Step 1: Just Start!
Step 1: Just Start!
A journey of a 1000 miles begins with one step
By now, you’ve realized you want more out of your career than federal employ can offer. No longer content that it’s only 16 more years until retirement. Free from rules and regulations limiting personal initiative. Unbound by the yearly time-in-grade-promotion schedule.
A former colleague put it perfectly:
I feel like that part in the Matrix where Neo first sees the 1s and 0s. Now I can’t stop seeing it everywhere.
There are plenty of signs that it’s time to make the move. But, that initial step is daunting.
Apply for a job at a popular new start up or one of the FAANGs?
Brush up the resume?
Create a LinkedIn profile?
Contact a recruiter specializing in the tech sector?
Call a former colleagues now working in Silicon Valley?
The answer is YES! NOW! GO FOR IT!
For some people, like me, the process took more than a year. For others, including some of those I’ve helped, it happened in only a few weeks. The only commonality is the requirement for initiating action.
An important aspect of the beginning is a dedicated rear guard action on all negative talk. Shed the fear of failure. Reject the concern that your efforts won’t pan out and you’ll be stuck with your current job forever. Avoid, like the plague, coworkers who hold regular my-skills-aren’t-transferable-to-the-real-world pity parties.
These thoughts and temptations are antithetical to the quest on which you’re setting out. Don’t give in. Ever.
Instead, take that first step and start. Seek out like-minded people who will support your goal. Consume content that informs how to evolve your progress. Stay positive and focused.
Initially, you’ll likely have no idea of what company or what job to pursue. Don’t be discouraged. It’s not going to play out in the exact ways you want or imagine. But it will work out if you start. And it will stay the same if you don’t.
My next post will spell out how to begin this journey effectively and with purpose.
Want to dig deeper? Click on the following link to learn how I can turn your career-transition into a reality.