Career change: the questions you need to ask yourself now | Laura Sheehan | TEDxHanoi

Having successfully navigated the challenges of finding employment in seven countries over the span of 15 years, Laura guides you through her journey and provides tips on how to find success wherever you are.

Laura E.P. Sheehan, career strategist and founder of E.P. Career Strategies, is a U.S. lawyer turned ex-pat career strategist who stumbled upon her life’s calling whilst living in Hanoi. Having decided years ago to accompany her husband in his international career moves, Laura has lived in seven countries over the span of 15 years. Mere weeks into her time in Hanoi, Laura seized upon a new opportunity to utilize her experiences to empower the wider global community of “trailing spouses.” In the two short years that she has been in Vietnam, she has successfully made a full transition into the role of a global career strategist.

Laura was recently recognized by the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide (AAFSW) as a top nominee for the 2017 Champion of Career Enhancement for Eligible Family Members (CCE-EFM) Award and was featured in the AAFSW’s January 2018 edition of Global Link.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

I'm a lawyer and the wife of a diplomat.

You know what I'm pretty great at?

Talking!

You can get me into a room
with almost anyone,

and I can find something to talk about.

And when I meet new people,

one of the questions
that I love to ask is

"How did you come to be here?"

And I don't mean by taxi
or grab a motorbike,

but how did you come to be here
at this point in your life?

And the answers always leave me riveted

because I never could have anticipated
that I would be here -

in my life or in Vietnam.

I grew up - I spent the most
of my childhood in small-town Ohio,

a state that calls itself
the heart of America.

And I didn't get my first
passport until I was 18.

A few years later, when I met the man
who was to be my husband,

I had only ever left the country once.

And when I met him - oh, wow!

He was smart, and he was handsome,
he was witty, and he was going places -

literally!

So, it took me a few years
to convince him to marry me.

I totally chased him.

(Laughter)

And at the same time,
I was pursuing my law degree.

Well, so when I graduated
from law school, we got married.

And in one year,
the first year of our marriage,

and the first year of my career
as "Laura, the lawyer,"

my husband came home, and he says,

"You know what? I've got a job
that can take us overseas.

What do you think?"

I said, "Oh, you know
I'm kind of torn here."

I mean a life of travel and adventure
or a clear and distinguished career path?

I don't know.

I mean exotic locations, great food,
new people, fun and exciting times,

or I could stay "Laura, the lawyer."

And I worked really hard
for that, you know.

I spent years and years of time,

and thousands and thousands
of dollars invested in that title,

in that career track, in that trajectory.

And I wondered if I followed
my husband in his job overseas,

what would happen to mine?

Well, I had to figure it out.

So, off we went, and there we were:

overseas, oh the fun, oh the adventure!

Yes, there I was, at home, alone,

with no job.

Oh, what had I done?

And I'll never forget the moment
when I realized the impact

this choice might have had on my career.

I was standing in the elevator
at my husband's office,

and a woman comes in, and she says,
"Oh, hi! Are you new here?"

"Yes, I am!"

She says, "Great, welcome!

Do you think you're going to be
looking for a job while you're here?"

"Yes, I do!"

"You know, a job in the mailroom
just opened up, you should check it out."

"Wow! Thank you! The mailroom!"

(Laughter)

Was Laura, the lawyer
destined to sort mail?

No, don't get me wrong.

Sorting mail is a very important job,

and one that can be lots of fun
from what I've been told.

But it is a job that didn't hold
much meaning for me,

didn't make me feel like
I was fulfilling my life purpose,

like I was living up to my full potential.

And the question made me wonder,

"Had I sacrificed my career, my chances
for success by following my husband?"

Now, at the time,
it certainly felt like it.

And I was sad and angry and resentful.

And these feelings are not unique to me
or to the ex-pat population

or to anyone who considers
themselves a trailing spouse

or an accompanying partner.

It can also be the parent who chooses
to stay home and raise children,

or the child who once grown returns
home to take care of an aging parent.

Here in Hanoi, it can be
the educated woman

who when she decides to get married,

leaves her family to join her husband's.

It's anyone, anywhere who chooses
to change their life course

for the sake of, for the love of another.

And of course, we love our spouse,
we love our kids,

we love our parents
and we would do anything for them,

and that's why we make those choices -
it's to be with them, to support them.

But when we do that, we sometimes
also can't help but wonder,

"Well, is this what I was meant to do?"

Now, was I meant to sort mail? No!

I didn't end up work in the mailroom,

and yes, I did find a job
everywhere we lived:

Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
Syria, Israel and Vietnam.

And in every place, I have held
some really interesting jobs.

But I thought all of them
were a big fat nothing

because I wasn't moving forward
as Laura, the lawyer!

And I was miserable.

Until I got to Hanoi,

and within my first few weeks
of arriving here,

I was invited out to a lunch
with a few new friends.

And as it does in any
getting-to-know-you conversation,

the question of work came up.

