comfort zone and open yourself to new opportunities. Try them! That’s the only way you can find out what you want to do.
6. LinkedIn:
   Update your LinkedIn profile and activate job notifications for roles that match your skills.
7. Carefully select the job postings you want to apply for:
   Research the hiring company and carefully read the job description, including required and desired skills. Consider whether their work aligns with your interests and whether the required skills match yours. Avoid mass-applying for every job you see, as it may come across as desperation. Applying to too many jobs without receiving responses can also lead to demotivation.
8. Know yourself:
   Write down your set of skills, strengths, and weaknesses. If you’re unsure, ask people who know you well for feedback or use online tests to gain insights.
9. Interview:
   If you receive an invitation for a job interview, congratulations! Now:
   • Research the hiring company and the HR person involved. Learn about the company’s mission, values, and work to see if they align with yours.
   • Approach the interview with an open and comfortable mindset. This will set the tone for the first impression you give.
   • Be transparent about your background and experiences. Speak confidently about what you know and honestly about what you don’t.
   • Show curiosity about the position by asking questions to learn more about the company, its responsibilities, and whether it matches your skills and career goals.
   • Display a positive attitude. Not all opportunities are dream jobs, but you should aim to work somewhere that inspires you to contribute, not just to pay your bills (though that’s an important consideration).
   If the job is merely to pay your bills, you may find yourself looking for another one sooner rather than later.
10. Final interview:
    If you make it to the final interview, be well-prepared.
11. Patience:
    Be patient with the hiring process. Sometimes it takes months to hear back, depending on the position you applied for. It’s worth being resilient and patient.

Remember:
If your CV has passed the initial selection and you’ve gotten a first interview, that’s already a success! You’re heading in the right direction. Keep moving forward! And while looking for another opportunity, don’t forget that you still have a job. Keep working and contributing as you’ve been doing. You might end up staying where you are because that could be where you find you truly belong. Who knows? You might make the lift exactly where you are. Good luck!