When you reach a career crossroad, it can take a while to find a new direction and a new sense of purpose. There’s no point in rushing the process; if you get impatient and leap in the wrong direction, you’ll just wind up at the same crossroads again in a few months (or days). Instead, pause and give yourself some time to make a wise and considered decision—while still maintaining the ability to pay your bills. A job and a career are two different things. In every life, there are times when we need to focus on one or the other.
Here’s how stepping into a temporary job for a while can help you move closer to your next career milestone.
A temporary job means low levels of commitment.
A temporary job is not a life sentence. Far from it. A six-month gig is by no means a full and total career pivot, but it CAN offer many things that can help you find your new purpose, for example, a chance to pause and think about what your last job may have lacked.
A temporary job brings in some fresh air, socially.
Your temp job—no matter where or what—will bring new faces, new friends, and new networking opportunities. Every time you meet a new person, you open a door. Open some doors and find out where they lead.
A temporary job helps you build new skills.
Again, no matter what your temp job entails– even if it doesn’t align with your current career—you’ll learn something new. You’ll learn how to use a new software platform, how to speak a new professional language, or how an unfamiliar business model works. Embrace this chance to learn something and expand the limits of what you know about the world.
A temporary job keeps the clock running.
Employers can sometimes be turned off by employment gaps in your resume, and this isn’t always a sign of narrow-mindedness; sometimes it’s a decision made by non-human algorithms and database management tools. If you stay steadily employed, you increase your options down the road.
For more on why and how to keep (or get) your career in motion with a temp job, contact the staffing team at PSU.
