Pamela Skillings – the author of “Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams” – served as the expert guest for episode 28. During this show, she provided an outline of the actions you can take to create your dream career as either an employee or employer. Below is the executive job search and career guide advice she provided.

Develop an Exit Plan

Several people are in career paths that are not really meaningful for them. Likewise, when they reach a certain point in their careers, it will be more difficult for them to make a change. If you are in a similar situation, you need to think about what you want to do. Until you have that destination and vision, it will be hard for you to take the necessary steps to come up with a career change plan. Most importantly, you can plan your escape and take baby steps without making a giant leap into the unknown.

Download this episode (right click and save)

You can accomplish this by practicing the art of ethical moonlighting or taking charge of your career and spending time to perform the necessary work and research. It is also important to take control of your career and operate like an entrepreneur even if you do not want to leave your corporate job. Due to the changing job market, you have to treat your career as a business and decide what you want and go after it. You can achieve this by realizing that job security may be a thing of the past and avoiding a career that contains some of the factors that lead to work dissatisfaction.

There is no job security and if you are an employee, you should be loyal and perform your job to the best of the ability. However, do not expect the company to take care of you. Likewise, you must complete the necessary steps to take care of yourself and determine what you are going to do in 5 years, 10 years, and so on.

Many people do not like their corporate jobs due to burnout, terminal boredom, the square peg syndrome, balanced disorder, meaningful decision, and toxic workplace blues. Burnout occurs from working too hard and too long, having no life, and feeling like you are not getting anything out of work except a paycheck. Terminal boredom is the result of not feeling challenged by your work (or not pushing yourself to move beyond your comfort zone to improve and professionally develop) although you have a sufficient amount of work to complete. The square peg syndrome involves a fit mismatch between you and a company’s culture and/or job. In other words, you are in the wrong job since it clashes with your values or do not allow you to use your talents and abilities the way you want to. Balanced disorder results from having to give so much to your job that other areas of your life are suffering. Maybe things in your life have changed and now you want to have some sort of work-life balance. Meaningful decision occurs when you feel like what you are doing in your job is not worthwhile to you. Finally, toxic workplace blues involve bullying bosses, discrimination, and/or other factors that result in a work environment that is very difficult to thrive in.

Next determine your true calling or ideal career by removing all of the practical considerations and brainstorming about what your ultimate career fantasy will be. After you identify these fantasies, pinpoint the common patterns behind them. To help with this process, determine your childhood fantasies and what you would do (after lounging around and traveling) if you won the lottery and did not have to work again. Finally, explore and research your list of potential passions and determine which of these ideas are feasible or have a realistic chance to be commercialized.

In conclusion, it’s really difficult to make a successful career transition. After the first glorious day of living your dream, you will experience some tough days. You will also go through an identity crisis due to previously working at an impressive company with an impressive title and now working for an unknown company. Some people will disapprove of your career move while others may hope you fail. Likewise, it’s important to develop a support system of people (with similar goals and passions) who can help you during this transition period.

Determine Your Escape Route

Landing a better job with another corporate company or small business/startup or becoming a solopreneur or entrepreneur are escape routes you could take. When you are seeking another job with a corporate company, you need to be proactive by defining your ideal situation, priorities, needs, and desires. You also need to determine what will make you happy in your next job and go out and locate this position. However, a lot of people wait for something to come to them and then decide if they can live with the pros and cons. In a tough job market, it’s important to know yourself and what the ideal job is. If you have to make a sacrifice in the short term by taking a less than ideal job, at least know what you are sacrificing. Also keep your priorities and wishes in front of your mind when you conduct your passive job search so you do not miss your ideal job opening.

Acquiring a position with a stable small business or start-up can be a great happy medium for entrepreneurial people who are not quite ready to start their own businesses. It will work wonders for your career if you can help grow the company and take it to the next level. However, you need to conduct your due diligence to understand what the company’s funding situation is. Also you need to ensure you will fit in with the company’s employees since you will more than likely work with them on a daily basis. Most of these positions are not advertised and you will need to network to locate these opportunities.

A solopreneur is a business of one. Freelancers and consultants are examples of solopreneurs. If you have talents and abilities that other people need, determine if it is worth selling them on your own instead of using them as an employee. You also need to identify the products or services you will market and your competitors and target market. Afterwards, you can begin work immediately as a solopreneur on the side to test the waters. The goal is to see what the demand may be for your products/services and to network with current and former solopreneurs (who grew their businesses into larger companies). During this process make sure you are not violating any of your current employer’s confidentiality rules.

If you want to become an entrepreneur, conduct your homework and acquire the help you need (mentors and resources) to learn what is involved in starting a business. Next determine if starting a business is ideal for you and if so assemble an advisory team, find people (who been there) who can help you, and write a great business plan. To receive a free resource guide that provides a step-by-step outline for various escape routes, you can visit escapefromcorporate.com and subscribe via email. You could also acquire the guide from the back of the Escape from Corporate America book.

Overcome Obstacles along the Way

There are multiple obstacles you can face when you are planning your escape. You may feel that you cannot immediately earn enough money in your ideal career. Likewise, it is vital to save enough money or have multiple income streams before you leave your current job and come up with a timeline and a step-by-step plan. You may be afraid of the bag lady syndrome if you take a risk by quitting your current job and end up as a bag lady on the street. Even Oprah keeps a lot of cash on hand just in case she loses everything. To surmount this, acquire a stepping stone job to make enough money until you get your ideal career up and running.

However, you will never get over the fear of change. Career change is scary and fear is something you have to face and think about. Sometimes fear is useful and productive because it forces you to do extra research, to have a plan B, and to thoroughly cover your bases.

You may encounter the fear of commitment or deciding which of your passions to pursue. Likewise, it may prevent you from selecting one of your passions and moving forward. You must remember that you do not have to pursue one passion for your entire career. Instead, you can commercialize several of your passions during your career.

You should also be careful with whom you share information with and when you share this information. For example, some people may have something to lose with your career change such as those who depend on you financially. Likewise, they may be worried if you choose to make a career transition or take a stepping stone job that does not pay as well. You should wait till you have your bullet-proof plan in place and people on the outside who supports you before you let people (you expect to be critical) know.

Several people were told that they would not be successful and many of them carried through. If someone brings up potential challenges that you did not consider, use this information as a blessing and incorporate how you are going to tackle these issues in your plan. Challenges do not mean you will be unsuccessful. Likewise, feel free to reject others’ opinions if they are not feasible or reasonable. Also determine who you are going to listen to and do not listen to people who are speaking out based on alternative motives.

Remember the knowledge of many is richer than the aptitude of a few. Likewise, participate in the online career community and convince others to do so as well.

Sphere: Related Content