Career change can be especially hard for highly sensitive people (HSPs). To be sure, we can also be good at it. As a career coach for HSPs, I’ve got some practical steps to help HSPs (like myself) manage career transition stress and thrive in the process.
Here are a few reasons career transition might feel hard for you as an HSP:
- You might dread change because you know transitions can sometimes be more overwhelming. Heck, even getting out the door in the morning can be a battle for me.
- You might dread taking a risk on the unknown because your amazing mind can imagine many bad outcomes.
- You’re already giving so much of yourself and you might not feel like you have the energy to explore options and make a change.
I remember staying in a job for years past when all my friends were saying I should get out, because I simply couldn’t see past the stress and exhaustion I was buried in. Inside, I knew I needed out, but, well, you know the story.
Because of all.the.reasons, it’s hard to get off a hamster wheel even when you’re tired of it.

Based on what helped me and what helps my clients, I recommend these 5 steps to ease your way with career transition as an HSP.
STEP 1: Learn more about high sensitivity.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about high sensitivity, both by HSPs and others. In fact, most of the misunderstanding can make you feel bad about yourself and that is a big barrier for any transition.
Learning more about what it means to be an HSP helps you understand yourself in new ways that can be enlightening and take away some worry.
Here’s a great starting point: HSP Facts and Self-care Strategies
If you enjoy books, this one is a real uplift and full of usable insights:
Sensitive: The Hidden Power of the Highly Sensitive Person in a Loud, Fast, Too-Much World, by Jenn Granneman and Andre Sólo, 2023. [My review of the book, Sensitive, is here.]
STEP 2: Learn About HSP Strengths.
When you understand high sensitivity, you can see your sensitivity as a strength and how it can help you in your work and even help you with the career transition process itself. You can also learn what to avoid so that your gifts can flow.
Our HSP superpowers can include:
- Empathy – for deeply understanding colleagues, clients or customers, potential employers, and the ability to read a room.
- Attention to high quality service – which helps you shine in your work search or new role.
- Reading your own inner signals – these can serve as a great guide if we listen.
- Creativity – including seeing fresh ways of doing things or bringing things together.
- Deep thinking and understanding of complexities – getting beyond the surface.
Now sometimes we downplay or override these tendencies, but when we reconnect with them, we can use them as strengths in any situation.
In my last job, I was using my empathy, creativity, attention to quality, and understanding of complexities, but I wasn’t that conscious about it. I was just doing what I do. Once I gained more awareness about my strengths, it became easier to use them and find career paths where they could be expressed more freely.
Of course these aren’t the only strengths HSPs bring to the table and some may resonate more than others, but it can be helpful to remember you have a lot to offer, just as you are. You have so many strengths even if you aren’t sure yet.

STEP 3: Avoid these HSP Stressors at Work.
If work is draining, taking a look at your work environment can make a big difference. One pivot is to see if you can change parts of your work experience without changing jobs. I’ve seen this happen many times, for people who were sure it couldn’t happen. It can at least help in the interim.
If you are looking for a new career or a new job in the same field, think about factors that can make a job more stressful for HSPs, and see if you can avoid them. Work stressors for HSPs include:
- Loud and highly stimulating environments or places full of big emotions.
- Non-stop people time or lots of poorly organized meetings.
- Situations where our time is strictly managed.
- Work cultures that are competitive, judgmental, inauthentic, or unkind.
- Poor organization and illogical systems.
- Work areas without access to or sight of nature.
- Workplace cultures that are insensitive to people and planet.
STEP 4: Learn How To Choose Your Best Career Path.
If you feel like you should “know” what to do by now, you’re not alone. Most of us don’t really learn how to find the right career — and certainly don’t learn what makes a promising career for HSPs.
Finding work that aligns with your values and that honors who you are and what you bring to the table can make your heart sing.
A career coach for HSPs, like me, can help you find the right path — I love working with people considering mid-life career change. One of the things we would do is get clear on your strengths, including the ones you can’t yet see, and we explore where that fits with new possibilities.
A good place to start: I created this free tiny course to help you go from career stuckness to seeing a path forward in one hour: Roadmap to Your Career Sweet Spot.
STEP 5: SMALL Steps Forward + Finding Energy
It can be a lot to be in a job and be exploring better options or trying to make a change. I gathered some creative doable suggestions from HSPs, for how they find energy for career transitions when they were already so tired.
Did you know HSPs respond highly to positive input too? In other words, a little bit of good has a bigger impact for us. For example, this is me: “Did you see the moon last night? 😊 Wow, it made my heart pound.”
A little attention to HSP self-care and taking in the good is important and it will GIVE you energy. I’ve gathered some additional stress reduction resources for HSPs.
I truly get how it feels hard to fit in self-care or basic rest. I resist it sometimes. Breaking it down into tiny things, like taking a one-minute pause, is surprisingly helpful for me.
A tiny step to help you today:
I invite you to take a moment to consider these questions or use them as journaling prompts. You might start feeling a little boost of confidence:
- What are some ways that being an HSP is helping you in your work now? 🤔
- What’s one or two ways your sensitivity could help you in a career transition? 😯
I welcome hearing your thoughts in the comments box below.
Related Posts
- How do I find energy for career exploration when I’m so exhausted by work/life already?
- Career Guide for HSP Extroverts (HSE)
- How To Find Your Right Career Path: Myths and Truths
- The In-Between Time in Your Career: 3 Things That Got Me Through It.
- Feeling Stuck in a Transition? Your Treasure Is Already Here.