Looking Back Series – Part II : The Move

Okay I wanted to make my move – but how do I go about it? I mean what should be the first step? But wait…what do I want to do in the first place?

These were the fist questions I had in mind as I began to prepare for My Move. The interesting question was I didn’t know where I was moving to. I mean I had some idea what I wanted to do but I really didn’t know how to start. I think the problem stem from a very simple question I had to face first – what do I really wanna know first of all?

And so I just thought for a while about that question. It was actually pretty hard for me to make a decision about what I wanted to do, let alone the kinda job I wanted.

The Nag

But another question was nagging in my head – what can I really do? You know its one of those questions where you ask yourself what else you can do apart from fixing a car or cooking or some other trade skill which you have been doing for so long that when it comes to time to do something else, you have no real idea and sense of what you want to do. I mean I have been in consulting for so long that to some degree if felt that was all I know. I mean conceptualizing plans, developing ideas and strategies and them implementing and executing them – that was all I had built over the years if you were to ask me what my trade was. How was a change management consultant of 7 years suppose to rebrand himself – and more importantly, what would he rebrand himself to?

I knew I just didn’t want to do IT though. Okay I guess that was a start. The whole idea of developing change plans and strategy for an IT project or implementation just bored me – develop a plan – execute a plan – refine the plan along the project progress – implement executed updated plan – close project – rinse and repeat. I was getting bored after having honed my craft for 7 years doing the same thing at different types of projects.

At the same time I was aware that you can’t possibly be happy in any job. There were good days and bad days. And that was the conversation conclusion I would have with my colleagues from work. Be happy at least you have a job and don’t complain so much which was kinda fine for me…if you become contended with the way of things. You just go through the motions of life, and off and on you get the occasional “chance” or “community chest” cards which throws you off  a little – for good or worse.

Can’t.Stay.Complacent

However I felt I still needed the move. I needed to see what was out there. Heck I myself wasn’t really sure what was out there. My current firm hardly ever spoke about life after consulting – which annoyed me a couple of other former peers of mine who have since left the firm – Talking about something other than consulting was considered taboo and raised alarms among the leadership and management team in the office. And as such, because of this lack of transparency, many like myself were not aware of what was out there.

And so I began to apply. I started things off my polishing my CV and updating it to make it more market relevant. I had to think back of all my projects and the work that I did in the last 5 years and make them “relevant” to the jobs I was going to apply to. I was looking at primarily non-consulting roles but more leaning towards HR – specifically around the areas of learning and development, training and if I was lucky….organization development…if I was lucky.  It’s hard to find OD jobs in the market simply because it’s a niche skill and not many companies are willing to invest in an OD position.

Giving it Up

Yes I was going to give up 7 years which I have built with the firm. I was going to give up the consulting life – the constant change, the ever changing growth experience which I was accustomed to all these years. I was going to give up all that for a steady job, a somewhat less-exciting career growth, and a predictable routine based career.  I was prepared for it in any case. I felt I had learnt enough and besides, as I would later reflect on my career experiences during my interview with my proposed job.

It would just be 1 week after I applied to various places for the jobs I was looking for that I would get my first…and only call from any recruiter. The first round was just to suss me and within 2 weeks after my first phone call in which the interviewer went through a battery of questions with me, I would get my first interview with my client. That’s the start of my shuffling back and forth.