How to Change Careers (Big, Medium, Small) - Issue #277 Invincible Career - Claim your power and regain your freedom
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- Careers
You don’t always recognize opportunity when it knocks. That’s especially true when you answer the door only to discover that more work is waiting for you.
Many years ago, I was a designer at eBay. During one particularly challenging project, my product manager got called away for jury duty. Unfortunately, there weren’t any other PMs available to take over.
Now, if you’re not familiar with what it is like to work at eBay, you may think that this meant the project would be delayed. We could simply wait until the PM returned from jury duty.
However, the standard operating procedure at eBay was that you never slipped dates on a project. You might cut scope and features to get a product update out on time. But you never ever pushed out a release date.
The PM’s manager came to me and asked if I could take over as the product manager and keep the project on schedule. So, in addition to the design work for the project, I took over writing the product requirements document (PRD) and working with engineering.
By the way, thank you for believing in me, DJ! Looking back, I consider myself lucky to get that PM experience while I was a designer.
Little did I know that it would later give me the confidence to throw my hat in the ring for a Product leadership role at Yahoo. I was the VP of Design for Yahoo! Search and Marketplace organization when our VP of Product left the company.
Rather than waiting to find out who my new partner would be when they hired his replacement, I created a proposal for how I could lead both the Product and Design teams for Search. My boss agreed, and that decision changed my career trajectory forever. It put me on a new path that opened doors for me later.
Reinvention isn’t easy
It is a ton of work to change professions, make a career pivot, and start down a new path. Some people consider it but give up because they can’t stomach the idea of starting their careers over.
Many fear ending up at the bottom of a new career ladder after they’ve already spent so many years climbing that first ladder. Who would want to do that?
Yes, it can happen that way if you try to abruptly exit one profession and start over again in a completely new profession. But, one of the most effective ways to ease into a career change is to do it from within the company while you still have your job.
The first question is, how significant will this change of career be? What’s the size of the pivot?
* Big: Changing both industry and profession.
* Medium: Changing profession, but not industry.
* Small: Slight change of profession or industry.
I would say that my first career pivot was a medium-sized change. I stayed in the same industry and even the same company. But, I changed professions from Design to Product.
My second career pivot was definitely a big one. I left the tech industry entirely and my past professions as a designer, design leader, and product leader.
My friends told me that I was crazy. It was such a significant change that I had to start my own business (to work around gatekeepers) and make a large lifestyle change as well.
Some of my friends have also made rather large career changes and pivoted into entirely different industries and professions. In each case, they felt like they found their calling, were more fulfilled, and become more successful.
* From working in the tech industry to becoming a restaurant owner.
* From managing a supermarket to becoming a real estate agent.
* From being a physical therapist to becoming a spine surgeon.
Other friends have made smaller pivots, which weren’t quite as drastic. Nonetheless, the change made them happier and more successful.
* From designer to engineer.
* From engineer to product manager.
* From product manager to startup founder.
It is much easier to move into an adjacent profession within the same company with the full support of your manager. I was lucky enough to have that, plus mentors and coaches who educated and ad
You don’t always recognize opportunity when it knocks. That’s especially true when you answer the door only to discover that more work is waiting for you.
Many years ago, I was a designer at eBay. During one particularly challenging project, my product manager got called away for jury duty. Unfortunately, there weren’t any other PMs available to take over.
Now, if you’re not familiar with what it is like to work at eBay, you may think that this meant the project would be delayed. We could simply wait until the PM returned from jury duty.
However, the standard operating procedure at eBay was that you never slipped dates on a project. You might cut scope and features to get a product update out on time. But you never ever pushed out a release date.
The PM’s manager came to me and asked if I could take over as the product manager and keep the project on schedule. So, in addition to the design work for the project, I took over writing the product requirements document (PRD) and working with engineering.
By the way, thank you for believing in me, DJ! Looking back, I consider myself lucky to get that PM experience while I was a designer.
Little did I know that it would later give me the confidence to throw my hat in the ring for a Product leadership role at Yahoo. I was the VP of Design for Yahoo! Search and Marketplace organization when our VP of Product left the company.
Rather than waiting to find out who my new partner would be when they hired his replacement, I created a proposal for how I could lead both the Product and Design teams for Search. My boss agreed, and that decision changed my career trajectory forever. It put me on a new path that opened doors for me later.
Reinvention isn’t easy
It is a ton of work to change professions, make a career pivot, and start down a new path. Some people consider it but give up because they can’t stomach the idea of starting their careers over.
Many fear ending up at the bottom of a new career ladder after they’ve already spent so many years climbing that first ladder. Who would want to do that?
Yes, it can happen that way if you try to abruptly exit one profession and start over again in a completely new profession. But, one of the most effective ways to ease into a career change is to do it from within the company while you still have your job.
The first question is, how significant will this change of career be? What’s the size of the pivot?
* Big: Changing both industry and profession.
* Medium: Changing profession, but not industry.
* Small: Slight change of profession or industry.
I would say that my first career pivot was a medium-sized change. I stayed in the same industry and even the same company. But, I changed professions from Design to Product.
My second career pivot was definitely a big one. I left the tech industry entirely and my past professions as a designer, design leader, and product leader.
My friends told me that I was crazy. It was such a significant change that I had to start my own business (to work around gatekeepers) and make a large lifestyle change as well.
Some of my friends have also made rather large career changes and pivoted into entirely different industries and professions. In each case, they felt like they found their calling, were more fulfilled, and become more successful.
* From working in the tech industry to becoming a restaurant owner.
* From managing a supermarket to becoming a real estate agent.
* From being a physical therapist to becoming a spine surgeon.
Other friends have made smaller pivots, which weren’t quite as drastic. Nonetheless, the change made them happier and more successful.
* From designer to engineer.
* From engineer to product manager.
* From product manager to startup founder.
It is much easier to move into an adjacent profession within the same company with the full support of your manager. I was lucky enough to have that, plus mentors and coaches who educated and ad