Five Steps to Figuring Out Your Next Career Pivot
By Rhonda Coleman Wandel
Do you desire to make a career pivot and not sure what to do? This article can help you determine what that next step should be.
Evaluating where you are in your career can seem daunting, especially when you're unsure where to begin. But taking time to reflect on your journey—starting from childhood dreams and leading up to your current position—can help you gain clarity. By tracing your interests and decisions over time, you can identify patterns that reveal what truly drives you. Here's how to evaluate where you are in your career and uncover what it is you really love to do.
Step 1: Revisit Your Childhood Passions
Before responsibilities, expectations, and societal pressures, what did you naturally enjoy doing as a child? Think about the activities that brought you the most joy. Did you love writing stories, solving math problems, or performing in plays? These early passions often provide valuable clues about your intrinsic interests.
When I speak to women on my podcast, I encourage them to take a walk down memory lane. I ask them to talk about their childhood interests, the things they loved to do before they even knew what "careers" were. Often, these childhood activities have shaped the choices they made later in life, even if they didn't realize it at the time.
Take Action: Write down the things you loved to do as a child. Take yourself back to a time when there were no pressures, only dreams. Whether you enjoyed drawing, building things, or helping others, this early list will serve as a foundation for your career reflection.
Step 2: Analyze Your Educational Journey
Next, think about your experience as a student. What kind of student were you in school? Did you love learning, or was it a challenge? What were your favorite subjects, and why?
Reflecting on your education can provide insight into how you formed your academic and career decisions. For example, my favorite subject in high school was English. I gravitated toward language arts over math or science because I loved storytelling and expression–and I thought my high school English teachers were awesome. However, I also remember avoiding certain classes because I believed I wasn’t "good" at them. This self-imposed identity shaped my choices, leading me to major in English in college, versus something that I perceived as math centric like Economics.
The truth is, I’m actually good at math. Looking back, in junior high, I had the same teacher for two years who padded my grades with extra credit, so I didn’t grasp the material as well as I thought. This caught up with me in high school, where gaps in my knowledge made math feel difficult. I assumed I wasn’t good at it, which led me to close off career paths that were actually aligned with my true abilities and interests.
Take Action: Write down your favorite subjects and reflect on how your academic choices influenced your career decisions. Did you steer away from something you were passionate about because of fear or insecurity? Understanding these patterns can be illuminating.
Step 3: Trace Your Career Path
Now, walk through your entire career trajectory. Start with your very first job, and trace the path to your current position. For each job, ask yourself: What did I like about it? What didn’t I like? What motivated me to make changes in my career?
On the podcast, many guests share stories about unexpected career shifts. For example, one guests’ core passion has always been helping people. Every job she took, whether consciously or not, was connected to that passion. But she also had competing desires—she wanted to make a good living, driven by societal expectations of what it means to be a successful lawyer. Like many of us, throughout her career, she found herself struggling to balance these two goals. Ultimately, whenever she was in a job that wasn’t aligned with her core value of helping others, she felt unhappy, regardless of the paycheck.
Take Action: Write down every job you've had and what you liked or disliked about each one. What were your motivations for moving to the next position? Identifying these patterns can help clarify your core values and desires.
Step 4: Identify Common Themes
Once you have reflected on your childhood, education, and career, it’s time to look for patterns. Review what you've written down and ask yourself: What common threads do I see? What activities or interests have consistently motivated me? Often, these patterns reveal what truly matters to you, even if you weren’t consciously aware of them.
For instance, I recently interviewed an HR executive who, after 20 years in the field, rediscovered her passion for interior design—a path she initially trained for in college but had moved away from. Reflecting on her journey led her to reconnect with what she loved.
Take Action: Identify the themes that have consistently appeared in your life. What truly energizes you? These recurring themes will help guide your future decisions.
Step 5: Use Your Insights to Shape Future Decisions
Once you’ve identified the common themes in your journey, use these insights to guide your future career decisions. If you’ve discovered that meaningful work is more important to you than salary, or that creativity fuels your energy, use this knowledge to make choices that align with your core values.
For example, if you’ve realized that helping others is central to your happiness, seek out roles that allow you to make a positive impact. Or if you’ve identified a love for problem-solving, explore opportunities that challenge you intellectually.
Take Action: Create a vision for your career that aligns with your passions and values. Use this as a compass to guide you in making fulfilling career choices.
Conclusion
Evaluating your career isn’t about where you "should" be but about understanding who you are and what you love to do. By revisiting your past and reflecting on your journey, you can uncover the core values that drive you and ensure that your future decisions align with your true passions.
