I had a conversation with someone yesterday about their career goals and the target for their next role. I read their CV in advance of the call and the divergence between the two positions was just massive. It transpires they have been leading a double life in fear of their current employer finding out as they try to develop a new set of skills in another area that they now want to spend more time working on.

After talking this over it seems that the reality is they have nothing to fear by being more open about what they really want to do. Sometimes these crossroads come to us when we are not expecting them and it is clear this person has reached a huge one. I also felt very sad that this person felt that they had to suppress their real desire and motivation to be X instead of Y and it cannot be doing them any good at all holding all this negative energy inside.

My opinion is that you should make your goals and aims clear in the simplest way possible when it comes to your career. Make sure you have good reasons for your choices and be able to demonstrate why this new path is the right one for you. If your current employer cannot work with you to help the change happen it’s a sure sign that it is time to move on, too. A good employer should realise that people change direction every now and again and assist where they can – it’s a big step to take for an individual. Keep everything simple and really go for whatever it is you are trying to achieve. Make it happen!