Redefining your Career Plan
While there’s plenty of guidance for those starting out, mid-career professionals often find themselves overlooked. Hitting a plateau can leave you unsure of what to do next. The good news? You don’t have to start all over again!
With some strategic thinking, you can reshape your career to better align with your priorities. Here are some actionable tips to help you move forward.
Interests & Passions
While you’ve gained valuable experience and skills, you might not feel motivated to keep climbing the corporate ladder, and on face value, a lateral move may look like more work for the same pay, which can seem unappealing.
This feeling is common, even among high achievers. However, the following approach can help you break this down and generate some new ideas:
Start with what’s interesting: Begin by looking within your field. Is there a niche that particularly interests you or that you’re curious about? If not, consider what aspects of your current role you're particularly good at? Chances are they’re the things you find the most interesting.
Reflect on your passions: Think about your interests outside of work. Is there a dream you’ve always wanted to pursue? Perhaps living in a different country, a side project you've always wanted to try, or a charity you’ve always wanted to work with?
Bring them together: This about understanding what you need to achieve these passions, and how you can use your career as an enabler for these. This will underpin your new career plan. Create a high-level 2-3 year plan that maps out how you can achieve these goals.
Here is a simple example someone might follow:
Example Plan:
Role: Tech Developer with 10 years of experience.
Interest: Transitioning into AI-related projects.
Passion: Living abroad to gain international experience.
Objective Option 1: Collaborate with teams handling international clients to facilitate a move to an overseas office.
Objective Option 2: Transition to a remote position focusing on AI projects, allowing you to live abroad while working.
These are highly simplified examples, but the key idea is to define career paths that bring you closer to your passions, either by building relevant experience or leveraging your strengths.
Talk to Your Boss
A crucial step is having an open conversation with your manager about your goals. A good manager will appreciate your initiative and help to balance your aspirations with the team’s needs.
Think from Your Manager’s Perspective: Consider how your desired changes might benefit your team. If there are clear benefits, emphasise them. If not, come prepared with solutions to minimise any potential disruptions. Propose how you would handle handovers or suggest a realistic timeline.
Here are some ways you could position this, based on our previous example. Again, this is highly simplified but suggests the broad structure to the conversation.
Example Conversations:
For Option 1 (Working with international clients)
“I’m interested in spending more time with our international clients. While I have a passion for AI, I’m open to projects where there’s the greatest need. I’m also open to relocating if an opportunity arises.”
For Option 2 (Transitioning to fully remote)
“I’d like to move abroad and continue supporting our AI clients remotely, where I add the most value. Having someone in that timezone could improve client response times. Could we trial this setup for a couple of months?”
In both scenarios, you’re being clear about your priorities but also taking into account the business and team impact.
Don’t Wait for the Perfect Timing
This is why your career plan should be flexible. Opportunities rarely come at the perfect time. Waiting for ideal conditions can mean missing out on valuable experiences. Say yes when the opportunity arises, even if the timing feels off.
Stay Open to Possibilities: Be flexible and adaptable. Sometimes a completely new opportunity you had never considered may arise. Don't disregard this simply because its not in the plan, if it’s going to help you get to where you want – take it!
Be wary of Title & Comp incentives: While these are nice, they are not goals in themselves. They can also be used as leverage by employers and make you more reluctant to try new things that align with your aspirations.
Stepping outside of the traditional linear approach to career progression open amazing new opportunities and can help re-energise your career. Want help working through your own plans and goals? Reach out to us today at info@elevate.help