"So Laura what do you do?"

Ugh! I hated that question

because I never knew how to answer, right?

Well, I was a lawyer but we moved,

and I had this job and this other job -

and ugh, I don't know!

Poor me, I don't know what I do,
I'm not really sure.

And so this woman
looked to me and she said,

"Well, if you could do anything,
what would it be?"

Wow! If I could do anything!

Now, that's a question that I hadn't
been asked since I was a child.

And it blew my mind -
I mean it had me stunned.

It rendered me temporarily speechless.

And when I thought about it, I thought,
You know, I could do anything.

I didn't have to stay on the track
of being Laura, the lawyer.

I could be and do something different.

And when I thought about it,
I started realizing

that all the things
that I had done along the way,

all the titles had been very different,

but I had been doing
the same things all the time.

I suddenly saw that each
of those pieces were fitting together.

And it felt fantastic!

True, I had not accomplished
the same things

that my law school classmates
had accomplished.

But I had done a lot.

I had lived all over the world,

and in every place, I had found a way
to move forward, to grow.

I may not have succeeded
at moving forward as Laura, the lawyer,

but, wow, did I do well
at being Laura, the motivator;

Laura, the advocate; Laura, the writer;
Laura, the persuasive speaker.

And looking back and looking forward,
if I could do anything,

well, I think I would like
to help other people

gain this amazingly empowering perspective

that I had just been gifted.

And so here I am!

And it took me 16 years
and jobs in seven countries

to get here and to realize

that I had found success in every place.

So please, let me save you
some time in your journey.

There are three key steps

that you can take to find
success anywhere you are.

Step 1:

Be open to and ready for change.

In 1989, Charles Handy wrote a book
called "The Age of Unreason."

And in it, he predicted that careers
would be a portfolio of different jobs

rather than one position
that lasted for decades.

Guess what?

He was right.

In 2007, the New York Times recognized
that when it comes to careers,

change is the only constant.

If jumping off track
once was stigmatized,

it now has cachet!

Career change has cachet!

At that time, they predicted
that people would change jobs

an average of three times.

But by 2010, the number
had jumped to seven.

By 2015, the number had jumped to 10.

And in March of this year,
the US Bureau of Labor Statistics

estimated 12 to 15 careers per person.

15 careers per person!

That's right, if you haven't changed
job not just once but a few times,

you're behind the times!

(Laughter)

Changing jobs can be a strength.

It can be an asset
in your professional development.

It can show that you're flexible,
adaptable, resilient,

and that you have creative
problem-solving abilities.

In Handy's words, change, after all,
is only another word for growth,

a synonym for learning.

We can all do it, and here's the key:

Enjoy it if we want to -

which leads us to step number 2:

Embrace the experiences,
ditch the titles.

Today, a successful career
is not based on a single job title,

the same job in different locations.

It's the process of diligently developing
and then quickly adapting a set of skills

to answer life's challenges.

I might not have been Laura,
the lawyer every place we lived,

but in every location,
I served as a talented writer,

a persuasive speaker, an advocate
for those who needed my voice.

These were the common threads

that tied my professional
experiences together.

So ask yourself,

What are the skills you consistently use
in every thing that you end up doing?

Therein lies your strength,
your story, your path to success.

Author Jeff Goins wrote
the "Art of Work" recently.

It's a really great book
you should read it.

In it, he encourages you to think
about your work as an artist's portfolio,

where each piece stands on its own
and is its own beautiful work,

but when compiled into a portfolio,

clearly illustrates the progress
that the artist has made,

the growth that she has come
through in the years.

In your work, your careers,

each seemingly unrelated
experience stands on its own,

but can also be viewed
as a contribution to a collective whole,

a beautiful collage of a career
that you are creating.

By ditching the titles
and embracing the experiences,

you expand your employment options,

and you can better enjoy the journey.

"But, okay Laura, how do we land a job?"

Great question!

And this is the key.

Step number three:

Make meaningful connections.

All theory and warm fuzzy feelings aside,

on a very practical level,

creating real life connections
through actual conversations

can enable and empower
you to find success.

Despite the plethora of internet-based
job boards that are out there,

85% of jobs are still
filled by word of mouth,

by personal connection.

Is it really a surprise
that someone needs to know you

in order to recommend you,
in order to want to hire you?

So plug-in!

Not with devices, but with people.

Ask questions, seek advice,

tell the world what you want to do

so that when those opportunities arise,

they think of you.

Start today.

Go and have a coffee,

or get crazy, have an entire meal

with someone whose job
really intrigues you,

someone whose activities interest you,

someone who you just think
that you'd like to get to know better.

Start a conversation.

And if you're looking
for a way to get that talk going,

I've got a couple of great questions
that can start you on your road.

When I meet new people I love to ask,
"How did you come to be here?

And if you could do anything,

what would it be?"

Thank you.

(Applause)