on this episode
Have you ever had a role that had one focus and then morphed into something else over time? The role fits your resume and past experience, but when you realize that it doesn’t really fit you and your strengths any longer, what do you do?
In less than 2 years, Nick’s customer service role began to change to be more of a sales role – which did not fit him. He explains how he went from uncovering his strengths, to making connections and having conversations to learn what roles could fit him, and finally landing a role that actually plays to his strengths.
What you’ll learn
- What you can do when your role no longer fits you
- How to change to completely different career, without starting all over again
- The importance of informational interviews to find out what the possible ideal roles are for you
- How identifying your strengths and wants, can give you clarity and control
Success Stories
“It’s hard to find something that fits, that’s why so many people change careers. When I finally understood my strengths and how I could apply them it all made sense. It just made it easier to see what types of jobs and roles would fit me. In my new career I get to do the marketing that I love with a company I’m excited about.”
Kirby Verceles, Sales & Marketing Director
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I’ve been offered the job! It was great having the opportunity to speak with you prior to my interview. It enabled me to highlight my strengths as part of the conversation and I was able to be clear about my enthusiasm for opportunities to be proactive versus reactive. I also highlighted my desire to provide positive individual experiences. Our discussion not only assisted me in the interview but it also helped to increase my confidence!
Bree Hunter, Project Officer, Australia
Get the Full Backstory
All the stars aligned and I ended up finding the right thing at the right place at the right time, and it was you guys! Everything that you said was speaking to me and the things that you had done in the job that you had transitioned out of and into. Also how finding work that you love is your passion for people! Honestly, it was you Scott, I mean, the way that you talked about it, how passionate you were, I was like, there's no way he's gonna put out a faulty product. So I'm gonna try it, you know… I recommend you to all my friends, you know, even if they don't realize that they're looking for a new job, I'm like this is the first step, let's do this! Even if you maybe don't move out of this career. This is going to help!
Maggie Romanovich, Director of Learning and Development, United States/Canada
Scott has been a tremendous help in bringing focus to my business. Scott enlightened my path towards concentrating on my strengths and doing what I love. I recommend Scott Anthony Barlow to anyone who wants clarity about what they should be doing, and the next step to make your business successful.
Jody Maberry, Began Copywriting & Marketing Business, United States/Canada
Get the Full Backstory
Nick Neves 00:01
I've kind of honed in on accounting and really matched up with a lot of my strengths. You know, I like the structure, I like working with numbers, all that stuff, you know, I like routine. So going off of that, I trust in my strengths and saying, "Okay, I think this is a good place to start" and kind of pursue that. That was a main role that I was really looking at. As I went along, I realized I had to do a slight pivot.
Introduction 00:26
This is the Happen To Your Career podcast, with Scott Anthony Barlow. We help you stop doing work that doesn't fit you, figure out what does and make it happen. We help you define the work that's unapologetically you, and then go get it. If you're ready to make a change, keep listening. Here's Scott. Here's Scott. Here's Scott.
Scott Anthony Barlow 00:50
A long time ago, I used to work for Target. And I did Human Resource Management and Leadership for Target. And it was a pretty wonderful opportunity. I loved the company, they took great care of me, much of the leadership training that I got and have to this day, came from Target putting time and money and effort into me. So I'm forever appreciative of that. Also, at the same time, I was working for them. And they decided that they wanted to move their HR that supported stores more and more and more into the stores and more into the standard retail environment. Now, that was exactly the right decision for them. But it really wasn't that great for me, to be honest. And that's something that I have seen over and over and over again, where people go through, they get a job, it's amazing opportunity. And then the company changes or evolves into something else. And it's no longer amazing. It's not even awesome. It's the opposite of that. That happens.
Nick Neves 02:10
I was in a job working in customer success, which for those who don't know, it's kind of like customer support, with like a little bit of sales mixed in. And I was doing this job, it was kind of morphing more into a sales role. There's a lot of pressure to kind of move into, like a sales type role, which is just not for me.
