Episode 3-Out of the box
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[00:00:00] Welcome to Empowered Leadership Coaching with Tabitha, the podcast that helps you take the driver's seat of your career and accelerate toward your goals. Today, we're talking about something that happens to many of us at different stages in our careers. Feeling like we're stuck in a box. I've had conversations with friends, clients, and colleagues who believe they're very limited by their current job or industry.
But is that box real? Or are you putting yourself in it? I'll be sharing a personal story of my friend, Natalie, as well as two client success stories, sharing The stories of Eva and Milo, who both successfully stepped outside of their career box and transitioned into some amazing new fields by following some very simple strategies.
So let's start with Natalie's story. Recently, it was just about two weeks ago, I was having a [00:01:00] conversation and coffee with my friend Natalie. Natalie is an incredible, multi talented woman, plus one of the nicest people I've ever met. She is a nurse, so licensed nurse. She teaches nursing students. She runs a department at a college.
And she's a life coach and Reiki master. She's a pretty cool chick. So when we started talking a little bit, she told me she was waiting to hear back about a job interview, which always piques my interest. Anything job, career, interview, resumes, all that kind of stuff kind of gets me excited. So I was ready to go.
Ready to geek out on the career stuff. So I asked her a little bit about what she was applying for and all of those great things. And as she was telling me, she went into the salary and the salaries were very low compared to what she should be earning based on the skills. I know she has and my own experience.
So I asked her, [00:02:00] why would you apply for a job that pays that little when you have so many skills and talents? Her response, well, I'm just in such a box with my skills, I'm kind of niche. My follow up question was, are you really in a box or are you just putting yourself in a box? And when I say box. For that one, it felt like maybe it was a little bit more about her comfort zone.
Natalie had unintentionally limited her career potential by seeing herself as being really stuck within the confines of what she had always done and the industry she's always known, which is healthcare. She had convinced herself that her skills only apply to certain roles within nursing or education or healthcare.
The reality is her skills are extremely diverse. She's a leader, a mentor, a teacher, a [00:03:00] coach, a nurse. And most of those skills translate into so many different industries and roles. But she couldn't see that because she had boxed herself in and those box balls were really high, if I might add. So I'd love for you to ask yourself, have you ever felt like Natalie, that you're stuck in a role or an industry because you believe your skills don't transfer?
It's a really common feeling. But it's not the truth. It's what I like to call a perceived obstacle. Today, I want to help you break out of that box by recognizing the value you bring and how you can apply it to new opportunities. Before we go into strategies, I want to share a little bit about one of my clients named Eva.
Eva was transitioning after about two decades of working in the telecom industry where she managed large [00:04:00] projects, led teams of project managers, and oversaw some really technical, technical projects and technical teams. She decided it was time for something new. And she came to me as part of her job search.
Work, , sharing that she wanted to transition into the healthcare healthcare field, but she felt really stuck when she thought about her skills. She was only really applying them to the telecom industry. And she wasn't sure about how to translate them into the healthcare industry. So we started working together and identifying her transferable skills, leadership, Needed in any industry, any role, project management, absolutely.
Whether you're literally leading projects as a project manager, or you are involved in any kind of organizational strategy, those are amazing skills to [00:05:00] have, managing large scale systems, migrations, ensuring compliance. Absolutely. It's just a matter of positioning. Those were all skills. And there were so many more that could easily apply to industries outside of telecom.
Eva had all this experience necessary to move into a new field. She just needed to reframe how she presented her skills. So, as I said, Eva was really interested in healthcare and through our work together, I had pointed out the fact that cybersecurity and AI were just really booming industries. And you know, as we talked about it, she's like, I just don't really know how to break in.
So what we did is we worked together to translate her telecom experience into language that The healthcare jobs that she was applying for. Now, when I say she was going in the healthcare industry, she wasn't trying to become a doctor or a [00:06:00] nurse. She wanted to be on the operation side of a healthcare company.
So we translated the language. So for example, managing technical projects in telecom became leading cross functional teams to implement protocols in systems, kind of making it a little more specific to the new industry. And we worked on translating all of her skills, both on her resume and in interviews.
And I'm really happy to share that she landed a role in the cybersecurity department of a healthcare organization, literally leveraging the same leadership skills and the same technical skills she developed in telecom. It was just a matter of translating so that the interview panel understood what she could do.
Eva's success really proves that no matter how long you've been in [00:07:00] one field, remember a couple of decades in telecom, no matter how long you've been in one field or one industry, your skills are transferable. You just need to take inventory and learn how to communicate them in a way that aligns to your new industry.
Another client of mine, this one I always say was my most interesting career transition, his name was Milo, and he had spent years working in the music industry, and it was his passion, but his other passion was global climate policy, and he wanted to make a difference. But felt like because he had been in the music industry for so long, he would one struggle to transition, but two, he would have to step in at an entry level role.
