What Should I Do Next?: A Quick Guide To Launching a Job Search Without an Existential Crisis

One of the most common questions I get is, “What should I do next?”

Many potential clients and readers assume that they’ve made a wrong decision when they find themself frustrated, overworked, or burned out.

It’s very easy to go down the path of blaming yourself and feeling like you’ve missed a chance to course correct.

If you’re looking to make a move sooner than later AND feeling uncertain about how to determine your next best steps, I hope this post will offer a practical way to approach your job search.

The truth is that you’ve changed, learned and evolved a lot.

Giving yourself permission to start there is a great first step!

Reframe your question…and your expectations.

You’re not supposed to know what to do with your life.

While some people have a singular professional focus, most of us don’t. And that’s okay.

But it does mean we need to shift from asking, “What am I going to do with my life?” to “What have I learned?” and ultimately, “What’s next?”

Giving yourself time to reflect and not putting pressure on knowing exactly the right thing and having all the right answers right away.

Give yourself permission to explore and be honest

Since most of us work because we literally need the paycheck, our skills, interests, and passions that feel impractical can take a back seat.

It’s not about running away to pursue your dream of becoming a writer (though it could be!). It’s about looking for opportunities that allow us to either use these skills at work or leave us with more time to nurture these passions outside of the office. We use exercises that help people get clear way faster than they ever thought possible – in part because we help give them permission to reflect and explore what they weren’t doing on their own.

Don’t dismiss what’s important. It’s a piece of the puzzle – we just have to be curious and flexible about where it goes.

Focus on self-reflection.

There are so many good writing prompts that can help you sort through the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to your experience so far…and where you see yourself going.

By doing a bit of writing about what we’ve learned and where we hope to go, we’re collecting information. When we do enough of this work, we’ll be able to notice some patterns and trends that we perhaps weren’t seeing before.

Many people tell me they feel “all over the place” when it comes to their careers, but once we get it on paper, we find themes and connections that help us see (and tell)  a more cohesive story.

It’s also not just about your job – it’s about your life and where you’re headed! What will your life look like in the next year, five years, or ten years? And how can your career support that? Here are some of my favorite questions.

Create a roadmap.

Clarity comes from taking action. Eventually, we’ll have to experiment and test some of our ideas and assumptions about the kind of jobs we think we’ll want.

Creating a roadmap for yourself, over the course of weeks and months, will help you manage your expectations and time for a job search. You can always make changes and adjust the course, but laying out a timeline, with additional questions to ask and explore, is a great way to start figuring out your next move. 

(If this feels overwhelming to do on your own, this is literally what we do when we work with our clients. We literally provide a job search road map for you – plus accountability, support, and fun along the way!)

There are lots of ways to answer these big career questions, but if you’re anything like me, figuring out a career that’s going to be a great fit also needs to be linear and efficient!