When You're Not Sure's What's Next in Your Career

11 Ways NOT to Figure Out
What’s Next in Your Career
AKA…
“How to Avoid Becoming
Part of the 95%: Part II”
866.755.9800 stephen@ittechexec.com 1
Be sure to catch Part I
of this series.

Some of the things mentioned
here might shock you…
But they come from 14 years of working with professionals, guiding them through the job search process.
Unfortunately, misconceptions abound, and as a result, many careers are stalled or even abandoned
because 95% of professionals keep following them.
We think you’re more valuable to the marketplace than that.
So please stick with us as you go through the 12 ways listed here.
Don’t miss our companion article, “Two Roads Diverged in Your
Career Path Wood…And You?”

Successfully Delivering Messaging & Job Search Solutions for CIOs, CTOs, Technology Executives, IT Experts
& Business Leaders at Top National & Global Companies, Start-Up & Venture Capital Firms, Government
Agencies and Contractors

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#1. Focus all your efforts on soul searching.
In today’s world, the idea of “soul searching” is generally embraced as a wise and significant event that we must apply in our lives
if we want to achieve any sort of happiness or contentment. We are encouraged, whenever we are facing a difficult decision, to
spend a lot of time in deep contemplation (through prayer, counseling, meditation, yoga, intense thought, self-help reading,
motivational courses, etc.) that leads to some sort of enlightenment.
From people of great faith (Christian or otherwise) to scholarly intellectuals to New Age followers, indecision seems to come down
to the same thing: Spend more time soul searching.
Here’s the thing, though: At least when it comes to careers, after having worked with more than 2500 people since 2001, I have
yet to meet one for whom all this soul searching alone helps to 1) make a clear decision and 2) achieve the contentment the
person was after in the first place.
Sure, people might feel better in doing so (mostly because they didn’t rush out and do something “foolish”). Maybe they even feel
connected with God in a more significant way (who can dispute the value of that?).
BUT, in case after case, from a career decision perspective, one of two things happens: Either they do nothing, change nothing,
or…

They end up a little more lost than
they started.
Now, if you’re like many people, this discussion might be making you uncomfortable.
After all, what is wrong with prayer? So what if you talk to a counselor? What harm is there in
reading the latest “Career” self-help guide?
My answer: Nothing. Do them all if you wish.
But don’t expect them to give you concrete answers.
Soul searching might help fix some internal issues, but it can also be a crutch for not doing the real
work of researching what is next for you.
By itself, it does not work….no matter what faith, religion, movement you belong to.
This is not my opinion. It is not what I want. (I would like God to be a genie in a bottle, if I’m honest.)
But 2500+ candidates prove it to be true over and over again.
Determining what’s next for you, at least in regard to your career, allows room for soul searching if
you need it, but the soul searching alone is not what gives you the answer you’re looking for.

#2. Command yourself
to become a positive
thinker.
Now, I’m pretty sure this one will
ruffle a few feathers.
What could possibly be wrong
with positive thinking?

Nothing if you are looking to bring more
negativity into your life.
Yes, that’s right. I just said that positive thinking can actual be a negative thing!
"Positive thinking" is not mind-numbing optimism. Nor is it mind control or "mind over matter" even. Thinking like that can bring a lot
of negativity into your life. (I mean, what happens when it doesn't work?)
We all do it anyway...even the pessimists among us. We have been socially engineered to think that if we just "hope for the best" or "only
see the bright side" that these good thoughts we've put out there will reward us for our good attitude.
I went through life "avoiding negativity" until one day I realized that I was incapable of dealing with certain situations and with really
connecting with people. In other words, my positivity was actually causing me a lot of negativity!
So what is positive thinking then if not perpetual optimism or wishful thinking
(or, in my case, pretending not to see what you really see)?

A positive attitude or outlook is really only achieved,
at least in any meaningful way, by preparation.
Yes, preparation. We can't go through life (or our careers) denying that bad things happen or acting as though life should really be only
how we want it to be. Doing so assumes a level of control that we simply don't have.
In my mind, preparation means facing life as it is, not as it ought to be, recognizing that throughout your career in particular, you are
going to face obstacles, especially if you plan to take any risks.
Whether it has been my corporate career, and especially in my entrepreneurial one, a lot of people and things generally seem to try to
thwart my plans and goals. All the optimism in the world doesn't get rid of them or work around them. Instead I must prepare to face
them because as soon as I work around one, another always seems to pop up. (I am positive about that!)
Now, it is impossible to "prepare" for everything. There is a reason people turn to faith, after all, BUT…