Scott Anthony Barlow 02:28
That's Nick. In less than two years[a], his Customer Success role began to change to, well, being almost all a sales role. And as it began to uncover his strengths and define what he really wanted in life, he knew that he had to make a change. But how do you move from a role that's no longer ideal to one that actually uses your strengths? Alright, well, spoiler alert, Nick does a really nice job of this. And as you heard in the introduction, he actually transitions to accounting. And I want you to listen for how that took place, how that actually happened. But let's start out with Nick explaining here, how he went from uncovering the strengths to making connections and having conversations to learn what roles could fit him and finally, landing in a role that does play to his strengths.
Nick Neves 03:18
I was in a job working in customer success, which for those who don't know, it's kind of like customer support, with like a little bit of sales mixed in. And I was doing this job, it was kind of morphing more into a sales role. There's a lot of pressure to kind of move into, like a sales type role, which is just not for me.
Scott Anthony Barlow 03:35
Why is that? I'm super curious.
Nick Neves 03:37
My own personality, I don't think, you know, I'm more of an introverted kind of behind the scenes, analytical thinker. I like doing more the operational stuff versus, you know, just hammering phones all day, filling your day with talking to people, you know, I didn't want the success of my job to be determined by things that just I didn't want to do, or I wasn't come for with with. That's why I, you know, this isn't sustainable for me. And there was a, you know, a couple other things too, with just the way the company was, the culture, you know, there's a multitude of different reasons, but that was the biggest reason for me, it just did not feel like the right fit. Even it was confirmed with meetings with my manager, kind of yearly reviews and things like that. She's like, "You're a great team player, people love you on the team, but like really need you to be more, you know, like this person" and compared me to like our top salesperson, I'm like, I will never be like that person ever. So I was like, if they want me to be this type of person, then they hire the wrong person. And that I was okay with that. Because at first when I was doing the job, I was... my confidence took it and I definitely, that resonated with, you know, a lot of your previous podcast guests, I heard you talk about that. And I was like, I totally understand, you know, where they're coming from, where you think you're just not doing a good job and all that. And you realize, okay, it's really, you know, this isn't working out and I could totally excel with doing something that's more of a natural fit. So that's where I started, I was in customer success, and then ultimately led me to working in finance so I can kind of get into the transition of that because I know it's kind of complete one.
Scott Anthony Barlow 05:01
Well, let me ask you first about that stage where you were in this customer success type role, and clearly it was outside of your, not just comfort zone, but also, in many ways, it is requiring you to be a ton of who you are not and also didn't want to be. But I think as you mentioned, so many people will be in that situation, and they will say, "I should be able to do this or I..." they end up beating up on themselves in one way or another.
Nick Neves 05:31
Exactly.
Scott Anthony Barlow 05:32
And impacts confidence. So what allowed you to get to the point where you realize that you were okay with it, because I also heard you say, "Hey, I was okay with that at some point." But what took place for you to get to that point where you realize, look, it's just a wrong fit.
Nick Neves 05:45
Yeah, that's a great, you know, great question. And just, you know, put myself back into that scenario, right. And that's exactly how I felt first, I was in the job for maybe two to three years[b], first year, I've definitely beat myself up, you know, thinking I'm not doing a good job here. You know, that feeling continued. But I think the turning point was when I started really sitting down and putting in the time and effort to figure out what why this wasn't a good fit. You know, I took, initially, before I found Happen To Your Career, I took, you know, the Myers Briggs test, which was super helpful. Pairing that with the personality test, the strength test that you guys do as well. And then, you know, I ultimately stumbled upon you guys. And in some of the eight day mini course, and all that stuff that was... that free exercise, kind of, put everything into perspective for me. It made me realize, like, you know, there are strengths and weaknesses to a person. And sometimes it's just a square peg in a round hole, right. And that just slowly, it wasn't like an overnight thing, right? It definitely took some weeks to kind of figure that out. And then, you know, as I continued with the job, like I said, you know, had those meetings with my manager, was telling me, "Why you become this person?" I knew I wasn't going to become that person. So that's when it really clicked for me. And I was just like, "Okay, I should be able to do a different job. And even further along, through the career change bootcamp program, you know, you always have a little bit of doubt here and there as you're going through, right, especially at the beginning, but as I did the interviewing process of other people, in other roles, departments that I was interested in, and I would ask them, like, what does a successful person look like in this role, what personality traits fit a type of person in this role that confirms to me that I am moving in the right direction and looking for the right jobs, and I can be successful and build my confidence back up.
