The EXAPT model for career transitions

“You’re not qualified to do anything other than {insert what you currently do here}.” 

Heard this before? Thought it yourself? It’s easy to question whether we’re capable of doing anything other than what we’ve done in the past. One of my doctoral advisors, when he heard I was looking to leave academia, told me that I wasn’t qualified to do anything other than be a professor. Even though he was one of my fiercest advocates (and still is to this day), it was truly foreign for him to think that I could do anything other than use my PhD to become a faculty member. 

I’m here to tell you that it is absolutely possible to move: between roles, companies, or industries. In fact, it may even be desirable to move into a different area given that COVID-19 is likely to shape the job market for years to come. 

You may be skeptical that you can move into something new. You may think that you need to take an additional course, obtain more training, or somehow prove yourself to move into something new. But what I’d like to convince you is that you already have skills and intellect. Where you may need practice is in the toolkit that you’ll need to use to conduct your job search. 

The EXAPT model
From what I’ve learned, having made the jump from academia to the Tech industry to running my own business, there are four core steps to any career transition. I’ll share them with you, just as I’ve shared them with more than 45 people whom I’ve coached in identifying the next steps in their career. 
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These four steps form the basis for a model that I’ve called EXAPT:

1. The first thing to do in your job search? EXhale. Accept that it’s OK to look for a job, even though you may not have chosen to do so. Reflect on what it is you want to do now and use that reflection to guide your career path. 
2. Second, Ask for information. Determine what types of jobs are available now, what sounds appealing to you, and what can leverage your strengths. Identify what skills you already have and how they can be translated. 
3. Third, Prepare for job applications. Find jobs in your industry and role of interest and apply. Fine tune your resume and brush up on your interviewing skills. 
4. Fourth, Transition into your new role, knowing you’ll still be learning along the way. You are qualified, but there is still a lot of room to continue to grow when you’re making a substantive transition.
   

Other than it being a strange acronym, why have I called this an EXAPT model? Let’s take a quick detour to the world of evolutionary biology before returning to pragmatics of the career search. 

Why EXAPT?
In evolutionary biology, one of the concepts proposed in the past 50 years was the notion of an exaptation - a trait that is currently being used for a function other than what it evolved for. For example, say bird feathers initially evolved as an adaptation to keep birds warm. Birds that grew feathers made it through the winter and so survived more readily than those who didn’t have feathers - this trait would therefore be adaptive. Now let's say that once birds had those feathers for warmth, the feathers also became useful for another function - flight. Those feathers were exapted for flight, or stretched beyond their initial adaptive use.

My goal is to give you tools to EXAPT —  to take the skills you’ve already acquired and stretch them to a different function, beyond their initial use. Many of the folks whom I’ve coached believe that they need to learn new skills to make a career transition - following the metaphor, they believe that they need to adapt. But instead, you can EXAPT — take the skills that you already have and use them elsewhere. If you do so successfully, you won’t need to learn any new formal skills beyond those related to the job search process itself.

Get Started With a Free Webinar
Returning now from evolutionary biology to pragmatics of how to search for a job: I’m currently formulating more detailed online courses around each of the four stages of this model. To get started, I’m offering

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A free webinar at 5 PM EDT on June 11th 2020
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In this interactive webinar, I’ll share an overview of the EXAPT model that will tee you up for a career transition. Again, this webinar is completely free, with the expectation that you fill out a survey after the webinar to give me your feedback.
 
To sign up for the webinar, RSVP here or on the "services" tab.

I’m excited to share these tools to help you make a successful career change. Join us on June 11th to learn more. Until then - happy searching!