Today is Labor Day.
Many people are enjoying a day away from work. Others may be thinking about how they feel about the work they'll return to tomorrow.
Maybe you've been thinking about doing something different.
But changing careers can make it feel like everything you've built belongs to the career you're trying to leave.
You've spent years learning your work, solving problems, navigating difficult situations, taking on more responsibility, and developing skills you may not even think about anymore.
When you start considering something different, it can feel like you're leaving all of that behind.
But changing direction doesn't erase your experience.
You may need to learn something new. You may need additional training. There may be requirements for the work you want to do that you haven't met yet.
That is different from starting over.
You're still bringing years of experience with you.
You're bringing what you've learned about communicating with different people, making decisions, managing competing priorities, solving problems, recognizing when something isn't working, and figuring out what to do next.
Some of those capabilities may look different in another environment. You may even need to learn how to explain them differently.
But they don't disappear simply because your job title changes.
This is why understanding your experience matters before you decide what's possible for you next.
If you only look at the parts of your experience that belong to your current profession, you may assume that moving into something different requires you to begin again.
When you look more closely at what you've actually learned to do, you can start identifying what comes with you and where those capabilities may be useful next.
Going somewhere different doesn't mean leaving everything you've built behind.
You aren't trying to make your past experience fit somewhere it doesn't.
You're learning to recognize what is transferable, what may need to be developed, and what your experience has already prepared you to do.
Before you decide you're starting over
If you're thinking about making a change but aren't sure what your experience could translate to, this is exactly why I created What Your Experience Really Says.
The $27 guide helps you look beyond your job titles and duties to identify the skills and capabilities you've built through the work you've already done.
Because before you decide you have to start over, you need to understand what you're actually bringing with you.
You've done the work. Now it's time to clearly see what it says.
You're not unqualified. You're MISTRANSLATED.
To landing what you've earned,
Kourtney Checots
Career Strategist
Founder, MISTRANSLATED