How To Make An Internal Career Transition At Your Current Company

When Jillian reached out to us for support, she wanted clarity on her next career step with the plan to make it happen. She wanted insight into why she has made specific career choices, why she has given into her career fears, and a better understanding of her patterns. Her dream outcome was to have career clarity and enough confidence to get a job that she both enjoys and feels fulfilled.

Here’s Jillian’s Story

I’m a Customer Success Manager in the tech world, and I was just perpetually unhappy at work, but I couldn’t figure out how to get out of it.

Before the job I have now, I had been in a role that I knew wasn’t working for me and got fired. Then I got the position I am in, which is excellent, but I still had these leftover feelings of uncertainty.

I had this very odd idea that I couldn’t let myself be happy in my job because then I would never be able to leave. So mentally, I would come up with these reasons to not do my best work because I would get stuck in that job, and it was all these limiting beliefs that we had to work through together before anything else.

Narrowing Down Too Many Ideas

I also had a hundred ideas of what I wanted to do but didn’t know which direction to take. I didn’t know what to do or where to go. So when I saw a post of Kori’s, I reached out just for an informational one-on-one, and right after we started talking, I knew this would help me.

Working with Kori, we figured out the three career paths, HR  entrepreneurship and writing, that most aligned with me. After narrowing it down, I’m pleased to say that I’ll be moving into an HR  role within my company! The CEO and I have had conversations about it, and the transition is happening over the next few months.

The other two career paths we carved out, I can actively work those into a side hustle while still employed.

Narrowing it down to three focuses was huge for me because I had 100 different interests, so narrowing it down to three things was a revelation, and it has helped me focus and move forward. I’m happy to see how they all work together, and it’s not a coincidence we got there because we identified those skills and passions.

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs To Move Forward

I realized how important it is to believe in your capabilities and acknowledge your strengths instead of focusing on the things you don’t have yet or the things you don’t have experience in. That’s something that I was prone to doing myself.

I can see how my knowledge and skills are beneficial even though they might not directly relate to the next thing I’m doing. Realizing this helped me get clear on this HR role. So again, it comes back to overcoming the limiting beliefs and allowing myself to feel empowered.

How Jillian Made An Internal Career Transition

Getting to this place was about making an effort and giving myself a deadline. All of those little steps made a big difference and led me to the result of changing careers.

When I started this program, I knew the answer was out. Maybe it would be a new company, a new career path, or a new role. But, I couldn’t let myself settle. So, when I decided on the HR career path, we both saw a glaring opportunity to pursue it within my own company.

The company I am working for is a growing startup, which is exciting, but startups are unique because they don’t always have all the pieces together right from the beginning. However, I saw some HR things could be implemented, and my coworker and I felt empowered to start the Culture Club.

It started small, we got some traction, and our CEO got involved, and he was like, “this is great! We want this to go three times as fast and big!” And it snowballed from there, and now it’s a big part of our company. We are part of our company and town hall meetings every week. And after a few months of doing that, I was able to pitch to my CEO that I should move into a full-time HR  role because he saw what I could do, and we were working more at a high level. So he got to experience what it was like to work with me.

Conquering Fears To Make a Career Change

Reflecting on before I said yes to the program, I hesitated to join because I thought I might not have the time to commit and, of course, the financial investment. After all, it was 2020, and everything was scary. What if I invest in this and it doesn’t work? And then it’s all over, and I’m in the same situation where I’m unhappy. But, the program has a structure, so that reassured me because I’m someone who needs a system.

I’m glad I overcame my fears because now I am moving into my new role! I am still interested in pursuing my other paths; the idea of writing books, literature, and entrepreneurship. My secret dream is to own a bookstore somewhere, a tiny bookstore, and then have it somehow be profitable by doing podcasts or vlogs or something, so this year I’m going to be moving towards that side hustle goal by making either a podcast or a blog. I need to decide which one of those I want to commit to first.

Jillian’s Words of Advice

No one will change your situation or your life but you. So this is a significant investment that you can make yourself. For example, I had some mental blocks and needed someone’s help to work through them.

Still, once you can work through those, life and work become more manageable. And if you want work to be more accessible and your career to be a little easier, then work with Kori. She has the tools to help you figure out what you want and the accountability and resources to make the moves and changes quickly. But, on the other hand, if you keep waiting for the lightning bolt, you may be waiting forever. So get the support you need.

Watch Jillian’s Interview