5 Ways to Prepare for a Career Change Before You Have to

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Sometimes career changes are intentional, but often they are forced by external circumstances. 

Even if you’re perfectly happy at your job, anything can happen—for better or for worse. For example:

• A layoff could catch you off guard.

• A new opportunity could come out of the blue.

• A big change, like a reorganization, could make you want to leave.

While it’s impossible prepare for every potential outcome, here are five things you can do now to position yourself for whatever the future may hold:

1. Think about what you may want to do next. Think about your current work. Which specific activities energize you? Which ones drain your energy? Make a list of the activities that you’d like to do more of in the future, and which ones you’d rather minimize. 
   
   (The authors of Designing Your Life have a free worksheet that you can use to log your daily activities and note when you feel engaged and/or energized.)
   

2. Cultivate your reputation. The more people who know of you outside of your current company, the better positioned you’ll be for new opportunities to find you. While you’re still at your job, look for ways to establish yourself as a thought leader or expert in your field. 

   • Say yes to speaking at conferences or on panels. If you haven’t been asked, look for opportunities to pitch yourself as a speaker, or volunteer to get involved in industry events. 

   • LinkedIn is a great resource. You can publish original articles, post existing articles with your comments, or simply begin by posting smart comments on others’ posts. 
     

3. Nurture your network. When you’re looking for a job, your network will be critical resource. But don’t want to reach out until you need something.
   
   Think about the relationships in your network like a garden. Before you can “harvest” your network by asking people for help, you’ll need to plant seeds, nurture and grow your garden. This means making the time for coffee or conversations without any agenda and always paying it forward by helping others with their job searches or making connections.
   

4. Take a course or obtain a certification. If your employer pays for professional development, take advantage of it. If there is a course, conference or certification that can help you grow in your future career, ask to build it into your professional development goals so that it doesn’t cost you anything.
   

5. Capture your accomplishments. Write down your wins and tangible results while they’re fresh in your mind. Use performance reviews, emails, documents and calendars to help jog your memory. Save as many examples of your work as possible to your personal files—you never know when they’ll come in handy.

Even when you’re not actively job searching, taking the actions above can help you stay in the driver’s seat of your own career, no matter what happens in the future. And remember, the best time to look for a job is when you don’t need one.