Julia Hindriksen knows all about it. As a psychologist specialized in nudging, she had enormous ambitions. But as a mother, the ambition she previously had no longer seems to match her 'new' life. It was time for her to make a career switch. From giving lectures and training on Nudging to almost full-time copywriting. Because she notices more changes in other mothers around her, she wrote a blog about her approach in this career switch. For you. It's easier than it may seem, as long as you prepare well!
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I used to be quite ambitious. I had mapped out a career for myself and had a plan in place on how I was going to achieve it. It went a little slower than I wanted, but I got there. The moment my business really started going well, I became pregnant. And I don't know how your pregnancy went, but that pink cloud and radiant glow that you read about so often was more like a thundercloud and thick bags under my eyes. As a result, I had to take maternity leave earlier and my career went on hold.
But… almost 2 years later my career was still on hold. I was just afraid that if I chose more for myself, I would be failing my daughter. Problem with this:I didn't feel happy. A nice job is just part of me, I realized. And that's why I changed course, no matter how exciting I found it.
Do you recognize yourself in my story? And would you really like to make a career switch, but you are not sure how to approach that? Then read on quickly, because in this blog I will tell you how I successfully tackled that! (and that without feeling guilty towards my daughter and partner)
Of course you don't make a career switch from one day to the next. You are now in a certain lifestyle and you cannot just get out of it. But where your colleagues appreciated you for your dazzling presentations, your new audience is now only captivated by your great portrayal of Little Red Riding Hood. And where in the past bringing in customers was your challenge, now it may be baking perfect cookies. If that's not enough for you and working from home isn't your thing either, then it might be time to make a career switch.
It is very important to look at your options at the moment to be. You may still have that ambition, but you are and will remain a mother now. That is why I have a handy step-by-step plan, so that you know how to follow your own life path.
To find the best alternative to baking cookies and Little Red Riding Hood, you will have to gain insight into yourself.
In other words, make sure you know exactly:
Are you clear about all the points of step 1? Then you translate this self-knowledge into suitable positions, disciplines and branches to make a good career switch. Perhaps you are aware of the possibilities in your current field or organization. But what else is for sale? Wow, that is indeed quite a difficult job to figure that out. Still very important!
So find out:
If after this step you already get the inclination of 'Wow, that's complicated, never mind', then I have a super tip for you right away. See the last heading of this blog for this.
You know who you are, you know better what you want, and you've already picked out some career ideas. Now it's time for a plan. Because only with a clear plan can you achieve your new goal. Why? Because there is a good chance that you will soon see bears on the road. And the chance that you will then take targeted action remains small. A goal without a good plan remains a dream.
So ask yourself:Do you need more experience or training? How are you going to get it? And what could be an intermediate step?
When you change career direction, a new world opens up. A world that you may not know yet, but that doesn't know you either. And so you will have to sell yourself again. To increase your chances of a (new) job, it is therefore also important to work on your personal branding:
You should be able to tell the answers convincingly in 1 or 2 sentences. In addition, the quality of your CV and motivation letter is of course also important.
The steps above sound like quite a bit of work. And yes, it is. To map out your new path, you do indeed have to spend time and attention on it. But:that too can be done as efficiently as possible.
That is why I would like to give you the following tip, and that is the (online!) career training Doen What You Want to do by business psychologist and coach René Kuylenburg. Then you can decide for yourself when you follow it and at what pace. The quality of the content is high, while the investment is not too bad for what you get (think:<€200). So if you find it difficult to figure out what you want, then I would definitely give this training a chance.
Have you made a career switch as a mother? How did it go? And do you have any additional tips? Be sure to tell us about it in the comments below, so we can learn from each other!
