By Jim Wiederhold

Right now, the job market is experiencing significant changes. People are finding themselves unemployed in increasing number who never thought they would lose their job. And with so many people looking for only a handful of open positions, it’s a terribly competitive situation.

Even in non-pandemic times, career transition—whether chosen or unexpected—is a reality almost all professionals will experience in their lifetime.  Yet most people know very little about the process and carry major misconceptions about career transitions.

Here are a few misconceptions I hear most often:

It will never happen to me.

“I’ll never be laid off!” “My business will never go under!”  “My company would never push me out!” As common as these situations are, people still think that transition is something that happens to colleagues, but not themselves. Get rid of that belief! You will more than likely go through at least one transition in your career.

Believing it will never happen to you will only prevent you from taking the necessary steps to prepare for that eventuality. It is important to keep records of your successes. Otherwise, you will have no way to get the numbers you need for your resume once you find yourself in transition.

My time between jobs will be short and easy.

Many people enter a career transition thinking it will be an easy journey. I find that people tend to come into this season believing a little too positively. There will be ups and downs—that’s the nature of the transition process. People do much better when they understand what they’re getting into, and accept the negative aspects of it.

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