【英】你的下一个职业目标:跳出你的舒适区

前言

跳出舒适区需要勇气。本期英文由@Rupali Saiya分享。

英文从这开始～～

Ten months ago, I made an unusual career jump. I transitioned from being a Software Engineer to a role in presales. One year ago, I didn’t even know what presales was. All I knew was that I wanted to finally pursue my passion of being the bridge between the business and technology worlds. But here I am, happier than ever and learning more than I could ever imagine. My untraditional career journey has inspired me to encourage others to take advantage of uncomfortable opportunities to find that perfect fit. According to a recent Gallup study on the American workplace, 51 percent of the country’s 100 million full time employees are not engaged at work. Another 16 percent resent their jobs. I’m determined to reduce this statistic and help other young professionals embrace change to find a role that makes them happy and engaged every day.

Seeds of Change

“Pay attention to the whispers so you won’t have to hear the screams.” This is a famous Cherokee proverb advising us to be attentive to the subtle signs in life that tell us it is time for change. Change is uncomfortable. Change is hard. Change means uncertainty, and the human brain does not like uncertainty. A 2016 research study found that we experience more stress when we don’t know what is going to happen than when we know something bad is going to happen. So how do we learn to listen to those whispers and learn to embrace change?

After graduating college with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering and working as a Software Engineer for two years, the thought of transitioning to a non-engineering role seemed frightening. But I had an itch to see what else was out there. There was a whole unknown world outside of engineering for me to explore, but I was scared to step out of my comfortable world. David McRaney, author of You Are Not So Smart, said that “when you are uncertain, you have that immediate emotional reaction that it needs to be resolved now, and you will devolve to the fastest, easiest, least-painful solution before you will to the best solution.” I wanted to transition to a role that would allow me to pursue my passion of bridging the gap between the business and technology worlds. But at the same time a whirlwind of uncertain thoughts crossed my mind. Is there even a role that fits what I’m looking for? Is it all in my head? Will I look like a fool trying to pursue such a role? Am I good enough for this role? And at this point, I could have taken the easy road and decided to ignore the whispers for me to change roles. I could have let the little voices of doubt in my head get the best of me and stayed in a role where I was comfortable and paid well, but not 100% happy. And in my case, it wasn’t just the voices in my head. But there were a few people around me who didn’t understand the logic around this change and tried to convince me that such a change was unnecessary.

Thanks to supportive mentors, family, and friends, I learned to not listen to those voices. I learned that although change does mean uncertainty, it can also mean opportunity. There was an interesting analogy that was shared with me that got me to think in a different way. I was told to be a hermit crab. As a hermit crab grows bigger, they have to constantly change their shells. If you want to grow as a person, in your careers, in your relationships, and in life in general, you have to be able to throw away your shell no matter how much you like the shell that you are in.

So instead of fearing change, I decided to be a hermit crab. I decided to listen to the whispers, ignore the little voices of doubt, and embrace this challenge. It was only once I got to this point that I could confidently and proactively seek out opportunities that would get me closer to pursuing my passion.

Match Skills to Job

Once you’ve come to terms with welcoming new opportunities and change, what roles should you start exploring? As an engineer by trade, I always thought my career choices were limited to engineering and software development roles. I had no idea where to start looking if I wanted a role outside of software development. So I started making lists. I listed out all the skills I had to offer, and all the skills I wanted to gain. This exercise taught me that as an engineer by trade, I had a lot of skills to offer outside of just coding. I realized I had an ability to absorb complex concepts and break them down. I had developed an incredible work ethic because of the rigor of engineering classes in college. I learned that I had a unique way of thinking due to the algorithmic thinking required for coding. It’s so easy to take all the skills you have for granted and assume they won’t be useful elsewhere. But in reality, the skills I had learned through being an engineer coupled with the skills I had learned from side projects and other activities made me a great and unique candidate for a variety of roles. This is when I realized that I had something of value to offer to a lot of different teams.

Next, I wrote out a specific list of the skills I wanted to develop. This list included things like public speaking, how to analyze a business, how to communicate technology concepts to non-technical business users, understanding how people think when it comes to making business decisions, and continue to expand my knowledge of new technology. This was a very simple exercise. But this was probably one of the most important steps that helped guide me as I was looking for the role that I am now in today.

Putting your career criteria and requirements down on paper helps you think clearly. It helps you see exactly what you’re looking for so you can position your talent and skills in a way that provides value to others. And chances are you will find a role that will check all the boxes. You just have to know how to find it.

Network, Network, Network

After writing out the skills I had and the skills I wanted to develop in my next role, I didn’t really know of a position that would check all the boxes. The only role I knew that met some of my criteria was the role of a Product Manager. This seemed like a great role. It’s a role that requires you to work closely with the engineering team so it seemed like a logical next step from software development to business. After shadowing a couple product managers and discovering more about the role I realized it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I felt stuck again. How was I going to find this seemingly perfect role?

This is where networking was very valuable. A lot of people use the term networking loosely and will roll their eyes when they hear the word “networking.” Networking is only useful when you can tell the people who are in your network exactly what you are looking for. That is why making a list of the skills you have and the skills you want to gain is extremely important. It is also important to network with a variety of different people to learn about more opportunities and hear different perspectives.

I reached out to people I considered mentors who were both from within the company I worked at as well as from other parts of my network. These mentors were people I handpicked and were from a variety of different backgrounds. It was the mentors in my network that pointed me to a role in sales. I never had even considered sales before that. I always had a stereotype in my mind about the world of sales, and really didn’t know much about the sales organization in general. It was after I started digging into this new world that I discovered a role in presales which checked all the boxes in the list I made.

The End Result

Being in sales meant being pushed out of my comfort zone. It also meant being surrounded by completely different personalities. The reason I was able to successfully make this transition to an entirely new world was because I found a phenomenal rotational training program in presales. One of the greatest things about the industry and time we are in is that top companies are investing in the future of young talent. Companies want to attract the top young talent and train them to be the best because we are the leaders of the future. Explore the different programs that companies you are interested have to offer and I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you find. When I found out about the program I am now in I was surprised I had never heard about it. Through this program, I’ve been able to interact with our executives, I have access to the best resources, and I have a great network of people who are going through this program with me.

My career transition was challenging, and at times it was tremendously uncomfortable. But the best things in life don’t come easily. One year later, I’m happier at work and I’ve learned more than I could have ever imagined. In presales, I communicate the value of our technology to our customers and prospects. I get the opportunity to learn about new businesses every day, and I’ve learned the art of public speaking. Now, I truly am the bridge between the technology and business worlds.

Changes like this are easier to make when you are mentally, physically, and emotionally ready to seize the opportunities that come your way. When I made the commitment to change, I paid attention to opportunities I would have otherwise overlooked. The people we spend our time with determine the opportunities that come our way. Stepping out of the mold can be intimidating, but paving your own career path is tremendously rewarding.

关于本文
作者：@Rupali Saiya
原文：https://medium.com/@rupalisaiya/your-next-career-move-jumping-out-of-your-comfort-zone-1c149c19a558

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