When Considering Career Expansion...

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From the over-saturation of your field to the excitement of what lies beyond, the signals are everywhere; it is time for you to consider a career expansion! As easy as it sounds, moving forward in your career can prove to be a tall mountain to climb after all, there are so many questions to consider. 
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                                                                 “Where do I begin?” 
                                                           “How do I get about this?” 
                                                              “Will I be able to do it?” 

Here are 3 simple tips for you to consider!

#1. Adopt an Expansive Mindset
    You have probably heard this far too many times than you would care to but the MIND is the most powerful tool you possess. When set on a view, the mind is able to transcend preferences, learned facts and even intellectual opinions. Kelly McGonigal in her research about mindset science shows how a single brief intervention designed to change how you think about something can improve almost all aspects of life such as happiness and success even for years to come.
In the same way, your mind changes your capabilities. Science has proven it and we have heard of many stories that prove its virtue. Push boundaries and challenge norms! The belief that one will succeed is the engine that inspires the efforts needed to overcome obstacles and achieve goals (Schulman, 1999)

#2. Grow into another role
    Career paths are constantly evolving to become more interlinked than we give it credit to be. Just as there are milestones to achieve before levelling up in a game, whatever you go through now will be a valuable skill set for you moving forward. A good strategy is to find something that takes advantage of your current skills but takes you in the direction you want to go in. For example, working in a recruiting firm (a-hem) equips you with skills and networks for an HR position in corporate. This process often requires a “bridge” to get from where you are to where you want to go. It is in many cases impractical and impossible to just quit a job for some length of time and retrain yourself for a new role and a more gradual transition may be needed. What and how exactly is up for you to decide. What will you set yourself to learn today? What do you want to acquire in light of your long-term goal? A good rule-of-thumb is that you should always think at least two jobs ahead of where you are.


#3. Challenge another field
    This is where it gets uncomfortable. No doubt, when you have been handling marketing in the F&B industry for so long, venturing into IT for example’s sake is a whole new challenge. Relearning terminology, reevaluating the market topped off with all the other nitty gritty details that comes with venturing into another field; it all seems like a tantalizing task. But then again, when have we ever stopped learning? Was there a day where you did not have to evaluate your work or the situation that you are in? What consists of your day-to-day job is more than just doing your job. Every day you are learning, or at least you should be. Your educational background does not define your career choice; nothing is set in stone unless you make it to be. 
Here is the heart of the matter, there is nothing new that happens under the sun. Situations may be packaged differently but it is at its crux- the same. Remember when you had to graduate from primary school to enroll into secondary school? Remember when subjects from Arts and Music transitioned into Additional Mathematics and Physics? Remember when you had to pick-up procedures, tactics, soft skills and so forth on-the-job to get to where you are today?


    To confront the rapidly-evolving world around us, we should embrace growth to avoid career stagnation. In today’s work climate, there is no room for reluctance as the world itself is constantly innovating. Inability to expand beyond oneself is career suicide. Feelings of fear and hesitation however are normal and validated. After all, the first step is always the hardest to take.These tips are by no means another exhaustive list of to-dos nor are they formulas that you must follow to attain desired results. Rather than providing a one-size-fits-all solution (which will not work as each individual has their own unique opportunities), we hope this serves to be a reflective self-evaluation where there is doubt, especially for when the opportunity arises to count the cost and rise to the challenge 

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PositiveLinks is a boutique executive search firm based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Manilla, Philippines that has worked with clients based in South-East Asia, North Asia and Europe. Our recruitment philosophy has been always placing our clients and candidates first in the recruitment process; not our self interest nor the search fees. We keep the main thing, the main thing.
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