Figuring Out Your Next Career Move: 3 Pieces to Consider.

If you’re navigating where you want to go next in your career, it can be challenging to effectively communicate what you’re interested in doing next – especially if you aren’t clear on what type of work you’re looking for.

Here’s a simple 3-piece framework to break down what you’re interested in doing next:

1. The Role & Function

The role and function is a fancy way of saying what type of work you want to do within an organization. Do you want to be in marketing? Human resources? Research? Product management? It’s the job title. It could even be the department you’d like to work in, depending on the role.

2. The Level

The second piece is what type of level you want to be doing that role and function at. Levels are usually the words that go with the role and function in the job title. For example, Marketing Coordinator, Human Resources Director, Client Account Manager, or SVP of Research.

When sharing your job search criteria with others, it’s often helpful to share the level(s) you’re looking at so that if they see a job that could be a good fit, they’ll know if the level is right for you. Chances are if you’re in the middle manager level, there may be a few different level titles that could be the right fit and it probably depends on the size and scope of the organization. Someone with 15-20 years of experience might be looking for a Manager title in a large org like Apple (with a salary of ~$200,000). But in a smaller or less resourced organization, they might be looking for a Director or VP level title to have a comparable salary.

Every organization and industry is a little different – so there are no hard and fast rules. But in general, those with under 10 years of experience might be looking for Assistant, Coordinator, Associate, and Manager roles. After 10-20 years of experience, titles might shift to Manager, Director, VP, and SVP levels. After 20+ years of work, titles might include Director, VP, SVP, Managing Director, and C-suite level roles.

3. The Industry / Mission Area / Type of Organization

The last piece to consider is where you want to work.

For example, you might be interested in higher education, healthcare, architecture, direct service nonprofits, philanthropy, consulting, real estate, transportation, consumer product goods, fashion (I could go on and on…!)

And within most types of mission areas or industries, you’ve got large, medium and small sized organizations. There are for profit companies, and nonprofit organizations – and organizations that have both a for profit and nonprofit arm.

You might be open to many nonprofit missions, which could include environmental, healthcare,  racial justice, reproductive rights, electoral and so many other areas.

If you know you’re interested in the tech sector, you might consider what vertical you want to focus on. Examples of verticals might be Edtech, Climate tech, SaaS or Adtech. The tech sector is full of industry verticals; see this.

Some people find this last piece overwhelming - you might be interested in all kinds of missions and industries. Others have narrow criteria they feel strongly about. Either is fine! And if you’re not sure, that’s what networking is for.

Get More Clarity Through Networking  

From the above list, there might be some things that are clear, and a lot that’s fuzzy - that’s ok! Take what you feels clear, and then explore the other areas you’re not sure about through networking.

That might sound like:

“I’m interested in a VP level marketing role for my next career move, but I’m exploring a few different industries. I’ve been considering various tech verticals like health tech and Edtech. That’s why I’d like to talk with folks in those two areas to see what the trends and opportunities are in those verticals so I can decide where to focus my search.”

On the flip side – if, for example, you know you want to work at a nonprofit focusing on immigration issues, but you’ve got transferable skills that could play to a few different types of functions, your opening for networking might sound like:

“I’ve been in the nonprofit space working on immigration rights issues for 15+ years and I’m excited to continue doing this work. But I’m interested in shifting my role. Given my level of experience and my project management skills, I’ve been considering Chief Operating Officer or Chief of Staff roles. I’d love to talk to folks in these types of roles at nonprofits to understand what it’s like to do this work day-to-day.”

Remember!:
Networking isn’t something you do once you’ve figured out what you’re interested in. Networking is how you figure out what you’re interested in.

Depending on what you’re looking for clarity on, you might approach networking in many different ways (read this).

And for anyone who doesn’t find any clarity in the above three pieces, fear not. Start with your Bright Spots and start working from there.

But once again, for the cheap seats in the back!: Networking is what you do in order to get clear on what you want. So start with where you feel clear, and go from there.