What Is Your “Why”? **

The modern workplace has had a major overhaul since 2020, and that has allowed many of us to consider alternatives to traditional work schedules and practices. Personally, I’m a “schedule” person so I haven’t minded a traditional work schedule in the past, but as I get older, the things that matter to me have shifted. I want to be able to help my family more, and I want to explore writing as a career. Therefore, I’m more interested in non-traditional job opportunities that allow more scheduling flexibility. However, I will still need a regular schedule when I get back into the swing of things after Christmas because I’m just more comfortable and productive with a schedule.

During the Thanksgiving weekend, I couldn’t help thinking to myself, “Why am I doing this again?” I was running around like mad, and I was getting absolutely no writing done or work inquiries completed. It didn’t take long for God to remind me that I was doing exactly what I had planned on doing. I was helping my family and enjoying spending time with them during the holiday. As I get older, time with my parents, aunt, and brother becomes more valuable to me, and it will always be more important than work.

My “why” is spending time with my family and trying for my dream career. My “why” is the reason that I left jobs that I didn’t enjoy. My “why” is the reason that my relationships with my family are stronger and my health is better. I had to figure out my “why” before I could start seeing the opportunities available to me. If you are considering a career transition, contemplate the reasons.

When I first started preparing to leave the library field, I ran into two problems. I had no idea what I career field I wanted to move to, and I had no idea how to explain to other people how library work gave me skills to work in many other fields.

I began applying to any job indiscriminately without considering if I would actually be the right fit for the position. It took a handful of years for me to start looking at job descriptions and winnowing down the list by skill set and interest. Just because you can do a job doesn’t mean it is going to be a good fit. I was letting myself influenced by the “just take any job” crowd. Now, I try to be much more thoughtful about the jobs I apply for so I don’t waste my time, and I don’t want to waste the time of businesses who are looking for the right employees. It’s important to look at the job description and really ask yourself if this is something you see yourself doing for a long time because it’s only fair to the place where you are applying.

Like many fields, library work has its own language full of terms and acronyms that don’t translate immediately into other fields. My brother was a great help in “translating” my library resume into more generic terms, and this helped me see my library career in a new light. Now I can easily tailor my resumes to job opportunities when I find postings in which I am interested.

These things were actually very important to me in understanding my reasons for changing careers. As I refined my job preferences and how my library career applied to other fields, I began to understand what I was and wasn’t interested in for a new career. For instance, I have over 20 years of experience in customer service, and yet, when I redesigned my resume, I found myself putting my customer service experience further down. Epiphany! I was no longer interested in a job that centered on customer service. I still love helping people, but I don’t want to be on the front lines waiting on people anymore.

Figuring out your “why” will go a long way in narrowing down the career field and jobs that you are interested in so take some time to consider all the factors. Make a list. Talk it over with family and friends. Communicate with people in fields that are of interest to you. Take time to do the research. It won’t answer all the career transition questions, but it will give you a fixed point. Your “why” is the reason for the big move so take plenty of time to figure it out.

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Inspirational Verse for the Day:

“Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!.” Psalm 90:17 (ESV)