Scott Anthony Barlow 07:23
Let me ask you about that just for a little bit of background for everyone else, you know, one of the things that we'll often do is help people design many experiments, where you sometimes are having conversations, and I think that's probably the part that you're referring to, where you're looking at a variety of different roles and trying to confirm that those might be potentially a direction for you. So what were some of those roles that you were looking at, that you were talking to people about at the time? Just curious
Nick Neves 07:51
It started off very broadly, but then eventually got a little more itch. I actually connected with someone else who is in the program, actually, and he worked in accounting previously. And turns out, we had a lot of the same strengths. So I was like, he'd probably be a great person to talk to, get a perspective on, you know, using the job, he has the same strengths, would it be a good fit for me, I kind of honed in on accounting, and really matched up with a lot of my strengths. And I like the structure. I like working with numbers, all that stuff, you know, I like routine. So going off of that I trust in my strengths and saying, "Okay, I think this is a good place to start" and kind of pursued that. That was a main rule that I was really looking at, as I went along, I realized I had to do a slight pivot where, you know, accounting, it's tough to get into if you don't have the degree and all that stuff. So I was kind of hitting roadblocks there. But I was able to find a way to kind of get my foot in the door, almost like a stepping stone into accounting, which is the role man now[c], which is called order operations. It's got a lot of different names in different companies that basically you're the middleman between sales and accounting and finance. So it was great, you know, fit my background working in sales and customer support. But I'm kind of moving away to a different side of the house that I want to move into. You know, so our long winded question probably went off topic there twice.
Scott Anthony Barlow 09:03
This is great, because a couple things that aren't always obvious when we talk about these types of transitions, because you've done a great job making this type of pivot. And I think so many people would not even realize that it's possible to make that severe of a change, I'm gonna call that severe for just a second, severe in the best possible way. If your sounds sometimes like a negative word, but I mean, in a really, really positive way that different that almost 180 type of a change. And one of the ways that you have found to do that is by heavily leveraging, not just your strengths, but also your past experiences too. And I think that gets so undervalued as a portion of this process, because I think so many people hear these types of podcasts or they recognize the need to do something different. And then think, well, I need to make this 190 type of change. I'm going to be a scuba diver or something like that. Like it's gonna be that drastic change in one way or another and that tendency is to say, "Okay, I'm going to, like, magic it to happen." And that's not how it works in reality. And in reality, it happens much more like you have done where we are heavily leveraging those things that you're bringing to the table. In this case, you had some amazing experiences in both sales, even though that's not what you wanted to do forever, but also customer success. And also a lot of the pieces that come along with that the skill sets that come along with that, too. And so, one really nice job into. What were you gonna say?
Nick Neves 10:34
Thank you. No, I was just gonna say before I forget, that really reminds me of and I didn't really realize it at the time, like you said, you're making that big change, and you're like, I don't even know if I have the transferable skills, or all that. Number one, I help talking to people to figure out what are the transferable skills, you know. The interview is huge, it was so helpful, just to get a sense of everything, you know, to actually talk to people in the jobs, it makes you realize, okay, you know, if you're just looking at job descriptions all day, you know, it gets kind of just monotonous. And you can kind of hit a wall there. So for me, it was... I was really able to figure out, "Okay, I don't have the accounting background, but I definitely have transferable skills, work with Excel a ton, and I've done process improvements, which is big in that field in my job, that's what I enjoyed doing that. So once you started talking to people, you realize, okay, this is a little more doable than I thought and Mo was beyond helpful in helping me kind of reshape my resume, reshape my cover letters, all that. And I actually ended up getting a lot of... Yeah, sorry, my coach Mo, he, you know, I ended up getting a lot of compliments from people, even if I didn't end up getting the job, they were like, you know, your resume looks like an accounting resume, I'm surprised you haven't had an experience in that field. So that was just a good confirmation there that, you know, I was doing it the right way. And, you know, it ultimately worked out.
