From the course: Pivoting Your Career to Project Management

What makes a pivot successful?

From the course: Pivoting Your Career to Project Management

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What makes a pivot successful?

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- A career pivot is when you change or modify your job or profession in order to obtain more satisfying work prospects. This should be done intentionally with a sense of purpose. Pivoting jobs and even professions can be both exciting and scary at the same time. You're under pressure and there's a lot at stake but if you have a north star, meaning you know why you want to be in project management, you'll feel more at ease. Turn your attention to the process you'll follow to successfully pivot. First, define why you want to pivot into project management and what a successful pivot looks like to you. And you can do this by asking yourself, what's my strategy? What do I envision for my future? What are my personal and career goals? How will a pivot into project management help me achieve these? For example, when I first pivoted I wanted more work variety, flexibility as well as access to growth opportunities. I felt like a move into project management aligned more with my goals than the career track I was on. And as fate would have it, I was right. Maybe your why differs a bit from mine. It's all good. Just be sure your intentions are clear and you're confident that a career pivot will support your personal goals. Next, determine how you'll make your career pivot. This entails developing a pivot plan, which is a roadmap on how you'll realistically implement your pivot. Start by asking yourself, what kind of project management role do I want? What industries and organizations will I target? How will I position myself to reach them? What problems will I solve or prevent? How will I measure my progress? Just know a pivot plan is not a one size fits all. It will vary depending on the stage you're at in your career, including your background, experience and transferable skills. Now it's time to execute your pivot and you'll do this by creating or revising your resume, setting interviews with prospective employers, interviewing with these employers, following up with them, evaluating their offers. Quite simply, you're implementing your plan. While there are nuances, you'll learn along the way. You'll find this process is simpler than it may initially seem, although no two launches are the same. As long as you know what success ultimately looks like have a clear plan of action and follow through with precision, you'll be well on your way to a successful career pivot. So, before you embark on a career pivot make sure you're setting yourself up for success.

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