Episode 10 Why It's Painful to Switch Career?

Well, in the first place, why this obvious fact is worth questioning? It's like, why bother prove 1+1=2? I will let you know later.

Let's say, Cherry is a career switcher. The difficulties are multi-layer.

First, as a career switcher, Cherry lacks an ocean of knowledge and experience that the guys in her destination industry almost take for granted. So she has a lot of gaps to close.

To make things worth, when she reaches out to people, trying hard to close gaps, in all these coffee chats and phone calls, as an outsider, it can be hard for her to provide "useful" stuffs in return. This makes their relationship shallow, and conversation dry.

It's very like the nature of a Product Manager job in Tech: PM needs to lead without authority (PM has to "lead" designers, engineers, and other stakeholders, but these stakeholders are not obliged to work for him); a career switcher needs to obtain help with little stuff to exchange.

So, how can Cherry make it less painful?

Find sth to exchange!
Can be...
1) be part of her helper's life: share common hobbies? be roommate of one of them?
2) share interesting news: a newly published biography of an industry leader?
3) share insights at the intersection of her original domain
4) can be anything... Cherry needs to be creative and find her own way

So, back to the first question. Why it's meaningful to question an obvious fact? Because only when we see through the root cause of this pain, we have the chance to get fundamental solutions.

After Cherry becomes skillful in getting help with little to exchange, or put into other words, creative way as exchange (四两拨千斤), hopefully she will be better at leadership without authority, than the people who didn't go through this pain.

The journey is the reward.

Hope you don't waste it. Hope you enjoy it.