By preparing to face objections and other obstacles
along the way, especially in my career, I've grown
more confident and more, well, positive.
What I've discovered is that I can discern between what is and is not a real impediment. I'm not just hoping something comes along
and rescues me.
I do my best to create pipelines of opportunity, understanding that some will work out and some probably won't.
Either way, though, this approach attracts many more well-matched, positive opportunities than just believing they will come because I
want them to and, hey, I'm a good guy and work hard so I deserve it.
So while it is true everyone prefers to be around someone more positive than negative, that's only surface-level living. We can all
"fake" the right attitude for a while to get by. But a real "positive thinker" has a foundation behind it.

#3. Make work-life
balance the main focus.
The problem is that when you make work-life balance the main focus, it clouds your
judgment. It has a tendency to make us forget what work really is: service.
I know, I know: You’ve always put everyone else first. You’ve slaved away at this job and that
only to be poorly treated. You’ve sacrificed too much family time for the sake of work. You never
want to make these mistakes again!
I’m not suggesting you do. Nor am I suggesting that you become a pushover.
I am suggesting, though, that in your quest for these things you shouldn’t lose sight of what the
market really is: in need of dedicated service to keep it profitable, to keep us all profitable.
I know, I know: We live in a world full of capitalistic greed! But just like how you want what you
want, the same is true for the marketplace. And if you’re not careful, you’ll miss this and make
future career decisions in an unrealistic bubble.
So when you’re trying to decide between paths, have your work-life balance goals, but
understand what the market is saying/doing and make sure that you are presenting as a
profitable employee who provides a much-needed service first.
The more valuable you become in that regard, the more work-life balance demands you can
make.
Here’s another hot-button topic.
Anyone covering the world of work today
probably has at least a dozen articles on
the quest for “work-life balance”.
Companies are bombarded with demands
to provide more of it. Younger workers
feel entitled to it. And Gen-Xers and Baby
Boomers want in on it too.
So what’s the problem?

#4. Ignore market indicators
at all cost.
Of all 12 ways listed here, this one is probably the most important one and is certainly the one least likely considered by most candidates
when trying to consider what’s next in their careers.
Why?
Because supply-and-demand is, well, not very sexy. It’s tied to money, and money is tied to capitalism, and capitalism is tied to greed…at
least that is how many people approach the marketplace!
The problem, however, is that despite how we feel about these things, the job market and career success is directly linked to supply and
demand. We try to romanticize it by using other language, but the truth is that supply and demand will drive our careers more than
anything else will (whether or not we recognize it as such).
So if you want to feel more empowered in your career and achieve success, you can’t ignore supply and demand and other market
indicators. If you do, reality will most likely be disappointing.
At the same, though, I don’t mean to imply that you solely base your decision on these indicators because chasing trends can have its
faults as well. My point is that too few people look at them at all in their quest to make a choice in their career journeys.

#5. Wish for what ought to be.
I’m pretty sure I’ve spent at least 30% of my time as a career strategist listening to clients discuss the way things ought to be,
particularly when they are trying to determine what is next for them.
In fact, it is such a key hang-up for many that it’s the main reason people abandon making any career move or avoid making
any decisions. I’m also pretty sure it’s why people get so hung up on “soul searching.”
We just keep thinking things should be better than they are…The problem, of course, is that this type of thinking doesn’t get
us anywhere but frustrated.
If you look at the 12 ways listed here, you will notice that they all come back to this concept…making decisions based on what
“is” and not on what ought to be. Goals are good. Desires are fine too. But they have to weighed against the reality of the
marketplace.
That’s not meant to discourage you, by the way. Just the opposite:
Nothing is more discouraging than being lost in wishful thinking!

#6. Get more career credentials.
Now, don’t start throwing stones at me. I hear you. Companies keep saying they want someone with this cert or that
advanced degree. Your mentor is telling you that you will “never” get into X field if you don’t have Y credential.
I hear this all the time, and I help professionals who defy these axioms all the time.
It isn’t that career certifications/degrees lack value; it’s that they often don’t have the ROI the institutions charging
thousands and thousands for them (while doing little to help you once you get them) claim they do.
So it’s important that when you make your investment, you have a clear strategy. One of the biggest surprises that
happens to many professionals is that they find after they get the next cert or degree that the main thing they
accomplished was going from one competitive candidate pool into another. Sure the pay might be better when they do
land a job, but there are many other “certified” candidates also looking!!
For more on what we mean by this addiction, please check out “Detoxing from
Career Credential Addiction”.

