Are you unhappy at work and looking to change career? Are you a mum returning to work but wanting to move into a different industry?
Changing careers can be liberating, exhilarating or downright terrifying (or somewhere in between). Often what we need most is a steadfast belief in ourselves that we can do it, before and after we make the change.
Anna-Marie Ferguson (picture below, LinkedIn Profile) is Head of Group Employee and External Digital Engagement at Sky. Anna started off her career at Thames Valley Police in the Crime Incident Management Unit. She then moved to Sky where she has had several roles including Head of Commercial Policing and Brand Protection and Head of Internal Digital Estate.
Anna talks about how she changed careers and shares her experience, advice and learnings.
What Advice Would You Give Someone Who Is Wanting To Change Career?
Be Bold
You have got to be really bold and remember that no-body knows everything. I think men are a lot better at being bold and they look at a job spec and go, ‘I can do 10% of that, the other 90% I’ll wing and I’ll be able to do this role’ and they apply. Women, on the other hand, look at a job spec and say, ‘I can only do 10%, it’s going to torture me that I don’t know how to do the rest, maybe I shouldn’t apply’.
We have to be bold as we are all much more capable than we give ourselves credit for.
The Things You Don’t Know, You Will Learn
The thing about a brand new job is that nobody knows how to do it. When you start a new role, you don’t really know what you are going into, you can’t possible foresee that. You have to take a chance, be bold and assume that the things you don’t know, you will learn and the things you do know, you will be able to use in that role.
No-one is in a better position to do it and if you believe that, you are in a really strong position walking in that door!
Remember We Spend A Lot Of Our Career Not Knowing Everything
We are constantly learning and fundamentally we spend a lot of our career not being able to do the whole of our role. The minute you get it down to pat and it’s working beautifully, someone comes along and says, ‘let’s move her onto something else!’ and you start over again.
If we change roles in our current organisation, we are less scared of that. For some reason, when we are looking to change career that seems like the biggest deal in the world. And, it shouldn’t be and it shouldn’t feel any different.
Fake It Till You Make It
There is an element of being bold as you can kind of fake it till you make it. You can get into a role and pick it up really quickly by doing it.
You’re Not Meant To Know Everything – Get Comfortable With This
Men’s coping mechanisms are different to ours. They are more likely to ‘bluff with bullshit’ until they can go away and find the answer. I would say that if you don’t know something, admit it and say, ‘I need to go away and find this out’. There is nothing wrong in saying that; it’s perfectly acceptable. You’re not meant to know everything but you can go away, find it out and next time round you will know.
What’s The Hardest Thing You Have Had To Overcome With Changing Careers?
What’s The Hardest Thing You Have Had To Overcome With Changing Careers?It’s learning new areas. When I moved into Sky, it was a legally heavy role and I was suddenly immersed into this world of copyright legislation and I was a complete novice in that space. I had to learn a whole new language really quickly. Again, when I moved into Digital, I was suddenly in bed with the Dev teams and Tech teams and they speak another language.
It was daunting. But I am a year and 1 month in and I can now challenge those developers on really complex technical solutions and whilst I don’t know it all (I’m not expected to as it’s not my job), what you pick up is unbelievable.
When I changed roles, I wanted a new challenge and I wanted something I could get my teeth into and get excited about, to give me another string to my bow and boy did that happen! It was harder than I expected but it’s still developing.
So, How Did You Tackle This?
You have to realise that there will be moments when you are petrified. There are quick wins to be had, for example, when you begin to talk about API’s and integration and understand what you’re saying. Take a moment, be proud of yourself. This gives you the confidence to carry on.
You can go and learn and do courses, too. You can immerse yourself and bring your knowledge up.
Also, be confident and ask questions. Be honest and own that fact that you don’t have all the answers and that you have come from a different role. Ask people to help you because they really like to do that. And it helps develop great relationships with the people you are working with.
What Questions Should You Ask Before Making A Career Change?
It’s important to understand why you are looking to change career. What is it that you are actually looking to get out of it? Is it about an advancement or more money or a new challenge or a new area that you are fascinated in? And be honest in your answer. If you’re looking for more money and you like what you’re doing, then go and find a role at the next level.
If it’s something entirely new that you are looking to get into, you need to make sure that you are in a position to be able to commit to it. Knowing that it’s not going to be easy and it may take over quite a lot of your life for 6-12 months; that’s really important. It takes a lot out of you moving into a new area and you need to be aware of that.
What Has Surprised You About Making These Career Changes?
The same things that I have had to overcome have surprised me. Learning these new languages, new skills and tools, has been scary but it’s amazing how quickly you can pick things up.
Building credibility is easier than you think, if you’re honest about where you are and what you understand. As your knowledge develops, you become even more credible as people have been on the journey with you.
I had an amazing group of people around me in my previous roles and suddenly I was having to start from scratch again. Incredibly though, in less than a year I realised how big my new network had become again. And also, some of the people from my old network have been really helpful too.
Thanks to Anna for all her tips.