Scott Anthony Barlow 11:49
That is awesome. I want to dig into a few of those pieces here for just a minute because it did ultimately work out when we're talking about like nine plus months[d] or so of work, to make it ultimately work out. And, you know, you mentioned some of those conversations that you were having very often, you know, when we think about making a change, depending on what people decide, they need is what is most valuable to them, you know what their goal is, and making this change that can often dictate whether you focus on roles first, or whether you focus on organizations or environments first. For you, it was much more about roles. And so you started having some of those conversations. But I'm curious, can you describe a couple of those conversations and what those actually looked like, what led up to them, how you got to chat with a couple of those people and what even talked about during some of those conversations?
Nick Neves 12:39
Going back, I definitely remember struggling with the roles versus organizations debacle. And I thought, well, maybe I could do both, I can look for roles within industries that are interesting to me, you know, I was looking, I'm a big sports fan, you know, I love golf. So there's a couple, you know, golf manufacturing companies and sports manufacturing companies around Boston, I was looking at those. And I ultimately decided that, for me, I think the role was just more important just because maybe it was the nature of the job itself, like with accounting and finance are, kind of, just you're doing accounting and finance in the back office, and it's kind of just that, right? I think if someone was moving into, like, customer success, or something else like that, where you're, kind of, on the front lines of the industry, you might look for companies and put an emphasis on that. So I think it really depends on the role. So for me through conversations with people, it didn't really seem like it was that different industry to industry, I didn't want to move to, like, a massive company. But in terms of, like, the industry, I was like, I'm kind of industry agnostic at this point. I kind of started there, figured that out. And like I said, talking to other people through the informational interviews, you know, kind of opened that up, and even also doing some meetings with Phillip, one of the other coaches, even though he wasn't my assigned coach, he set up what I think were called accountability groups at the time. I don't know if you guys are calling him from different now. But being able to talk to him and other people who were going through the career change process on the call, we were able to bounce ideas back and forth when I would explain to them hey, I'm kind of struggling with this. Do I go with companies roles? Do I focus on industry? So they were able to kind of help me talk through that, ultimately decided that, you know, roles was kind of the way to go for me. So that was another helpful thing too, is to have, not only my coach Mo, but also just the community itself is very helpful.
Scott Anthony Barlow 14:26
That's amazing. It makes me really happy for so many different reasons. I think it's probably useful to acknowledge here that this progression, I'm going to call it a progression, is always so much easier when you're looking backwards. You and I were chatting at the very beginning of our conversation, I think before we even hit the record button about how you were trying to get yourself back into the mindset of what life was like, you know, a year ago[e] at this time when you were starting to really think about making this change and starting to really move on that. But it's been a year since that point in time and it was definitely no small amount of work and one of the things that I heard you say earlier was, "Hey, I had a conversation with another person who was working with HTYC. And they had a past background in accounting. And that's what led to me affirming that this could be something that I take a really close look at. And then that led to other conversations that you had where you were taking tidbits away for different types of roles, which led to the next thing, which led to the next thing, which led to the next thing. And ultimately, only then after nine months[f] of breadcrumbs, if you want to call it that, following each of those little bit breadcrumbs led to the actual opportunity. So the question that I wanted to ask you there is, that's a lot of different pieces to be able to make this happen for yourself, and you've done a great job with that. But what were some of the hardest parts of that process for you?
