As part of your five-year career plan, include 30-day market test.

Too many aspiring former feds stay frozen because they believe they can only take concrete action after first identifying the perfect second career. Even though all of you have been saying “perfect is the enemy of the good” since your second day on the job. Career uncertainty is not resolved through more introspection alone. If you don’t start, it will never happen.

In addition to the emotional decision that it’s time for you to leave, establish methods to build a book of data that justifies your new direction. This will bolster you in the dark hours of rejection. It will provide a rebuttal to hiring managers who question your potential.

The combination of a target list, a weekly cadence, and a review process can produce meaningful action and progress.

Hypothesis → Targets → Outreach → Feedback → Review

In this instance, your hypothesis is a certain role or company: I should be a deployment strategist, or I can land a job at RTX.

From there, you start working through your network. Ask for input and intros. Probably best to pick a number of calls or coffees. The ultimate feedback is how close you can get to interviews.

Then, after a month, see how far you've gotten. Continue when you’re landing interviews; tweak the process when you’re not.

Kyle Thomas’s How To Explain A Career That Doesn’t Add Up offers a useful example of this principle in practice.

An unorthodox career can look like a liability when hiring managers cannot immediately see how the pieces fit together. This goes double for a career pivot.

An early action is taking control of the narrative. Explain why you made important moves, including why you’re now leaving an established career for something new. Remember, this can be part of the 30-day market test. See which narratives feel best and which ones resonate.

A clear career story, purposeful networking and relevant proof can turn an initially confusing transition into a persuasive case for hiring.

My superpower bundle will help you identify the connectors and trailblazers already in your network, then turn those relationships into a focused transition strategy.