There may come a time that you might anticipate making a career change for a variety of reasons. And there also may come a time that you will be forced to make an involuntary career change. While the first scenario is ideal – you’ve decided to do it yourself – more often than not, it is the second scenario that is more common in job change – you are forced to make the change.
There many reasons why this happens. And for most employees, they are caught by surprise. But, you don’t have to be that person that is caught by surprise. Especially if you see the writing on the wall.
In Need of a Career Change
Tom is a salesperson for a major corporation that dabbles in many different verticals. While this company is extremely successful in its core business, some of the other businesses, are experiencing challenging times. Unfortunately for Tom, he is in one of the company’s business units that is struggling to maintain growth. Their proposition is one that continues to shrink because companies are looking for sustainability options, and so their use of the services that Tom sells continues to decrease. Tom’s products, while necessary, are not seen as environmentally sound. His clients are looking for other options that won’t increase their carbon footprint.
To combat the diminishing market, Tom’s business unit has announced both a downsizing and a restructure. For Tom, there is virtually no impact at this point. His management team, however, is reduced to half its size, and many of those former managers are vying for the same type of position that Tom holds.
What To Do?
With this in mind, Tom called some colleagues and friends and asked, “What should I do?”. Unanimously, they all responded, “Get out of there! The writing is on the wall!”.
The fact of the matter is that chances are Tom is not long with his organization. It is in a shrinking market and runs counter to sustainability efforts by many potential clients. By recognizing the early signs that he may ultimately lose his job, gives Tom a number of advantages.
Start a New Job Search
First, it gives Tom the time to start a new job search and hopefully find one before his job is eliminated. Making a career change may not be what he wants to do, but in this scenario, it is something that he probably has to do. Of course, Tom could hedge his bets and wait it out. And quite frankly, he may be okay. But rarely does this work out.
Research the Market
Knowing early gives him the luxury of research. This may be a “sky is falling” type of situation in that it is not as severe as being portrayed. The gift of knowing now will give him the opportunity to thoroughly research his organization, the market, and the competitive environment. Based on that research, he’ll have enough information to make an informed decision about his future.
Training
Finally, should Tom decide it’s best to change careers, he has time to train in other disciplines and areas. He can locate opportunities with his parent company and develop a criteria of skill-sets he will need to make that leap, and then go about finding training in that area.
Being able the recognize that your organization is going through some dramatic changes early in the process is important. You don’t want it to come as a surprise. Most major changes involve jobs. You want to be sure that if your company’s change doesn’t offer you security that you are prepared for the next step in your career.