Nick Neves 15:52
I would say what definitely helped me was the whole structure of it, you know, having the modules to go through, you kind of had a look ahead, you knew what to expect, I mean, not totally knew what to expect in terms of the program and what you were going to be working on. So I really liked the structure. So I'd recommend people if you like having that structure, it definitely helps. But the parts where I, you know, it sounds like it was a seamless transition, right. And now I'm here a year later[g] whom I have a new job. But I'd say that, you know, the hardest parts were, you know, like we discussed before, grappling with the... where do I even focus on, do I focus on roles, or focus on industries? Do I focus on companies like, you know, some people might be looking to move and they just don't care about location, that throws a whole nother wrench into everything. So I think the way you guys do it, we're, you know, kind of talked about building that frame, right, and putting the pieces of puzzle together. Another thing too, that was really helpful was building out your kind of life profile, if you will. So you kind of put like parameters around what you're looking for, to make everything kind of less daunting, right. So you kind of have indicators or parameters, you know, of what you want to look for. So you're not casting such a wide net, that you're overwhelmed. So that, at first, it was overwhelming, but it was able to kind of hone in from there. And then, you know, I think a little bit further down the road once, you know, I started interviewing and all of that, that's, you know, you deal with rejection a lot, too. You know, you don't always get, you know, you don't always get... you feel like you found a really good fit. And you made a really good case of why you should, you know, why you're able to make this change and why you fit in the know, you know, you might not have the traditional background and you do everything you can and you might not get the job. So...
Scott Anthony Barlow 17:31
Were there an example of where that happened for you?
Nick Neves 17:33
Yeah, a couple thoughts, you know, there was kind of some entry level accounting jobs where, you know, I was able to network my way into those jobs. So way more effective, I think, than just going on job boards, right. So I was like, I already have and in here[h]. And that person, whether they're just being polite, or whatever, maybe they think you're a great fit, and they pass along your resume, you know, I worked with my coach Mo, super helpful in helping me build my resume, tailor it to each and every job that I was doing, tailoring my interview prep and my cover letters and all that stuff. That's all super prepared, and very confident that I would at least get a call back, you know, for a lot of the jobs, right? A lot of them I did, which, looking back, it's like, well, you're moving into a totally new field where you don't have accounting degrees and all that stuff. So you know, I get it, but I'm...
Scott Anthony Barlow 18:22
Well, I think that there's another element there too. I would argue that that actually worked out so much better for you. Even the rejection sucks, like that is a... where you ended up, at least from the outside looking in, appears to be a far better match than starting in, you know, beginning accounting, because you bring a lot more to the table, you have so much more experience and skill sets than just starting from the beginning. So...
Nick Neves 18:48
Yeah, absolutely.
Scott Anthony Barlow 18:49
That actually is allowing the process to work even though it doesn't always feel good in the moment.
Nick Neves 18:54
Yeah, and I think at the time, I don't even know the job and now was a job. So, you know, I was really just searching for kind of those entry level accounting jobs, like, maybe I'll have to take a pay cut, I really don't want to. There's other kind of entry level accounting jobs that a lot of people were frequently recommending, you know, accounts payable, accounts receivable, just stuff like that. And I was like, I would be willing to kind of grind it out and do those jobs. But it's part of my life profile, if you will, was that I wanted to be making the same amount of money or more, which is kind of, you know, if you're going to put in the effort to go through this whole career change process, you want to be able to have that kind of same salary. So especially in Boston, where things are pricey. Sorry, I'm losing my train of thought here. But yeah, I didn't even know that was a job. Through my conversations with people, I found out that, hey, this could be a good fit to kind of make that transition. So again, like talking to people and networking, even though it can be uncomfortable at times, people were way friendlier than I was expecting even just random people on one day and I was stalking so many people on LinkedIn, sending so many messages, and a lot of people did respond were super helpful, you know, I'd never met them before. We want to jump on the phone and, you know, being able to do all that while working remotely was definitely helpful. But yeah, definitely recommend reaching out to people as much as you can, if you're going through the process.
Scott Anthony Barlow 20:09
What did you find was very effective for you personally, which might not be effective for everybody. But in your situation, what did you find was really effective as you were reaching out to people and having those conversations, particularly in the conversations themselves, what advice would you give people that worked well for you?
