So you want to make a career change, but what’s the first step? Updating your resume? Networking on LinkedIn? Scrolling Indeed? Actually, the first step in your career leap comes long before these, and it’s the best way you can set yourself up for success in your new role.

In this episode, I’m breaking down the most common mistake I see people make at the beginning of their career leap. I’m explaining the importance of defining your wants, needs, and strengths, and I’m giving you a step-by-step exercise for doing it yourself. Plus, I’m sharing how you can overcome your fear of landing in a position that’s even worse than the one you’re leaving.

In this episode, you’ll learn...

• The biggest mistake I see people make at the beginning of their career leap [1:28]

• Where you should really start if you’re thinking about a career change [3:09]

• How neglecting to define you needs and wants can hurt you in the long run [3:42]

• How to define what you’re good at and what you like doing, and then apply that to your job search [5:05]

• Why you should think strategically about your strengths [7:47]

• Why you should reject the narrative of “just being grateful for the job you have” and staying stuck [10:11]

• How I can help you make your career leap and find a career path you love [12:00]

• How to overcome your fear and minimize your risk of landing in a role that’s even worse than the one you left [13:48]

If you’re considering your own courageous career leap, be sure to tune into this episode.

Standing at your own crossroads and ready to get clear on your direction? Apply for my Catalyst Coaching Program today!

Transcript of Episode 22: The Biggest Mistake You Can Make in Your Career Leap

An amazing amount of people have never fully thought through what they're good at and what they like doing, and they're applied it to their job search. 

Welcome to Leap Like Me, if you can't shake the feeling that you're not on the right path. If you feel called to change things up but don't know how to begin, you're in the right place. I'm your host, Lisa Hoashi, and my specialty is coaching people at those crossroads moments in life when you feel called to take a new direction. Sometimes that means taking a leap. I want to share practical advice and inspiration for your leaps and how to keep going after your dreams in a challenging world. This season, we're talking all about career leaps. Come along for the conversation. 

Hello and welcome to Leap Like Me. Today, I'm sharing that one mistake I wish people would stop making at the start of their job search or career change. Here's what you'll learn today why I think it happens. The dangers of making this mistake and what you can do instead. So if you're ready, let's dove in. The big mistake that I see people making at the start of a career change or really any job search is one that you can make at any stage of your career, whether you're just a few years into your career, whether you're mid-career, I even see director level VP's and other senior leaders making this mistake. I don't know why we all tend to have this blind spot, but we do. And it's one of the biggest ways that I can help you as a coach. Here's when that mistake happens. It's that moment when you decided you need a change, you need a new job, or you need to make a bigger switch to a new career. It's time to take action so you get started where you think you should start. You start talking with your inner circle, your mentors and your trusted colleagues. You start searching the web and scanning for open positions. You start updating your resume. You start tinkering with your LinkedIn. Maybe you even start applying or reaching out for networking opportunities. 

But wait, what do you say when people your contacts are would be employers ask you, what kind of role are you looking for? What do you want if you can confidently respond to this question? If you think to yourself, I don't know what I want. If you have doubts about your reply or you feel like you're just recycling your worn out spiel from the last few years, you've started in the wrong place. Contrary to common practice and loads of advice that you'll find on the internet, the place to start your new job search is not by updating your resume, not by refreshing your LinkedIn profile, not by responding to a headhunter and not by brushing up your networking gear. The place to start is by asking yourself, What do I really want? I'm amazed by how many people skip this step and at their peril. Here's what happens when you haven't explored what you really want out of your next career move. You end up discounting your experience and capabilities. You don't ask for or negotiate everything that you need and want. You get scared and go after what's safe rather than what's actually filling and exciting stretch for you. And your job search can feel like spinning your wheels or like it keeps hitting dead ends. And in the end, you get a job that's too close to what you just had and you weren't happy with. Or you take what comes your way and seems good, but you later find it doesn't really fit you or take you where you want to go. 

