The Difference Between Settling & Strategizing
PLUS: Cool Job at Artie!
Welcome back to Lunch Break, a weekly newsletter + modern guide to a meaningful career from career coach Janel Abrahami. Brought to you by Pivot With Purpose career coaching program.
I had to remind myself I wasn’t settling.
Every day for twelve months, I logged into my HR Business Partner job and reminded myself that I hadn’t given up on my true career goal to be an independent career coach– I was making a necessary pitstop.
I was in a bridge job.
A “bridge job” is a stepping-stone role that provides experience and/or security on the path to your longer-term career goal. It’s like taking the local train instead of the express.
A bridge job can be a logical step when your career pivot is a little more complex than moving straight into the exact role you’re interested in. Maybe you know where you want to go next, but you need more experience, time, or savings before you can get hired or take that leap.
Or, perhaps you have some clarity on your truly aligned career path, but need this bridge job to experiment with a new industry, company culture, or type of work.
In my case, I took my HRBP bridge job to afford to learn how to build a career coaching business from scratch while maintaining my city-sweller lifestyle AND to add another layer of first-hand HR experience to my coaching toolbelt.
Some bridges that current and past Pivot With Purpose members have taken:
Maddie decided to stay at her current Financial Services company while pursuing a fellowship that would prepare her for her Masters in Social Work.
Vivi is enamored with the emerging tech space, and might accept an offer as a Recruiter in a non-tech field to build experience and authority until the economy swings back up
Lauren took a hybrid role as a Case Coordinator *and* HR Generalist as the first step in her long-term HR career journey
All three (and I!) did so in support of our longer-term goals- the goals we’d set with clarity and intention, and without any desire to give up on them just because the road ahead wasn’t linear.
What a bridge job is NOT: purgatory. Your goal is to have a loose sense of what is on the other side of this bridge, so that it doesn’t turn into yet another misaligned job you fell into without intention.
If you’re in a bridge job- or considering one- you’re not settling. You’re strategizing.
Janel Abrahami, Career Coach
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👀 ICYMI (more from Janel + team)
✅ CURRENT FAVES
READ: The Broadsheet Newsletter
Emma Hinchcliffe of Fortune curates daily news and updates about the world’s most powerful women and their brands and businesses. Recent deep-dives into Away CEO Jen Rubio, Rent The Runway’s recent downturn, and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacina Ardern were extremely interesting.
This sustainable and portable coffee container has been a daily commute essential for me on coworking space days. Stocked at my local HBKN favorite, bwe, it’s made of husk leftover from coffee production!
BURN: Guten Co. Incense Burner
You already know to palo santo your work space during this Mercury Retrograde (ending October 2, you’re welcome), so keep it burning in this chic, porcelain incense holder.
📌 COOL JOB (remote-friendly + mission-based)
Title: Director of Community
Company: Artie
Location: Los Angeles, CA or Remote
Description: Artie is seeking a Director of Community to oversee all aspects of community growth and engagement, both online and IRL. Positioned at the very heart of the company’s ecosystem, this Web3 savvy professional will elaborate and execute innovative strategies to recruit, inspire and retain our community members.
This role includes onboarding strategies, community management plans, trust and transparency suggestions, and reward systems. The Director of Community will represent the community within the company and lead a team in charge of the community programming.
Want to support this movement?
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#takeyourlunchbreak 💚