Looking to switch careers is something everyone considers and something many people are actively trying to do. In fact, according to KPMG UK, 40% of the UK workforce was considering switching jobs in 2023, up from 35% in 2022.

But the key - and most important - question many people struggle to answer before making a career switch is ‘What Career path should I pivot into?’ Now you may think this is obvious as it’s the first step in wanting to move careers, but knowing what career path actually suits your skills, personality and requirements is harder than you think.

This was the question I also faced when wanting to pivot from insurance to strategy consulting and to find out the right answer I focused on finding out my ‘sweet spot’.

What is your ‘sweet spot’? Well, it is essentially the strategy you use to find out what careers complement your skillset and interests and where you will most likely have success. The equation for it is pretty straightforward:

Sweet Spot Career = Transferrable Skills + Industry experience + Suits your needs and personality

Let’s break down each part to understand what they entail

Transferrable skills - this is essentially finding a role in which you have a set of skills which are transferrable and relevant to the role you want to go into. For me, I knew I had strong analytical, numerical and problem-solving skills so I knew strategy consulting was an industry in which my skillset could thrive. When looking at a new industry think - Is any of my skillsets transferrable/relevant to the role I want to go into?

Industry experience - now you don’t need this but being able to find a new career which leverages your industry knowledge and skillset will help you transition and hit the ground running. A good example of this is undertaking a career switch into consulting where you can focus on consulting roles within your industry experience. For me, coming from a background in Asset Management and Insurance meant I could move into strategy consulting within the financial services department where my clients would be Asset Managers and Insurance companies and I could leverage my industry knowledge.

Suits your interests - This is especially key when moving into a completely new industry. You need to make sure that the role suits your ways of working, working personality and work-life balance. If you know you’re not much of a talker, then maybe going into a salesy role isn’t the best fit. Furthermore, if you’re looking for a reasonable hours and hybrid role but the potential role is 12-hour days, 5 days in the office then again it might not be the best fit. Make sure the role aligns with your needs and personality as this will greatly impact whether you will actually like that role.

There you have it guys, this is in my eyes the best way to find a role/industry to undertake a career switch into.

If you need advice on career switching - our free introduction sessions are perfect for having a conversation with us on navigating your career switch.