Growth through Adventure

A bit of personal news: I left Google at the end of last month and started at Loop last week. Between my own move and helping folks land on their feet after layoffs this year, I’ve been deep in the job hunt jungle. Today’s a bit about what I’ve seen that holds folks back.

Job hunting is stressful. Many folks hate interviewing for good reason. It requires a lot of vulnerability to put yourself out there and that can get emotionally exhausting quickly as rejections roll in. Loss aversion can make it really tough for us to leave something good behind. It might build into a Wall of Awful.

But we know that people change roles all of the time. There’s a whole social media network built around it. So if you’re afraid to take a leap, let me see if I can help change your mindset.

Organizations are living things, made up of people. Just like the people that make up the organizations, they change over time, including you. It’s ok to want something different or something better throughout the course of your career. It’s also ok to not know what you want next. Sometimes we need a change of scenery, a new area to explore, or just a clean slate. Each time I’ve changed roles, even within the same company, I learned a ton, enjoyed my job more, and met more wonderful people.

One thing I like to remind people is that you’re not committed to leaving just because you explore other roles. I’ve interviewed externally without leaving a couple of times during my time at Google. I talk to a lot of people who feel guilty for even considering looking at a new job because they don’t want to disappoint the people they work with or that have invested time in them. I know I did that a lot at first, even though I’m often the one telling people it’s okay, even as a manager. Sometimes we all need a little reminder that we get to design our own lives and imagine something better or just different for ourselves. Just because you interview doesn’t mean you leave, either. Interviewing can be a great way to remind yourself that your grass is pretty green already, discover that you’re actually paid fairly, or get you to consider a path you hadn’t previously even thought to dream up.

It can be a double-edged sword, though. The choices are often overwhelming, and that can make it difficult for anyone to make their next move. Analysis paralysis keeps them from exploring anything. A good tip for when you’re stuck? Trick your brain into taking a small step at first. Open LinkedIn. Email your mentor a short message about needing to chat. Read through your resume. Your brain will find it easier to build on the small stuff if you can get it to decide what it really specifically should do first.

So here are 6 actionable small steps you can take to explore a bit:

1. Ask someone you admire what they like about their role and what they don’t.
2. Reach out to three colleagues, past or present, for LinkedIn recommendations. These can be helpful even if you decide now isn’t the right time to job search, and it can help break through the emotional wall to read nice things people are saying about you.
3. Update a single section of your LinkedIn profile to make sure it reflects what you actually do/did in a role.
4. Look at the openings available at your current company or even within your current team. Make a note about what sounds fun, interesting, or exciting to you and what doesn’t.
5. Ask your manager for a career conversation for you to explore your options. You might be surprised at what they can do to let you try different roles out.
6. Meet a friend at a coffee shop while you apply for jobs. Commit to 30 minutes together. Body doubling can be really effective.

Keep The Wall Small

I really recommend treating yourself every time you get a job rejection. Some companies definitely reject candidates better than others, but every time I got an autogenerated “stronger candidates for the role” email, a cookie did take the sting out of a very impersonal way to do a hard thing. Eventually when an email subject that said “an update on your application” came through, I got excited that it was a chocolate chip rejection kind of day. It helps keep the wall shorter for the next time.

You’re allowed to reinvent yourself as many times as you want.

During all of this, remember that you are the only person who gets to decide if your career has been “successful.” You can have multiple careers over the course of your life. You can have career breaks and highs and lows and surprises. That’s what makes them fun.

A coworker I admire recounted her career to me just before my last day at Google. She told me of all of the places she’d worked and what she’d learned from each of them. She reminded me that exploring was part of the thrill of it.

I’m two weeks into the new gig and I know that she was right. It was easy to sit by myself and imagine all the ways the move could be disastrous. Now I just picture her listening to my concern and then looking me straight in the eye with, “Yeah, but what if it’s great?”