Explore an option before you talk it over with someone
A short guide to looking at a possibility at your own pace, using public information, before you share it.
Part of the Proa Nova free library: short guides for when something in your working life is changing, or asking to change.
It's a way to arrive at a conversation with something in your hands, whenever you want to have it.
This guide doesn't replace talking with a person. If what you're feeling weighs more than a question about work, it's worth having someone by your side. And if you've gone weeks without wanting to talk to almost anyone, about this or anything else, tell someone.
For when something in your working life is moving and you want to look at a possibility without having to explain it yet. Maybe because you don't know yet what you'd say, because you don't want quick advice, or because the people close to you aren't the right ones for this topic.
A possibility you want to look at without sharing it yet.
Going around in circles with no information, or sharing it too early and getting opinions you didn't ask for.
Thirty minutes of reading, three questions, and a clear idea of what you can check on your own.
1. Pick one source
One that doesn't require you to talk to anyone:
- a real job posting,
- a role description,
- the public profile of someone who does something similar,
- an example of a project that's already published.
One note: on some networks, viewing a profile leaves a trace that you visited. If that bothers you, pick a posting or a role description.
2. Give it 30 minutes
If today that's too much, give it ten. Read it the way an observer would, not the way someone deciding would. Three questions: what does it demand, what does it offer, and what does it cost (in time, money, or exposure)?
3. Write down what came up
4. Turn it into three questions
What you saw it asked of you, what it offered, what it would cost you, and at what pace. Three lines, no more. They'll be useful when you compare it with other options.
5. Separate what you can check on your own
Make two lists.
Don't try to settle both at once. Start with the first. That second set of eyes can come from someone close to you, from a group or a forum, or from a professional. It doesn't have to be someone you already know.
You can stay with this guide for a week or a month. When you want to talk it over with someone, "How to ask for a conversation about your career transition" helps you ask for a 20-minute conversation. It doesn't have to be now.
If the question is still alive, take the Quick Map.
If you still can't tell where you are after exploring, the Quick Map gives you a first, personal read. You don't need to talk to anyone to take it.
It's free, it's four questions, and it doesn't decide for you or put a label on you.
Quick Map: /en/career-transition/quick-map