So we started working together and we focused on, again, those transferable skills. Logistics, [00:08:00] stakeholder management, communication skills that were essential in the music industry, but were also really valuable in that highly organized and detailed policy work. And then just finding a way to translate those skills into the language of his new organization.
So you know, it was really an interesting and fun transition. Now in this case, he had a really interesting interview situation. He received verbal. Acknowledgement after his interview that, wow, that was such a great interview. You did. So we'd love to have you on the team. We're so excited. Can't wait to get in touch with you about next steps.
Well, a couple of days later, he got an email saying, sorry, we've decided to not move forward. And he was beyond distraught. We're going to say probably a little pissed off, very confused. And we hopped on a call and I said, you know, What I'd like for you to do is reach out to the recruiter and ask a question.[00:09:00]
So he did, and what happened is he interviewed so well and translated his skills so well that they offered him a position higher than the one he interviewed for. That was definitely not entry level. So it all comes down to being able to speak about your experience in a way that fits the new field. When Milo was doing that in interviews, he gained so much traction very quickly.
And his passion for that environment, his ability to manage those complex projects. I'm going to talk about how music and climate policy have helped him land that role in global climate policy, where he's still working. It's so amazing. Actually, I worked with his wife not too long ago. So it's just that ability to translate the language that's so important.
So when we talk about Milo's journey from music to climate policy, that proves that even if you don't think, or even if you do think that your world, [00:10:00] Your career is worlds apart. So your current career is so far apart from what you want to do next. You don't have to start at the bottom. You're starting with experience.
You just need to learn how to position yourself effectively. I want to cover a few simple tips to help you take action and break out of this box. Do not let this box prevent you from taking action and moving forward into the role of your dreams. So step one, I want you to identify your transferable skills, whether you're like Natalie, Eva, or Milo.
The first step to breaking out of the box is identifying your transferable skills. Think about leadership, communication, project management, problem solving. These are skills that apply to countless industries, strategic organization, whatever it is, make a list of your strengths and experiences. Step two is translate those skills [00:11:00] into the new industry language.
So think about how you can reframe your experience to fit that new role or industry that you're interested in. Do your research. What are the key priorities in that industry? How do you, how did they describe the skills they're looking for and then find that common ground and translate your experience into the language of that industry?
Funny story, just flashing back on Eva a little bit. She was so frustrated one day after an interview and she called me and said, they just won't understand. They, it's like, they don't even want to understand what I'm telling them. And I took my deep breath and I smiled and I said, you know, whose job is it to make sure they understand?
Is it their job to dig through the weeds and figure it out? Or is it your job to do a better job of explaining and translating? I'm pretty sure she said, damn it, and hung up the phone next interview so much better, but it's up [00:12:00] to you to do that translation. Step three, network and get visible. I can't say this enough.
I literally post about it. I think every single week on LinkedIn, maybe not quite that often, but I do a lot whenever I have a speaking event, I talk about this because it's so important. It's an entire chapter in my book, promotion ready in three months. Network and get visible. After you've reframed your skills and done that translation, it's time to network and really get visible.
Let people know who you are and what you bring to the table. You can't break out of the box if no one knows you're looking for new opportunities. Reach out to people in the industries you're interested in and start making those authentic, meaningful connections that can help you move forward faster.
Step four. This is the most important believe in your value. You have to believe in your value. You're not limited to your current [00:13:00] industry or job title. You have skills that are valuable in many fields. And the sooner you recognize that the sooner you can start moving forward towards your goals and creating those great new opportunities for yourself.
So just a few. Final thoughts for you. Before we go, Natalie, Eva and Milo are proof that you are not confined to one industry or role. If you're feeling boxed in or stuck, remember that your skills are valuable, transferable, and they can open doors to new opportunities for you. Friends, it's time to break out of that box and start thinking bigger about where you can take your career.
I want you to take a little bit of action. So based on those steps, just in case you miss them, they'll also be in the show notes, but the four steps, one list, your top transferable skills. I say, go with 15, make sure you have at least 15 listed [00:14:00] to translate your experience into the language of a new industry, whatever that new industry is that you're interested in, translate the language three network with people in that industry and start making strong connections.
Transcribed And four, believe in your value and go after the opportunities you want. I hope you've had some fabulous aha moments today and picked up a tip or two to help you shift more into the driver's seat of your career. Until next time, friends keep moving forward one small step at a time. You've got this.
If you found value in today's episode, don't forget to check out my book promotion ready and three months, the women's guide to career advancement available on Amazon. The link is in the show notes and be sure to check the show notes because sometimes I drop a couple of [00:15:00] little surprises in there as well as my email address.
So you can always send comments. And as always, I'd love for you to share this episode with your friends and leave us a review so that people can find us and we can continue to help more people who are looking for support with getting back into the driver's seat of their careers. Take care.
