5 Unique Ways to Create a Career Vision for a Career Change

If you’re wondering where to begin with your career change, creating a career vision for success is it! Having a vision of where you’re headed or what you’re moving towards can give you the confidence and inspiration to take action.

Creating a vision board is a popular approach, but that doesn’t work for everyone. Here are 5 unique ways to create a career vision for your career change.

Not sure why you need a career vision? Read this blog post first.

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What is a career vision?

There are 3 different terms that often get used interchangeably: purpose, vision and mission. Here’s how I think about them. Let’s use a travel analogy! Imagine you are planning a trip to a bucket list destination of yours.

Purpose is “why” you are setting out on this adventure. What makes this trip important to you?

Vision is “where” you are going on this adventure. What will it be like when you reach your destination? What will it look, sound, feel, and be like there?

Mission is “how” you will get to your destination. There are so many routes and options for how you will choose to get to any particular destination. Which route will you choose? How will you go about getting there?

So, a career vision in the context of a career change is about imagining what it will be like when you are on the other side of a change.

Tips for Creating a Career Vision

Before you begin creating your career vision for your career change, keep these tips in mind to make the process easier.

  1. Think of your vision as cyclical. It will be come more clear over time, so it’s ok to update your vision as you collect information and gain more clarity. It can be like a lens coming into focus.
  2. It’s not necessary to have a specific role, job title or organization in mind. Focus on the qualities that are most important to you, such as how it will look, feel, be after your career change.
  3. Remember, your vision is just the destination, not the path you will take to get there. The paths are something you will explore once your vision is clear. Set the paths aside for now (or create a list) and know you’ll revisit them.

5 Unique Ways to Create a Career Vision for your Career Change

There is no one right way to create a career vision, so consider what works best for you or try a few methods and see what sticks! Here are five unique ways to create a career vision for success.

1 | Create a career vision board.

Screenshot showing vision board templates in Canva. A vision board is one of many ways to create a career vision.
Canva has career vision board templates in both free and paid subscriptions.

This one of the tried-and-true ways to create a career vision that many people use to visualize the future they want to create for themselves. Typically, this is done by cutting images and words from magazines or other materials and gluing them onto a board.

However, it’s becoming more and more popular to create a digital vision board instead. It’s the same idea, but instead grab images, words or even videos and embed them into a single slide or document. Canva is a free platform that has hundreds of career vision board templates that you can customize to make your own.

Take Action: Collect magazines, pamphlets, stickers or other materials to use on your board. Considering posting in your local Buy Nothing group for materials!

The value of this approach is in both creating the board and considering what is most important to you about this career change as well as posting the board (physically or digitally) in a place that you will see regularly.

Ideal for: Visual learners, creative thinkers.

2 | Draw or paint your career vision.

Get out paint, colored pencils, or whatever medium you prefer and get creative! The goal is to find inspiration and express your ideas about your vision in a way that is meaningful for you.

Tip: Your vision does not need to be a perfect work of art, it is simply meant to ground and inspire you. Don’t worry about what the finished product looks like, focus on what it means and how it inspires you.

Ideal for: Visual learners, artistic individuals.

3 | Describe your vision in writing.

Woman journaling about her career vision next to a window. Journaling is one of many ways to create a career vision.
Journaling is one way to create a career vision for success.

If artistic expression isn’t your thing, a vision can also be captured in words and phrases.

Tip: Think about what works best for you. Capture your thoughts digitally, using a voice memo, transcription service, an electronic document or journal. Pace yourself. If you prefer to block one big chunk of time to capture your vision, that’s great. But it’s also ok to do small chunks of time every day or week.

Ideal for: Linguists, internal processors.

4 | Create a visual you can hold in your mind.

An image held in our mind can be incredibly powerful – and we can pull on it for inspiration anytime and anywhere!

Tip: Again, consider what works best for you. Meditation, reflection and mental or visual associations are all options to consider.

Ideal for: Thinkers, introverts.

5 | Describe your vision to someone else.

Solidifying your vision is sometimes easiest when you talk through it with someone close to you. In this type of exchange, the other person can ask questions and affirm your ideas which will push you towards greater clarity.

Tip: Think about what role you want the other person to play. Do you want them to challenge you, poke holes in your vision, be supportive and encouraging, or something else? Once you know what you need from the other person, then think about who you will ask!

Ideal for: External processors, extroverts.

Career Vision Prompts & Reflection Questions

Whatever method you choose to develop your career vision, try these prompts to get you started:

Imagine you are at the other side of your career change.

  • Look around you – what do you see? Hear?
  • Look inside you – what do you feel? What thoughts are you having?
  • Look at yourself – what are you doing? How is that similar or different from today?
  • Who is there with you?
  • What words or phrases come to mind?
  • What colors do you see?

Let your mind wander as you imagine, write, meditate, express or discuss your career vision!

Ready to find your career change motivation?

Which of these ways to create a career vision will you try first? Follow your gut and give one a try to discover your career change motivation!

Susan Gleissner

Susan Gleissner believes that life is better with adventure, including our careers. Her journey from being an engineering leader to an HR professional, combined with her passion for helping others reach their potential positions her to offer practical, individualized career transition and leadership coaching to those looking to take their career to the next level. Susan is a credentialed coach through the International Coaching Federation and Gallup. In her spare time she shares adventure travel inspiration on her travel blog, This Big Wild World.

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