Value of Seemingly Unrelated Skills

QUESTION

Hey Joey, I currently work in higher education as a professor for one of the largest universities in the US. I’ve become disillusioned with the direction leadership has been going and, frankly, I don’t see myself having a future in higher ed.

That said, I’ve spent a majority of my career developing—as Liam Neeson would say—“a very particular set of skills.” I don’t regret my career moves that led to this point, but I do worry about how transferable my skills are outside of academia.

My question for you is: How does one change jobs mid-career? Thank you for your thoughts and advice.

—Dave

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ANSWER

Hi Dave, I always appreciate a Liam Neeson reference. Your question is one I have heard several times from friends and family.

Before we jump in, I want to be clear that (a) making a change like this should come from a logical place, not an emotional one, and that (b) you should give the decision time to settle—no sudden moves!

Having said that, I'll assume you’re acting with these considerations in mind.

When changing careers, very often Applied Skills are misinterpreted for Base Skills. This is a critical distinction:

• Base Skills are the fundamental building blocks of your skillset.

• Applied Skills are comprised of one or more Base Skills that together perform a task.

Let’s use your case as an example. Your primary Applied Skill is one of being a professor—teaching to a class of students. If you consider teaching in a classroom as your biggest asset, then it’s quite limiting in what you can do next. But if you break it down into the Base Skills involved—public speaking, ability to listen and react accordingly, designing a learning plan, et al.—you can see these skills are highly functional in other arenas.

Your question reminded me of Ariana, my wife: She was originally an actor. Then COO of a Shark Tank-funded startup. Then she decided to learn web development to become a technologist. While Actor, COO, and Technologist all seem unrelated, you can see her Base Skills come together in what she’s doing today as an Operations Consultant: acting taught her to communicate clearly, operations allowed her to sharpen her organizational mindset, and technology gave her the medium to apply her skills.

Everything you learn can be used in the future.

I recommend that (1) you to break down your Applied Skills into a list of Base Skills, and then (2) create a list of jobs you’re interested in that also leverage the skills in your first list.

I’m excited to hear what you do next. Best of luck.

—Joey

Sneak peek: The first—and rough!—prototype of my book. Hard to believe it's here—I started writing almost two years ago. Excited to share more as I get closer to releasing it.