Navigating a Career Crisis
The Fire We Need To Spark a Change Towards Greater Career Satisfaction | #10
To build a brand new home, often you need to tear down the old home. Other times you just need to do a minor or major renovation. The same goes for your career. I’ve been talking to many people lately who are going through some type of career crisis. A career crisis is similar to a mid-life crisis except that it can happen at anytime in your work life. I’ve experienced this phenomena a number of times in my life and will be sharing more about my journey.
A career crisis often starts with a minor feeling of discomfort that something feels “off” at work. Over time, that nagging feeling bubbles over into a feeling of dread similar to the Monday blues. These feelings are important to recognize and pay attention to especially if they reoccur. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you made a wrong career decision. It might just be a signal that it’s time for a change. Through coaching 1000s of people over the past few years, I’ve come to the realization that most of us have experienced a career crisis more than just once in our lives.
Career Crisis #1: College & Grad School
As a child and teenager, I changed my mind frequently about what I wanted to be when I grew up. Some of the careers that I considered included teacher, fashion designer, biologist, and engineer. I ended up starting college as a pre-med biology major with plans to be a doctor until I was taken on a tour of a lab on campus where bodies had been donated to science. I’ll spare you the grim details but after that experience and because I easily fainted at the sight of blood, I changed my major to “undecided”.
I was feeling very “stuck” during this time and worried that I would choose the wrong major and land in a career that would result in me being unhappy for the rest of my life. I ended up majoring in psychology with a minor in sociology while also collecting numerous credits in visual arts. I didn’t realize at that time how these three subject areas would align and play a part in my overall career path.
When I graduated from undergrad, I didn’t see many options for work for a psychology major with only a Bachelors degree so I decided to apply to graduate school. I applied to several Ph.D. programs and a couple of M.A. level programs in Counseling Psychology with the intention to become a Psychologist.
Unfortunately, I did not get into any of the PhD programs but I did receive admission into both M.A. level programs at NYU and Columbia. NYU gave me a 75% tuition assistantship that helped me make my decision since living in NYC was quite costly, and I was on my own to fund my education. I was very lucky because my assistantship required me to only work 20 hours per week as a literacy tutor in an under-resourced elementary school while I attended school full-time to finish the program in two years.
Halfway through my graduate program, I experienced a career crisis because I was not sure if I wanted to become a therapist. My program provided many opportunities to practice counseling skills. During these practice sessions, I felt like something was missing for me. I considered dropping out of the program and realized that I should have spoken to a few therapists and done more research before investing all of this time, effort, and money.
Career Crisis #2: Early Career
I did end up completing my counseling program; and after graduating, I found my first few jobs in the nonprofit space doing mental health work making somewhere in the low $30K range. I somehow managed to survive on that salary living in NYC with roommates and counting every penny.
In that space of time, I led a peer education program at an HIV/AIDS focused non-profit and then provided mental health counseling to teens in three public high schools. My teenage clients shared their most private thoughts on topics around family violence, sexual abuse, drug use, and even suicide. By the end of the day, I was drained by the intense counseling sessions; yet, also frustrated by the slow pace of counseling and behavior change.
Since I was working in high schools, I became curious about teaching and decided to apply for an accelerated teaching program which put teachers from other professions into the classroom with only a few months of training. Teaching high school history for a year in a NYC public school was one of the hardest jobs I’ve held in my career. I found myself exhausted from teaching 5 classes of students daily, grading 150+ assignments, and planning lessons every night. It felt like being on stage and performing non-stop which can be extremely draining for an introvert.
After one of year of teaching, I felt very confused by my career decisions and disappointed in myself. I realized that I needed to do some intentional career development work to get clear on what would be a fulfilling career path for me. I went back to my college career center and met with one of their alumni career coaches. I read several career related books and went through self reflection exercises; but most importantly, I talked to a variety of professionals to fully understand different types of jobs and work environments.
During my career exploration and networking conversations, I reconnected with an old classmate who was managing a career center at a university in the city. She was kind enough to take me under her wing and let me volunteer with her over the summer as a part-time career counselor. That volunteer opportunity eventually helped me land a full-time job and pivot into higher education helping people like myself navigate their careers. I am grateful that my career crisis led me to find work that finally felt satisfying.
Crisis #3: Returning to Work
After having my son, I decided to take a career break due to a number of factors which made a lot of sense at the time. During that nine year career break, I kept my foot in the door through part-time consulting and coaching work, which make the transition back to full-time work pretty seamless. I wrote about my experience in this blog post featured by the Mom Project. During this time, I also dabbled in many different side hustles such as creating an online community for local parents, co-founding a craft business, and running my own career coaching practice.