Nick Neves 20:31
Yeah, I would say, at first, it's... especially when you're finding companies, whether there are open jobs that you want to apply to, your like, you're very excited to try and get your foot in the door and apply those right away, right. And I did a bad job of this at first where I was reaching out to people saying, like, "Hey, I saw there's an open job here, I'm interested in it. Would love to kind of learn more about it." That just reeks of like, hey, like, get this job for me, right. But when I was reaching out to people, and this was another testament to Mo, he was really kind of nudged me in the right direction here, where he was saying, you know, treat him more as like, I want to learn about your experience, and really just have a conversation. That people are more willing to open up and talk about that than just help a random person who's trying to use them and wants to just get a job. I think eventually, the conversation ultimately kind of leads that way, which is nice. But it shouldn't start that way, especially in the beginning, when I really was just doing informational interviews, just to learn about different jobs, you, kind of, you're building your network as you go anyway. So you can always go back to those people to see openings, it makes it a little easier to reach out and apply to those jobs.
Scott Anthony Barlow 21:34
That's so interesting, the point that you made about if you are just pursuing a job, often that is a turn off, where if you are genuinely interested in the other person to learn about it, then that very often leads to opportunities. The hard part about that, though, I think, for so many people is you can't fake that. Like when you get into that conversation, like everyone has a bowl, you know, we've got like bs meters that are going to go off like crazy, it's like, "This dude just wants a job like, I'm done with this."
Nick Neves 22:08
Yeah, I think that you're right, that is a tough thing to kind of fake. For me, I was just enjoying the process, and really just enjoying talking to people and everyone had a different perspective on things. And I always learned something from every conversation that I had. So for me, I was excited to talk these people, and great if I could steer it in the direction I want to go in all the better. But you know, I think at the very least you still learn some things that you can pick up along the way. So it's, kind of, that was able to help me kind of get in that mindset.
Scott Anthony Barlow 22:36
Very cool. Okay, so let me ask you this, if you had to go back and make this change again, is there anything that you would do differently in the process for yourself?
Nick Neves 22:49
Oh, that's a good question. I'm not totally sure. Maybe at the time when I was, kind of, looking for different roles, different opportunities, like maybe I left some different jobs or roles that are on the table, that could have been a really good fit, I kind of you know, I wanted to become laser focused on one role. And that's just me personally. So I was like, okay, accounting looks good, it may not be perfect, but I think it matches a lot of the skill sets and strengths that I have, it matches my life profile, like I just checked all the boxes, like, I'm just gonna go with it and look for this job. Like some people, maybe you can look at multiple different roles or job fields at once. So maybe I left something that was a really good fit. And maybe I just didn't see it. But I remember having this conversation with my coach, too, at the time where I was worried about missing something. And eventually, you just got to move forward with something, right? You can't just have paralysis by analysis, which is definitely something that I suffer from at times. So I had to realize that and that's another opportunity where my coach helped me out, you know, maybe that's a regret. But also, I wouldn't get too bogged down by that stuff, because that could really stonewall your efforts to move forward.
Scott Anthony Barlow 23:58
What do you feel like are and now that we're on the other end of this, and you have different perspective, because a year ago[i], at this time, we had talked about you were in probably far less healthy place mentally, because the role and what was expected of you was such a not great fit, such opposite of alignment in some very specific ways. But now that you are in a better fit, what would you describe as the differences for people?
Nick Neves 24:31
The biggest difference is, if this job really matches, you know, what I'm looking for in a working environment. You know, I don't want to be inundated with meetings all day and you know, having to be on all the time socially. Like I said, I'm more of an introverted person. So for me kind of being heads down in your work, doing kind of all the behind the scenes work is really what I preferred. So that's a big change and being able to, you know, the things that I felt like I was good at just wasn't being recognized my own job. Like I said, I was doing some process improvements and things like that just to kind of boost efficiency and all that. And there was like an operational side of the job. And then it was a client facing side of the job. And I really gravitated towards the operational side and felt like I did a good job of improving that part of the job and all that, but that wasn't being recognized as vital to the job or bringing success to it. So...