Essentially, you don't get what you want at the moment that you decide it's time for a change that is your signal that you need to take time out to figure out what you don't want next and what you do want. What is a good fit for you and what is not a good fit for you? Finding a job that's great for you and really a life that's great for you takes a mixture of you getting to know yourself really well and then acting on what you know about yourself. And you also need to believe that you can create that something better for yourself. This can sound simplistic when I'm explaining it now, but an amazing amount of people have never fully thought through what they're good at and what they like doing, and then applied it to their job search. Let me say that in a different way. If you can find a job that has you doing the things you like doing and that you are good at doing, you're going to be happier. 

So how can you start doing that? Here are four ways to get started. One. Describe your ideal job. Take some time to write out what would a day in your perfect job look like? What are you doing? Where are you? Who are you working with and what's your larger mission? What problems are you solving and what do you enjoy most during the day? To list what you don't like and what you do like about your current job? Then for your next job, find ways to build on what you like and avoid what you don't like. Three. Take an inventory of your strengths, your greatest career accomplishments and things that you're proud of, as well as your special experience and skillset. These all provide clues about what lights you up and what you're good at for. Make a list of things that people often compliment you on at work. You can even email trusted colleagues or friends who know your work well and ask them, What are the top three things that you think are uniquely do well or provide? That's a value. 

These four simple exercises will all give you information about the things that you are good at, what you enjoy doing and what you find meaningful, which essentially are the elements of the perfect job for you. Ultimately, you want to be able to walk into any conversation with a would be employer or someone who can open a door for you and describe yourself to them and what you want. You want to be able to describe what you are good at what you can contribute a value. What kinds of projects are problems you're excited to work on and what kind of role and culture and team is a good fit for you when you know all of this about yourself and you can communicate it. That's when people can help you, and that's when you can get yourself plugged into the right situation for you. Now, we are not really taught anywhere in life to think strategically about what we are good at and what really fits us. In fact, there is a lot in the world that actively is working against us doing this. On the one hand, we are told from an early age be modest. Don't brag, don't be a fool of yourself. These messages don't really encourage us to think deeply and expansively about what we're good at. It also doesn't make us feel like we can openly talk about these things or explore them with people around us, and that can really stunt your self-knowledge. 

The other thing that often happens is this If we're lucky growing up, we're told that we're good at. One or two things, for example, when I was nine years old, my teacher started praising my writing and other people agreed to, and I started thinking of myself as a good writer. And that went on all the way through my teenage years and until I had to start thinking about what I would do as a career and what happened is that what started out as kind praise started to become for me. The only thing I thought I was good at. And in my early career, I often felt frustrated by the feeling that I could only be a writer and editor. Even though I found it a lonely and draining job, I actually felt trapped by this idea until I was about 28 years old and had the good fortune of working for an organization and a boss who let me know that there was more I could do and gave me opportunities to do it. So how about you? What were you told from an early age that you were good at? And what about when people told you you weren't good at something? How have these messages affected your choices in your career and how are they still affecting you today? The truth is that we are all multifaceted in our strengths and our talents, and it's important to take some focused time to explore that. And it's especially helpful to have someone alongside you to facilitate that process. 

So when I coach someone, it's one of the first things we do together. Another thing that prevents us from fully exploring and understanding our strengths is that we are often told explicitly and implicitly by the working world. But if you're good enough at something that someone will pay you to do it, don't look any further and just be grateful for the job you have. This is capitalism. Those with power and wealth make it clear that workers should be grateful for any opportunity to earn money in exchange for their labor. I'm for evolving. I think we should all ask more from work. I want work and working conditions to be improved for everyone. And I believe that getting more people into jobs that use and strengthen their natural talents is going to make for a more productive, creative and better world. All of this is to say that, yes, I think there is a lot of good, even larger, good to be had in getting to know what you are good at and finding the right spot for you in the working world. So if you're currently working on a job or career change, you now have your assignments. Spend more time clarifying what you want and what is going to be a good fit for you. And don't forget these four easy ways to get started. Number one, describe an ideal work day and what you do in it. Number two. Write down your likes and your dislikes about your job. Number three, Take inventory of your career. Highlights what you did and why they were meaningful. Number four, Get ideas from other people who know you and your work well. Finally, if you just need a little extra help with this, there are two ways that I can help. 