I also obtained my coaching certification since I had learned most of my coaching skills from past jobs but never had completed a formal coaching program. I knew that it would be helpful to me for the future. While I was finishing up the certification process, I was also going through a divorce and looking to re-enter the full-time workforce. Since I was going through this major life transition, I decided to ease back into a familiar type of role in higher education. During that time, I was able to gain my confidence back, build up my skills, and expand my network.
Career Crisis #4: Shifting Industries & Functions
However, after 3 years of working in higher education, I started feeling very bored, unchallenged, and “stuck” again. There were too many people at this entry-point level and very few seats above. It was a start of another career crisis. This time, I worked with a leadership coach because I was trying to “move up the ladder” in my career.
I knew that the shift out of higher education was not going to be easy because I was looking to do two shifts rather than one. I wanted to gain experience in a different function and a different industry. As much as I loved my time in higher education, I had reached a place in my career where I wanted to work at a faster pace and be challenged. I intentionally raised my hand for leadership tasks like managing interns and heading up committees while also taking courses in leadership coaching and management 101.
By taking charge of my own career growth, I was able to create a strong resume of relevant experience while gaining confidence in my leadership skills. Through these efforts, I landed three job offers at the manager or director level. Two of the job offers were outside higher education in the tech sector while one was within NYU’s HR Department. I ended up deciding to leave higher education and start my career in the tech industry. Looking back now, I know I made the right decision.
Upon my first few weeks in my new management role, I was given the opportunity to lead a high profile project involving a major company restructuring during turbulent times at WeWork. There are several documentaries and even a television series, WeCrashed, that are based around that same time period. This new role also helped me gain valuable experience in how to hire, train, coach, and lead remote teams of people. This is an excellent example of why a career crisis can be a motivating factor to something greater.
Recognize the Signs of a Career Crisis
Over the years, I have learned to diagnose when I am experiencing a career crisis. My emotions are usually the first indicator. Feeling angry, bored, unhappy, or anxious can be the first sign that something is not right, especially if that feeling is coming up often. Tears that seem to appear out of nowhere, sometimes in the middle of a conversation, are usually a signal that I’m in a career crisis.
Here are a few more signs to look out for:
Something may feel “off” at work for several weeks. You can’t seem to put your finger on what is exactly wrong but you have an uneasy feeling that you cannot seem to shake.
You feel unmotivated and tend to procrastinate. It’s difficult to get started on a work project. If you feel distracted and unable to focus, it might be time to take a look at what might be causing these behaviors.
You experience anger in the forms of resentment, annoyance, or irritability. You may find yourself in a negative mood and unhappy with either situations or people at work. Pay attention to how your mood is impacting you personally and your relationships at work. This is not a great space to be in for too long.
You dread Monday mornings. If you realize that you are not enjoying your day to day work or having a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, it might be a sign that something needs to change since we spend so many hours of our day at work.
You are experiencing feelings of burnout. I wrote a lengthy piece about burnout in this post, Addressing Workplace Burnout, where I interviewed the founder of a company that focuses on this topic. The tide does seem to be changing as more companies are realizing that they need to invest in the support of their employees mental health and wellbeing.
Getting Through Your Career Crisis
As you read above, I’ve been through a career crisis more than once in my life and have somehow made it to the other side. It hasn’t always been easy but there are a few things that have helped me get to a better place.
Here are some tips on how to navigate a career crisis:
Start spending some time daily or weekly on self reflection. Pay attention to what feels draining vs energizing in your day to day. Writing a weekly log on what went well and what didn’t go well can be an enlightening activity to uncover what needs to change. I wrote this post, Self Reflection for Busy People, that goes deeper into this topic.
Seek support from colleagues, manager, friends, or mentors. A good conversation can help you get things out of your head while gaining a new perspective. Be careful here and try to not stay too long in the negative space by only venting your frustrations. Utilize your support network to problem-solve and think about small steps you can take to improve your situation.
Invest in yourself by hiring a coach. Coaches are trained to help you get unstuck in various areas of your life. If you need help identifying a good coach for you, feel free to reach out to me via LinkedIn for suggestions from my vast network of coaches. Remember, that a good coach will not tell you what to do but rather they will partner with you to help you figure out your next steps and stay accountable.
Change your daily routine to jumpstart your motivation. Even small changes can have a big impact on your work life. Add more enjoyable things to your life whether it’s waking up early to take a yoga class, taking a break in the middle of the day, or ending your day by reading a book or taking a class. I recently made it a habit to listen to a podcast or an audiobook while I cook dinner which is a nice way to end my work day.
Activate your network and explore new opportunities. Sometimes the writing is on the wall and it’s time to hit the job search and look for something new. Connecting with people in your network is a good starting place.
Just remember that having a career crisis is not a bad thing; in fact, it can lead to putting the wheels in motion to a better situation. Sometimes you just need something to wake you up and motivate you into action.
Very relatable and helpful advice!