Confidence to specialise

It takes courage to take a new direction in your career and often we are fearful of what might go wrong or might not work out but in the majority of cases it opens up so many more opportunities and experiences.

Interior designers are incredibly dynamic individuals. Throughout the course of one project they are utilizing their presenting, negotiation, communication,research, interior design and pitching skills – to name just a few!

When an interior designer approaches me and explains they would like to find a job where they can specialize in a specific skill set, it’s very exciting. The reason being is that they are not only a skilled interior designer but they are passionate about utilizing and honing in on their strengths. However, there are often wobbles of confidence deciding if it’s the right move in the process.

Over the last month I’ve had two interior designers take the plunge from being all-round interior designers to specializing in specific skills sets.

One, took the opportunity to accept a role which was focused on styling and FF&E and the other, after a career break, has courageously made the move to be a consultant to design studios to handle their new business enquiries, client services and look at the strategic growth of a studio.

Both interior designers were eager to start when we were working with them and discussing the new career directions they wanted to take.

Even though both designers had excellent careers to date, common questions arose – ‘What if this doesn’t work out’, ‘Am I restricting or limiting my career by specializing’, ‘how do I know if I will be any good’?

With strong design backgrounds behind them, along with excellent portfolios of work, neither interior designer would lose anything – they would only gain. Opportunities and exciting projects will inevitably open up in their new fields and as such, only strengthen their future employability. If they wanted to go back to being an allround interior designer they certainly could with more strings to their bow and more contacts.

But what is really key to their success is that they are following their hearts and have found skill sets they are very good at – mainly because it comes naturally to them but most importantly, they enjoy it!

For employers, annual appraisals are an excellent chance to ask your employees if they want to specialize in a specific area – it may make them even more productive, saving you time and money! I was reading an article just the other day in which researchers from Oxford University’s Saïd Business School found a conclusive link between happiness and productivity. They found happy workers to be 13% more productive – even more reason to pursue a career you are passionate about.