Article Summary: How to Stay Stuck in the Wrong Career by Herminia Ibarra

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Article Summary: How to Stay Stuck in the Wrong Career by Herminia Ibarra Anita Girizd Ohio Dominican University A significantly higher percentage of people tend to make major career changes today than a decade ago. This doesn’t mean that it is easier to change rather it is a result of people’s desires and efforts to build their careers and prevent themselves from burning out by keeping their jobs challenging. They are all seeking professional fulfillment by trying to find a job that they find valuable and that they can be passionate about. A desire for a change can also come from the desire to change working relationships which at the present are unsatisfying and uninspiring. Why is it that only a small number of these people are actually making a change? Experts of the conventional method say that the problem origins from basic human motives such as fear of change, lack of readiness, unwillingness to make sacrifices and sabotaging ourselves. In contrast with this Ibarra believes that the problem is not in our motives but in the conventional methods on how to change careers. Based on her research studies she found show those who use the conventional method tend to look for a change for months or years. She says the key of success in changing careers is using the practice of “working identity”. Work identity includes one’s professional self-image as well as it can mean the actual action of trying to reshape that identity. Work identity is learnable because it not a personality type but a skill. Changing careers equals redefining this identity. In order to learn work identity we have to accept that we will have to forget everything the conventional method teaches such as career psychologists, tests, books and other sources that allure us with the promise of providing answers to the main questions; what should we change to and how should we do it? With other
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