#7. Believe that “no” is always a
negative.
We seem to have a real aversion to the word “no” in our society today. It’s judgmental,
condescending, hurtful, and well, so negative!
But is that always true?
Sometimes professionals struggle to make a career decision simply because they don’t want to
face this word.
But a “no” can be positive!
What if that “no” helps you make a better choice? (Remember that Garth Brooks song,
“Unanswered prayers”? “One of God’s greatest gifts are all to often unanswered prayers”?
The same is true with “no.” Sometimes it’s actually the best thing you can hear because it gives
you an idea of where the market is going. And if you are looking to make a career move, you
want to be going with the market, not against it.

#8. Network, network, network.
Maybe you’re an extrovert and love those networking mixers.
By all means, love them. But don’t forget what networking is really meant to do:
Lead to opportunities.
If you’re networking in a confused state about what’s next for you,
then you should be looking at how to make strategic introductions that will help you
get a good sense of the market and answer the lingering questions you have.
That is, if you really do want an answer…
To delve
deeper into
this
discussion,
we have
“How Not to
Get Trapped
in the
Networking
Loop”

#9. Expect to “get around to it.”
When I hear a job search candidate say, “I’ll get around to it someday,” I can hear the death tolls start to ring somewhere in the
distance. The wolves begin to circle, and well, you get the picture.
No one ever really “gets around to it.” Necessity will end up forcing our hand, and then we wonder why we waited so long.
Sometimes wake-up calls are needed, but let’s not let that happen this time.
A lot of people have fear of the unknown, or of making a rash or foolish decision but “getting around to it” is the biggest
unknown there is!
And contrary to popular opinion, haste DOES make waste when it comes to the marketplace.
Doing nothing is usually much more damaging than making a mistake.

Are you prepared today for
tomorrow’s career move?
To help you get a better feel for where you currently stand in preparing for
tomorrow’s career move, I’ve developed a simple self-assessment survey you
can take that is quick to do, free, and helps get you thinking about where you
are and where you need to be:
Career Move Preparation Self-Assessment

#10. Don’t think about
your career “legacy.”
I’m convinced that most people are
disappointed and downtrodden about their
careers not so much because they can’t decide
what to do but because they can’t see their
purpose in what they’re doing and they aren’t
getting what they want from it.
For more on this, check out our article, “A
Career Without Regrets? What’s That?”
We’ve taken on this notion that a
career should serve us and our desires.
But in doing so, we’ve lost sight of
purpose and legacy-building.

#11. Avoid building career
pipelines.
How much have you
invested in the Technical
Career you've built so far?
Most people think that their careers come
down to working more and harder, so they
invest only in that.
But although hard work is admirable, it is not
always profitable. And your work history
doesn’t always do the “selling” for you.
Building in pipelines for leverage is essential in
today’s market even, and especially, when you
aren’t sure what’s next.

So if you plan to be in the tech job market for the next 5, 10, 15+ years, can
you have peace of mind in this market?
Absolutely.
Let’s start by taking ourselves a little less seriously and more practically.
Let’s get all the job market scare tactics and overused “mind over matter” mantras
out of our heads.
You can waste a lot of resources doing that.
This should be a
no-brainer, BUT
Too many are
so willing to live
with stress.
All your hard work up to this point deserves it…

Set up your complimentary Upcoming Career Move Prep Session
with Technical Resume Writer & Career Strategist,
Stephen Van Vreede, today.
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Coming in Summer 2015: The latest release by Brian Tracy featuring
Stephen Van Vreede. Click here to receive an advanced chapter release:
The Rise of the Corporate Entrepreneur

Maybe you can relate….
A lot of times we know what we “should” do, but
either we don’t do it or we just wait until we have to
because:
• We no longer have the ambition we once did
• We have kids to raise and focus on
• We believe the obstacles we will face in the
market are too overwhelming or exhausting to
face
• Work no longer matters much
• We’re too busy
• We always figure something out when we need
to
• We’re not really sure what we want to do next
• We have external concerns that weigh on us
• We have other unfulfilled goals and dreams

To learn more about ITtechExec or NoddlePlace:
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Or call Stephen toll-free at 1-866-755-9800; email at stephen@ittechexec.com.
(When you contact us, we will help determine which of our approaches is best
for you.)
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When You're Not Sure's What's Next in Your Career

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