Hey peppercorns, how are you?
I am going to start a new masters degree very soon and it feels like I am about to make a career pivot. It won't be something big, such as the business world into the medical world kind of pivot, but I am getting out of my comfort zone of customer experience/service, into a full one Global Sales and marketing environment.
To be honest, I am very nervous and anxious because I never liked working with Sales. However, after thinking about where I could go on my career, it felt like that this change could help me more than hurt me. After all, almost everything in business is related to a monetary transaction!
What about yourself? What is motivating or has motivated you to make a career pivot?
I love this question for a chance to reflect/articulate where I am. I'm in academia (currently a PhD candidate) and here are my pivot reasons:
- Advancement in academia is very publication-dependent, and it takes me a while to craft a high-quality writing. I do believe that I could make my publishing quotas...but the question is, at what cost?
- Looking to work with people more
- Looking to shift to a process-based career (leadership development, training, system design, project management, ideating) rather than one that puts the highest premium on very specific subject matter expertise (like a policy expert)
I'm going to miss the freedom and flexibility, though! Part of the reason why I even get to do Peppercorn and think through the next steps is because my program affords me that flexibility.
Congrats on the career pivot, Raquel! That is very exciting that you are getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new. Just playing a little bit of devil's advocate though 🙂 ... maybe the nervousness and anxiety you feel and the feeling that you "never liked working with Sales" might be something to pay attention to... Are there other ways you can be involved in business and stay more aligned to what energizes you?