Change is anything that moves you outside of your comfort zone. Depending on your point of view, change can be for the better (graduating from school and looking for that first big opportunity) or the worse (fired from work and feeling terrible about it). It can also fall somewhere in between, where we accept that there can be some interesting, exciting, or challenging things coming in the days and weeks ahead.

 Everyone’s adjustment period to change is unique. It is easiest for those who are flexible in their approach in different circumstances in life and work but can be devastating for people who are unable to let go. Change can be awkward at first, but like being propelled into a steep turn on a roller coaster, it can also be exhilarating. It can motivate you to do your absolute best. During change, time can seem to move very slowly for the reluctant, but it can be a whirlwind for those who are ready for it.

Change is needed if we are unhappy with where we are, when old practices or processes no longer work, or when a job no longer exists. It can be like pulling a new sweater on over your head; for a moment you cannot see, but you know you will feel warm and comfortable once you can get your head out of the hole.

Five Aspects of Change

1. It is about doing something we are not used to doing.
2. It often leads us to think about what we have to give up, instead of what we could gain.
3. Although some of us might be happy to greet the change, for many it can be overwhelming.
4. If the pressure to change is lessened, people will quite quickly and naturally revert to their previous behaviors.
5. Sometimes change makes people focus on the need for new resources (such as the need for more materials, training, people) when their needs can actually be met with what is already there.

Change is a simple word, but a complex topic. Different models of change have evolved over time to reflect the need to pay more attention to the process of transition and the changes in attitude that take place, as opposed to solely focusing on the changes desired.

Transition

William Bridges is a highly respected authority on change in the workplace. He says that many change initiatives are set up to fail because they are “change heavy and transition light.” In order to make your job search successful, let’s focus on the transition aspect for a few moments.

Essentially, the transition is what helps you come to terms with the change. A transition can be explained as having three stages: an ending, a neutral zone, and a new beginning.

Ending

Endings can be described as the adjustment to not doing something in a familiar way. We have to let go of something that is well known, even dependable.

Neutral Zone

Here we are in a sort of waiting period, hanging in mid-air, without access to what we did in the past and no instruction about the future.

New Beginning

Here we embrace the little-known or even unknowable and start over. This is a new job, where we are now moving into something completely new. Failure to deal with these phases means that lasting change will not take place. In the job context, that can mean we start to “job hop” or never really engage in the place we now find ourselves working.