Scott Anthony Barlow 25:21
It sounds like the emphasis was on the client facing side that the... and that's really what that organization or that set of people needed in one way or another.
Nick Neves 25:29
Exactly. And now I'm able to kind of focus on those strengths with my new job. I didn't know all this stuff at the time, but definitely taking the strengths tests and all that stuff really helped me... 'cuz you think you really know what you're good at, and maybe what you don't like and all that. But taking the strength test through you guys really helped me put everything into perspective and put it into words. And, you know, one thing that I really enjoyed about the process was you take the strength test, and then you go through and kind of highlight things that stands out to you. So that's really what helped me hone in on accounting in the first place is highlighting some of the words like reliability, routine, all these different things that stood out to me, like, you know, I enjoy that aspect of the job. And I feel like I'd be good at it. That was very helpful. Because again, that's also kind of a daunting thing, too, is like, okay, now I have this strength stats, but it's like not spitting out a job for me, right, I gotta go ahead and kind of match that to what to look for. So that process was super helpful too.
Scott Anthony Barlow 26:21
You know, what's really interesting, though, is a year later, you can now easily articulate what it is that you need. And I think that's such a cool thing, because you're going to be able to continue to build on that for the rest of your life. Where, you know, I asked you and just off the cuff at the beginning of this, you're like, "Well, you know, here's what I wasn't getting, here's now what I need, I needed this routine, I am more of an introvert and I need ABCD and E" and you can just rattle that off now. And I think that that is a testament, that doesn't just happen through the process. Yes, we have that built into our particular process for career change. However, it takes a lot of work from you, and understanding about yourself to be able to get to the point where now your later, it's just like, "Oh, yeah! Obviously, here's what I need: boom, boom, boom, boom, boom." So that's super cool, because I know what goes into that. But I think out there that you made the point of is, you first have to be able to do that and be able to recognize it in a way that you can articulate it to other people or the outside world. Otherwise, the opportunities that come much later on just simply don't happen. If you don't get to step one, you don't get step seven.
Nick Neves 27:29
Yeah, for sure. It wasn't like you said, it wasn't an overnight thing. It definitely took some practice on my part, some kind of discipline to put in the time and work to figure all this stuff out. Determine, you know, be able to articulate it the way where I can now, and again, Mo is super helpful going through almost like roleplay, if you will, where you can kind of talk through what's so bad at it at first, but put into practice with his help. And, you know, with the structured strength tests, and you know, profiles and modules that you guys have, it was just helpful to, kind of, help me frame it for myself, too. So I would say, it was a combination of everything really, that was able to get me to where I'm at.
Scott Anthony Barlow 28:09
Well, I am so glad to hear it. And, you know, before we finish up here, is there any other parting words of either wisdom or advice that you'd like to share with someone who is finding themselves back in that situation that you were in a year ago? Or like, okay, clearly, I need to make a change. Clearly, this is not a great fit. But what the heck do I do about it from here? What would you tell that person who's in that place right now?
Nick Neves 28:37
Yeah, I would say, you know, thinking back to about a year ago[j], when I was very unhappy in my job and everything, you know, you have to make a change, but you're not really sure what direction to move in. And maybe you do have a sense of what direction you want to move in. But it's just not really sure how to get there. For me, like I said, I really like the structure of everything. So that was super helpful, but it's not so structured, where it's like, you know, someone likes to kind of do things at their own pace and all that, I think it's very flexible. And I know you guys would get to work with people's different styles and customizing things, the way people work. So that's great. So that was, you know, a big thing for me. And even if I think this would be really helpful for someone who's looking to make even more of a drastic change, like, if you're looking to make some, you know, if you're looking to move into a very niche job, that it's difficult to kind of get into that role, because I know talking with some other people on the program, they were looking for, like very niche specific jobs in certain industries. That's one, you know, a coach would be super helpful. And it was... even still, helpful for me who was just still in the corporate world, kind of, you know, making a pivot, but nothing like super drastic. So I would say no matter what boat you're in, really, I think having the help and guidance is helpful, right? Have the community to fall back on, bounce ideas off of people. All that is just, it was all very helpful in the end. So I would say those are the kind of big takeaways for me.