One. Check out my self paced online course. Illuminate your career path and five steps in this course, I will guide you through these and many other exercises to help you get clear on what job you want and what's the right fit for you. The exercise in this episode, for example, making a list of your likes and dislikes at work that's included in this course, I give you a worksheet template two years and a video where I walk you through the exercise and why it's important. You also get monthly office hours and this course to privately ask me any questions along the way. To find out more, you can go to LisaHoashi.com/career-course. 

Number two, you can also do some coaching with me. When we coach together. I am on your team. I help you create a much fuller understanding of what you're great at, what lights you up and where you can add value and where you thrive. Then we scan the outside world for opportunities, and I support you to start taking action toward the right ones for you. Along the way, I'm a trusted outside perspective. I help facilitate your own learning about yourself. I help you turn your insights into action, and I'm your cheerleader, encouraging you on and celebrating wins, and I will help you troubleshoot. All along the way, if you want to know how I might support you in your unique situation, go to my website and book a complimentary consultation with me before we wrap up today. There's one last thing I want to leave with you. One of the scary things about making a job switch is the possibility of landing somewhere that's worse than you were before. That's a reality, right? And there are a lot of things outside of our control when it comes to our work situation. Just like life itself. But there are a lot of things that are within our control to increase our chances of finding a role. That's a good fit and overall, to create a life that really fits us to the best thing you can do to increase your chances of finding a better fitting job is to go into this whole process with a clear idea of your ideal job. Think about the difference between what you'll end up with if you start with. I just don't want something as bad as this versus I know what my ideal job is and I'm going for it. 

Stay tuned because we're going to talk more in upcoming episodes about the power of having a vision for your career and knowing what your ideal job is. Thank you for listening to this episode of Leap Like Me. If you're enjoying the show and getting lots of value from it, be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss any new episodes and leave us a five star review. Also, do you know anyone who's considering a career change who might appreciate the ideas and inspiration from this show? Please let them know about it. We want as many people as possible to benefit from these shows and know that if you do share it, you can always tag me at least a horseshoe on Instagram or LinkedIn. By the way, if you haven't already connected with me in those two places, I'm also sharing tons of good stuff there. Speaking of sharing, I want you to know about my new free change planner. This planner is for you. If you'd like to make a significant change in life or work, but you're feeling kind of stuck, I changed Planner will help you get the clarity you need to take your next steps inside and show you how to understand what you really want and why it's important. How to face your fears constructively so they don't hold you back. And this planner also has a scenario cruncher. I help you get all possible scenarios out of your head so you can find the right one for you. It's my favorite part, and having used it with many clients, I've seen how powerful it is. I know you're going to get many great insights out of this free planner, so head on over to LisaHoashi.com to get your copy. That's a wrap for this episode. Thanks for listening. For sharing the show and being part of this journey with me. Take good care. Thank you for listening to this episode of Leap Like Me. There now is the time. 

If you're listening for the first time and you got some inspiration and ideas for your own life and work to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss new episodes and leave us a five star review. You can listen to Leap Like Me wherever you stream your podcasts, and the video recordings are also on YouTube. Head on over to LisaHoashi.com to get the show notes, which also includes transcriptions. If you're at your own crossroads moment in life and are ready to get clear on your next direction and want to work with me as a trusted outside perspective who can guide the way, then head on over to Lisahoashi.com/catalyst-coaching. That's a wrap for this episode. Thank you for listening, and stay tuned for more.