Looking to Careers beyond Consulting

What's my exit strategy - understanding the 'when'.

Planning Around Your Life Events

Many people make career changes that coincide with their life events (marriage, children, changing health conditions). This makes sense since they anticipate a change to their needs. In each of these cases, it is important to be clear about what factors you are willing to negotiate and which one you cannot. For example, I have several friends who made decisions to take a new career that required only minimal travel once they became new parents.

The best way to safeguard these plans is to begin the preparation work early and add for “buffer” in case life throws in a complication. For instance, lets say that you have a aging parent who lives 4 hours away by airplane. You think that you may need to start making monthly visits based upon changing health conditions. To best safeguard these plans, what would you need from your job if you needed to fly twice a month? Really think critically about what pieces are negotiable and where you need to stand firm to be successful. It will give you confidence that you can respond to changing life situations.

Lining Up the Plan “B”

To deal with an uncertain climate, many people are developing ‘back-up’ plans in case their current employment situation unexpectedly ends. This is not simply ‘pessimistic’ thinking, it is actually proactive and it shows that you are taking initiative.

For many people, one of the items in their Plan “B” package is saving cash. This is almost always a good idea, and many professional finance advisors will advise building a reserve equivalent to 6-12 months worth of living expenses. Admittedly this is a very large sum, so it is always a good idea to start soon, if the 'emergency funds' have not been maintained to date.

Other elements of the Plan "B" is warming up the network contacts and clarifying what direction you would like to take your next career. For many people, the hardest part of lining up a job is deciding where to focus the job search. In this case, I would say that making steady progress and keeping up the momentum are paramount. Do not worry on making a "bad mistake" on your next job; the act of contacting your former friends and colleagues will be valuable. In fact, they may provide valuable insight and help inform future choices that you may take.

In terms of dedicating time for your job search, do not be surprised if it takes at least six months. This has been my experience (perhaps many of you will whip through this stage more quickly). Planting those seeds and nurturing those relationships takes time and effort.

Having to Act Quickly

Sometimes life deals a situation of having to act quickly; there is no time to build additional financial reserves, nor is there time to "take time out to re-assess priorities." In this case, the plan to get moving may have slightly different components to consider:

• Who/how many others in the household will be part of the new family solution (as income earners, as family caregivers, etc.)
• Health care coverage
• How many dependents are in the household?
• Relocation that accommodate the new family solution (e.g. locale based upon a new job, reduced expenses, or with proximity to other family members)

For all of those who are potential income earners, the work of identifying the career, nurturing the contacts, developing the resume, and preparing for the interview will be part of the solution. The urgency of time will require even more creativity and resourcefulness to find all potential solutions.