Scott Anthony Barlow 29:59
Nick, thank you for taking the time and making the time, I really appreciate it. And I told you at the beginning of this, but super fun for me to get to have this conversation with you. I know you did all this work, and you know, and Mo was keeping me posted. But I still didn't get to hear the whole story, necessarily. So I appreciate you coming and sharing it, not just with me, but with everybody else too.
Nick Neves 30:20
More thank you and everyone else, Mo, Phillip, everyone who I worked with. Thanks for giving me opportunity to share my perspective and story. I know, the podcast was huge for me for, you know, getting the... first off, discovered you guys, but also kind of getting motivated. So hopefully, if I could share my story and help other people, that'd be an honor. Thanks again.
Scott Anthony Barlow 30:41
Hey, many of the stories that you've heard on the podcast are from listeners that have decided that they wanted to take action and taking the first step of having a conversation with our team to try and figure out how we can help. And if you want to implement what you have heard, and you want to completely change your life and your career, then let's figure out how we can help. So here's what I would suggest, just open your phone right now and open your email app. And I'm going to give you my personal email address, scott@happentoyourcareer.com, just email me and put 'Conversation' in the subject line. And then when you do that, I'll introduce you to the right person on our team. And you can have a conversation with us, we'll try and understand your goals and what you want to accomplish in your career no matter where you're at. And we can figure out the very best way that we can help you and your situation. So open up right now and send me an email with 'Conversation' in the subject line scott@happentoyourcareer.com.
Scott Anthony Barlow 31:52
People make career changes all the time. That's a normal thing. Unfortunately, many of those career changes are not great moves. In reality, what we find when we meet up with so many people after they've made a career change is that they're just running from portion of their past job, whether it's a bad boss, a toxic environment, trying to raise their salary, trying to lower the amount of stress and responsibility, when instead, they should be figuring out what they really actually want. And then run towards that. So what happens if you've had that situation? What happens if you have made a career change only to realize that your previous career actually fit you much better? Technology and culture can advance or it can change quickly. How do you pivot back to your previous career path after some time has passed? And make it even better?
Louie Rankin 32:53
After I really put my mind to "Okay, what do I want to do, you know, for the next several years[k], if not till the end of my career and that's, you know, what I really enjoyed?" I just needed to, kind of, get out of my mindset that I was for so many years, and I think actually stepping out of the role in a three union and then coming back, I have kind of a new outlook on things.
Scott Anthony Barlow 33:11
That's Louie. He went to college for medical imaging, he spent years then afterwards working in the 3D imaging. And, as you might imagine, he felt like he was the one who like needed a career change. But once he made that change, he quickly realized that his health and his family life were being very negatively affected. Listen, as he shares why he changed careers, from medical imaging into IT and the struggles that he faced when he made that change. And most importantly, take a listen further in the episode to how he pivoted back into the pieces he loved most from his previous career, ultimately leading him to much more happiness more often in both career and the other areas of his life. All that and plenty more next week[l] right here on Happen To Your Career. Make sure that you don't miss it. And if you haven't already, click Subscribe on your podcast player so that you can download this podcast in your sleep, and you get it automatically. Even the bonus episodes every single week, sometimes multiple times a week. Until next week. Adios. I'm out.
[a][02:30] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
[b][05:54] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
[c][08:44] inaudible @kathy@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Kathy Wilkes_
[d][11:58] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
[e][14:49] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
[f][15:31] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
[g][16:16] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
[h][17:47] inaudible @kathy@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Kathy Wilkes_
[i][24:05] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
[j][28:40] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
[k][32:57] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
[l][34:03] @joshua@happentoyourcareer.com
_Assigned to Joshua Rivers_
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