HBR Guide to Changing Your Career

by Harvard Business Review

Your next act starts now.

You're ready for something new, but it's hard to start over. Just the idea of trading the security you have now for the unknown or throwing away the education and time you've invested in your current career can plunge you into a swirl of indecision and anxiety. But mixing things up every few years is an increasingly normal and cyclical part of a healthy work life--a way to gain new skills and stretch your existing ones by applying them to different contexts.

Whether you know what you want to do next or you're still evaluating options, the HBR Guide to Changing Your Career will help

Imagine other professional selvesIdentify the skills you need--and those you already possess that will transfer to another industryAssess the financial implications of the change you're consideringTry out new roles without endangering your current jobExplain a seemingly winding career pathPitch yourself into a new role

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Self Help

178 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 17, 2018

Reviews

[Mark Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a while to read through the guide book in its entirety as many of the topics required deep reflection along the way. I was able to take away a lot of great ideas to help generate thoughts on areas I’d like to focus on moving forward. It really helped with self assessing where I’ve been and where I am now and I really needed that in order to figure out where to go in the future. As we get older and wiser, our wants and desires change from a career perspective and that’s okay. What drove me in my twenties is nothing like what drives me now in my late thirties. Would recommend for anyone looking for idea generation on future career paths for themselves and those who feel like something is missing in your current career! Helped me appreciate the good things about my current career and shined a light on the things I wasn’t able to articulate as reasons I’d consider a change.

[Stuti Prasad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very insightful and reflective book. This gave me the opportunity to explore the nuances and value assessment. We all should read this book at least once in our lives to recollect where we stand in our careers and if we want to take further steps to change our career.

This book took me 1 month to complete. The ideas, stories and.inspiration are incredible. They make you question your own desires and aspirations. And what do you want to do to bring it to life?
Sit with a notebook and pen and pen down the thoughts simultaneously. This is the best way to incorporate learnings into our lives. By looking for answers within ourselves. Utilising mental models as a tool to learn about our best and worst careers.

Ways to break down challenges and make them achievable goals. The new area requires new skills which should our first step towards moving towards it. Test, Discover and Adapt to the change.

Identify the themes your life is around. Going back to childhood. Reconnecting with family and friends to know more. And then make a brilliant story about ourselves. Using LinkedIn to leverage our professional lives.
We can always have two careers one is which we have and other is the one we want. Change is always constant and the more we keep changing we will see how far we have reached and achieved in our lives.
Overall, this is a transformational book. With all the tool which will lead us to think and re-evaluate our situations and make a concurrent plan for the same. It's a very good read for people who want to make a career change and it helps you evaluate all aspects around it.

[Singalongalong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one I feel a bit embarrassed to read. I feel like I've done 100 different versions of life design mapping, self retreats, ideation sessions, mentor convos, peers input etc, all tools in the toolbook's been used (ok 100 is an exaggeration) in order to crack this nut of constant vocational doubts/burnout/misfitfatigue or just plain despair at the state of the world/mycommunities/self, fundamnetally grinding against the kind of hope needed to carry on work with social implications.. All past exercises wwre sensible but only mildly helpful in creating some lasting kind change (or the core transformation i might be needing). Still, some of the practical suggestions in these articles felt like a helpful chat with a friend over lunch. Also helped to normalize and accept some (emphasis on some) of the lost-at-sea 'midlife' crisis that keeps hitting, as natural part of the process.

[Dew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book word by word, line by line, and page by page. It's the first book related to professional life that I've found helpful. The short yet consice articles by various authors from different specialities were all interesting and gave me such a good insight on many aspects of my career. I even followed this book by making a ppt presentation combining the most important ideas, and what I thought about them.

This won't be the last book I would read in this series. Looking forward for it!

[Mara Grimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some great and practical advice on how to reinvent yourself. I was recently laid off from a job I’d been at for 14 years- no warning. The stories and experience of others gives me strength and hope for a better future. I am exactly where I am supposed to be and have lots of creative ideas on moving forward.

[Lisa HEFLIN · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is an easy read. You can skip chapters or read the book in its entirety. Either way, you will get a lot of good advice and positive vibes towards your career change goals. I started reading as I have "retired" (walk away from) teaching this year and have been struggling to figure out "what's next". The book gave me some good advice and I use it as a reference when I need.

[Moupiya Ukil · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent compilation of essays on tips and experiences on switching careers. It's both inspiring and scary in a good way. These essays can help one create an index with clarity and evaluate pros and cons of switching careers.

[Jeffrey Ning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical guide to changing your career. Each section strikes me as standalone even if you are picky reader zooming in on the gist of your contention.

Its presentation allows you to digest the contents with ease and empowers you to take action. It falls entirely on you to do so or not.

[The Suburban Eclectic · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guide is a decent “first look” for anyone contemplating career change, but for more info you’ll need something more substantial. It reminds me of list sets with footnotes to look elsewhere.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice bite-sized bite-sized readings with some useful ideas.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful not just for job changers but also for people who want to set new developmental goals and try new directions at work. Easy read and clear would recommend

[Matthew Deen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm happy to have a paper copy of this book stowed on my bookshelf because there's some solid information and strategies that can be implemented over a period of time. Very re-readable, great projects to get what you want and how to get there onto a tangible and decipherable page. I've jumped around from chapter to chapter for where I am in my career and I know when I start making moves ill have the book right next to me.