3 Actions You Can Take Now to Accelerate Your Career Transition

Recently in my conversations with physicians who are exploring nonclinical careers, some have expressed frustration that​ the job search is going as well as they would like.

They feel like their time is already so limited and the time they are spending to find a nonclinical career seems like one dead end after another.

It can be disappointing to not see the results of your efforts when your time feels so limited. So what can you do to get better results? 

Here are 3 strategies that I share with my clients to help them get a better return on their investment of time and accelerate their career transition.

1. Create Priority Actions that are results-driven. When I meet/talk with practicing physicians who are looking to find their first nonclinical career, one of the questions I ask is what steps they’ve taken so far to land a new position. Many of them describe how busy they’ve been reading blogs, listening to podcasts, attending free webinars, etc. But, when we drill down to the basics, they aren’t taking meaningful action that will lead to the results they want...getting their foot in the door. There is a difference between passive action - consuming information and results-driven action - strategic, proactive steps that will move you forward on the path to your nonclinical career. One will keep you busy spinning your wheels and making little progress and the other will help you better leverage your time and get results. Remember, busyness doesn’t equal productivity.
   
   
2. Change Your Mindset. This one at first glance may seem unimportant, but it’s honestly the most important thing that will drive your success. If you believe there are no jobs out there for you, you will find evidence to prove that belief true. If you think that it’s hard to break into the nonclinical career industry, you will make it harder than it needs to be. Your thoughts and beliefs generate your feelings. You want to proactively create positive emotion to fuel the actions you take in your job search. If you are fueling your job search with feelings of desperation, confusion and self-doubt, your results will be very different than if you’re fueling it with feeling empowered, clear and self-confident. Start to notice the predominant patterns of thought present when you think about your job search. A few of the most common ones I hear are “This (applying for jobs) is exhausting”, “It’s hard getting rejected over and over again”, “There aren’t any jobs out there for (my specialty)”. Instead, substitute those thoughts with more empowering and affirmative ones - “My opportunity is out there waiting for me, I just need to find it”, “I earned a medical degree. I can do hard things and I can do this.”
   
   
3. Track Your Progress. One of my clients is a pediatrician who recently landed her dream job as a Medical Director with a top Clinical Research Organization (CRO). She shared with me that she created a tracker to help her stay organized with all of the moving parts involved in the job search. This helps you to be able to chart your progress on your job search journey and also evaluate what’s working, what’s not working and what’s missing. Incorporating regular periods for reflection and evaluation can help you tweak your strategy so that you can get results in less time.

Implementing one or more of these strategies can significantly accelerate your career transition. I suggest making plans to incorporate all three into your job search strategy. 

Which strategy will you start with this week?