Why career transition is better than career change

Like many of my coaching clients, before making a career change, I spent a long time thinking about one. Looking back, I recognise that the idea of career “change” had been hijacked by my inner saboteur, which was telling me that change should happen quickly, that whatever I chose needed to be very different to my current job, and that I could think my way to an answer. 

It’s little wonder then that the baggage which came with “career change” made it all feel impossibly difficult, which is exactly what my saboteur wanted. Driven by fear, this version of us sees change as a huge threat, so it stirs up anxiety to the point where we often decide it’s best to stick with what we know.

And because of its impact on our identity and financial security, the saboteur is particularly loud when it comes to something as significant as our careers.

So, with so many unhelpful connotations what was the alternative to “career change”? Over time, I learned that it’s better to think instead of “career transition” which reflects the reality of what we go through in any change process. 

Career transition

Transitioning is defined as “the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.” 

In “Transitions, Making Sense of Life’s Changes,” William Bridges writes about life as a whole series of transitions, some of which we initiate and some of which are unexpectedly thrown at us.

Bridges describes the three psychological phases we go through as we change any aspect of our lives, including our career direction: 

Ending 

In this first phase, we have to accept that, for whatever reason(s), our current work isn’t a match for us anymore and perhaps it never was. The mismatch will be due to things such as how challenging we find our job, how much autonomy we have, the skills it involves, or how purposeful our work feels to us.

Sometimes the mismatch might not be very obvious. We might largely enjoy what we do but look at our manager and feel a strong aversion to progressing into their role. So, for some of my clients, it’s been an imminent promotion that has tipped them over into deciding they need to make a change. 

We can spend a significant amount of time in this ending place, potentially trying to convince ourselves that things could always improve. It’s partly why, more often than not, career change doesn’t happen at a rapid pace. 

This first phase is also where we grieve about losing aspects of our existing work that we like. We might want to leave behind a micromanaging boss in an organisation whose purpose we don’t feel committed to, while also knowing that we’ll really miss colleagues who have become friends.   

The neutral zone 

This second phase is where we can feel lost and uncertain about what’s next but also excited about new possibilities. It’s the “messy middle.” Just being aware that it’s completely normal for this phase to feel so mixed can be reassuring though. 

The neutral zone starts with knowing what you don’t want, but not yet knowing what you do want. So, this is when it’s important to reflect on what most matters to you about your work and to take action to explore new possibilities. 

When reflecting on what matters to you, areas to consider are:

• your values - what motivates you about work (apart from having bills to pay)
• the strengths and skills you most enjoy using
• the culture and environment you want to work in
• and the sectors that you feel drawn towards.  

When you’re exploring new possibilities, you’ll most likely do some initial desk research but it’s really important to also gain some “real world” evidence by speaking to people who do what you’re interested in and having mini experiences too. For example, you could do a short course in something, start a side project or shadow someone. 

Once you have your “real world” evidence, if you decide that a possibility isn’t a match for you, that’s fine. You can rule it out, safe in the knowledge that you’ve at least explored it, rather than it lingering as a “maybe” in the back of your mind.  

The direction you finally choose might be a significant change from your current role but equally, it might not – there’s no rule that says it should be. People often make what sounds on the face of things like big unconnected changes, when actually there is a strong link between their existing role and the one they move into. 

A lawyer I once coached didn’t like the culture of the company he worked in, but he enjoyed helping his clients understand complex legal points. He went on to become a teacher, using his communication skills to help his students understand history.

The new beginning 

In this final phase, having captured what you want from your work, explored possibilities, and found the direction that’s the best fit for you, you can now move forward. 

This is when you feel energised and excited about the future which enables you to feel positive about learning any new skills and gaining any new knowledge you might need. 

As you go further into this phase, you’ll feel increasingly comfortable with your new working identity. And as a result of the exploring you did in the neutral zone, you might have other new beginnings in mind for the mid to longer term. 

As Bridges said, life is a series of transitions and with so much rapid change, accelerated by AI, multiple career changes are increasingly the norm. Recognising that we will most likely go through the cycle of another ending, neutral zone and new beginning can help us to feel more accepting of change in the future.

If, as happened to me, your saboteur has hijacked “career change” and loaded it with unhelpful beliefs about overthinking, needing to change quickly and only a big change being acceptable, try seeing it as a transition instead. 

Recognise that it might feel more difficult to let your existing work go than you expect; that it’s normal to feel lost when you’re trying to work out what’s next for you; and that once you do though, you’ll have a shot of energy and enthusiasm to make your new beginning.