How to Generate Career Ideas Outside of Retail

The question Retail Managers struggle with most...

"What can I do instead of Retail?".

This particular challenge becomes even more daunting if you have only ever worked in one industry.

The familiarity with retail makes it difficult to envision any other possibilities.

Personally, this was the primary reason why it took me two years longer than planned to break free from retail.

Every time I experienced a rough day or week at work, I would convince myself that it was time for a change.

I would visit job search websites, hoping to find something that offered a similar salary and piqued my interest. Unfortunately, none of my applications ever amounted to anything.

Frustrated, I would eventually give up, only to repeat the cycle again later.

Little did I know, I was using a flawed approach.

The truth is, there are numerous ways to generate truly exciting ideas, and in this week's newsletter, I will share one of those ideas with you.

Strap yourself in, as I'm going to take you down the exciting journey of career discovery."

Step 1

Fire up your favourite job search website.

For this example, I am going to use the worldwide recognised indeed.com.

Instead of doing what I bet you normally do, typing in your job title into the search bar….

I want you to type in one of your top skills instead.

For this example, let’s go with a common Retail skill which is “Leadership” and click “Find jobs”.

Basically, what this does is it brings up results where the word “leadership” is often found within the job description.

I DON’T want you to put anything in the “where” box as we are only generating career ideas not looking for jobs right now. If there is a job in one part of the country, it will crop up at some point in the future where you are.

Step 2

I now want you to filter the salary to your expectations.

I normally go with my retail salary as if I had more work-life balance and job satisfaction then it is normally better than a pay increase, but you can look at higher-paid jobs too!

Most people say to me that there aren’t jobs in other industries that pay as well as retail.

Well, I’ve come up with…

19,050 jobs that pay a salary of £60k+ in the UK alone (I found 600k+ in the USA!)

Step 3

I want you to work your way through the list of jobs brought up in your search.

If you think the job description looks interesting, then add it to your career idea list.

Remember, we are generating career ideas, not making career decisions so don’t start ruling yourself out of these jobs before you’ve even given them a chance. Don’t let your self-talk rule you out of these roles as there are loads of ways you can secure these jobs.

If it looks interesting… add it!

Step 4

What if you want more specific results?

Well, you can mix multiple skills like “Customer Service” “Sales” and “HR” whatever your top skills are…

This generated over 3000 ideas.

Or you can add other things that you desire that might appear on a job description for example Monday - Friday.

This also found over 3000 jobs that paid £50k+ which was Monday to Friday.

This technique alone has helped my previous retail escapees generate several career ideas.

Giving them loads of options to choose from!

It also ensures you only generate career ideas that will provide you with the salary you desire.

And it stops you from generating unrealistic career ideas by focusing on YOUR specific transferable skills.

Making them achievable career options.

Happy career idea generating! 

That's all for this week!

Thanks for reading.

Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. I'd recommend starting with an affordable course:

Career Idea Generator: Unlock Exciting Career Ideas Outside of Retail

The Proven Framework for Generating 30+ Career Ideas Outside of Retail Without Sacrificing Your Salary (Even if You Have Absolutely No Experience in Other Industries)

The Job Offer Blueprint: How to Secure Interviews for Your Dream Career Outside of Retail.

The Job Offer Blueprint Is a Multi-Step System for Generating a Pipeline of Interviews for Careers in Exciting Industries - Even if You’ve Only Worked in Retail

2. If you need more hands-on 1:2:1 support.

Join the Retail Escape Academy. The Retail Escape Academy Is a Proven, All-In-One System for Landing a Job You Love Without Connections, Without Traditional “Experience,” and Without Using Job Search Websites. Includes both "Career Idea Generator" and "Job Offer Blueprint" courses. In addition: Self-Marketing Mastery, Nailing Your Interviews + Loads of Hands-On Support.