Reinventing Your Career

Audra Lowe: We’re almost two weeks into the New Year and the question here is have you kept those New Year's resolutions? Well here's a great one, why not reinvent your career? The New Year is a great time to make some changes and I sat down with “More” feature’s editor Nanette Varian and she's here to help us all get started. Nanette thank you so much for joining us. Good to have you here. Happy New Year to you as well. Nanette Varian: Oh Happy New Year. It’s great to be here. Audra Lowe: Now we’re talking about reinvention. Why is this such a good time to reinvent yourself as opposed to June, July, August or even at the end of the year? Nanette Varian: Well, I think everybody likes the natural starting point in a clean slate and of course the New Year is a good starting point and for those of us who have maybe have lost jobs in the bad economy last year of course that does make a natural jumping off point. Audra Lowe: Exactly. Nanette Varian: They go rethinking. Audra Lowe: And speaking of starting all over again too. When most people think of reinventing or even resolutions, the first that they think about is they are changing their job too. Nanette Varian: Right. Audra Lowe: Is it because you felt time over the holiday to think about it? Nanette Varian: I think so and I think that your job kind of bleeds into the rest of your life. So if you’re not happy with your job, it's going to affect your weight. It probably will affect your relationships. It's a good place to start looking. Audra Lowe: Okay, now in the magazine you guys gave a couple of steps. The first step that you say that we should take is to really ask yourself why you want to make the change, right? Nanette Varian: Well that's true and as I said, some people don't have a choice. You might have lost a job and you're thinking well as I move forward what do I want to look for or maybe you like your job but you don’t like your supervisors. So it's good to really think about what it is. Do you want more control? Maybe you want to be an entrepreneur. Do you want more creativity, more flexibility, more meaning, these were all the things that when we surveyed women over forty, we found more important to them. Audra Lowe: Are people looking for that perfect scenario though or should you be looking for your ideal? Nanette Varian: Well, I think that’s a good place to start. You think about what your ideal would be, why not? And what that job would entail and then start thinking realistically about your own strengths and weaknesses and what it would take for you to get there. Audra Lowe: Yeah. Nanette Varian: What kinds of skills you might need and then think about the people who might help you get there. Audra Lowe: And obviously like you said, you have to be honest with yourself about this whole thing from beginning to end. Nanette Varian: You have to be very honest with yourself and once you've figured out your ideal job, think about, “Okay, what would fit the specifics of what I need and what I want.” You think about people you might know who might know somebody who might know somebody who could help you get there and that's when you start going into the next step towards reinventing your job. Audra Lowe: Which is making a list really of the careers and the jobs that you want to jump into now that you have a list of people you want to be able to present them with what that is. Nanette Varian: Exactly, so you want to target the people who might be able to help you get a job and start reaching out to them. Audra Lowe: Okay. Now a lot of people do not want to ask for help. It's just tough especially when you're looking for a job. How do you overcome that fear? Nanette Varian: Well, first of all, asking for help it can't go badly. I mean the worst that can happen is someone won’t be able to help you but you'll know that you asked and you'll be glad that you did and also, people likes to help. I mean don't you feel good when you can help somebody. Audra Lowe: Absolutely, yeah. Nanette Varian: So that's the first step. It’s realizing that people often do want to be helpful and by the same token you need to give them something, maybe, “So can I take you for coffee?” or— Audra Lowe: Right. Nanette Varian: If you are a graphic designer, say “Hey I’ll volunteer to help you out with little something, with your work and maybe I can pick your brain a little bit.” So you always come to them with an offer. Audra Lowe: Thank you so much, Nanette. Nanette Varian: Than you. Audra Lowe: Good to have you here. Nanette Varian: It’s great to be here. Audra Lowe: All right and you guys can get more great ideas on reinventing yourself in the latest issue of More Magazine or as always you can log on to their website, More.com.