CAREER CHANGE AND THE HARVEST MOON: WHAT HAVE YOU GROWN, AND WHAT COMES NEXT?

The season of change has arrived.

There is something rather lovely about the Harvest Moon arriving just as summer packs away its deckchair and autumn starts rummaging around for its woolly jumpers. 🍂

Saturday, 26 September, saw the 2026 Harvest Moon. It arrives just a few days after the autumnal equinox, which marked the astronomical beginning of autumn here in the UK on 23 September. The Harvest Moon is traditionally the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox, and this year it reaches fullness at 5.49pm BST on Saturday.

And it got me thinking.

Autumn is a season of transition. It sits between the warmth and expansiveness of summer and the quieter, colder months of winter.

Sounds rather like a career change, doesn't it?

AI assisted Harvest Moons!

There are times in our working lives when we know something is shifting, but we haven't quite worked out what comes next. Perhaps the role that once fitted beautifully now feels like a pair of jeans that have mysteriously shrunk. Perhaps redundancy, caring responsibilities, menopause, divorce, burnout or simply the dawning realisation that "is this it?" has become your favourite workplace question.

Career change doesn't always begin with a grand five-year plan.

Sometimes it begins with a niggling feeling.

So, as the Harvest Moon shines a little light on the changing season, perhaps it's time to ask yourself:

What have I grown? The idea behind the Harvest Moon is wonderfully relevant to careers. Historically, its extra evening light helped farmers bring in crops before autumn conditions arrived. The symbolism is rather beautiful: gather what has grown before moving into the next season. And perhaps we should do the same with our careers.

Before immediately updating LinkedIn, rewriting your CV and applying for 47 jobs you don't really want, stop.

• What have you actually grown?

• Maybe you've developed confidence you didn't have five years ago.

• Perhaps you've become brilliant at managing difficult conversations.

• Maybe you've learnt how to lead a team, negotiate, influence senior stakeholders, solve problems, manage change, organise chaos or keep calm while everyone else is metaphorically throwing office furniture out of the window. 🪑🔥

These are career assets. They don't disappear simply because your job title changes.

A recent Medium article by Merlin Elizabeth makes this point particularly well, arguing that we can become overly attached to job titles when our careers are actually built through capabilities. Skills such as decision-making, stakeholder management, communication, negotiation, problem-solving and leading through ambiguity can travel with us when our role changes.

So try this:

Write down your last three roles.

Now forget the job titles.

Instead, list what you actually became good at.

That list could contain considerably more gold than your CV currently reveals. ✨

What needs Harvesting?

Harvesting isn't just about noticing what grew. It's about gathering it in. Your career is no different. Think about the achievements you've accumulated but perhaps never properly celebrated.

Did you:

• lead a project through a difficult period?

• improve a process?• manage a redundancy programme?

• mentor someone who subsequently progressed?• increase revenue or reduce costs?• rebuild your confidence after a difficult experience?

• learn something completely new?

• take on responsibilities outside your job description?

• survive a frankly ridiculous workplace situation and emerge with your sanity mostly intact?

Write them down. Don't dismiss something because "it was just part of my job". That sentence has probably robbed more women of career confidence than almost anything else.

If you did it, solved it, improved it, led it, influenced it or survived it, it counts. And if you are considering a career change, these examples become evidence. Evidence is what turns "I think I could do that" into "Here is how I've already demonstrated I can do that."

What are you ready to let go of?

The Economic Times' recent piece on the 2026 Harvest Moon suggests using this seasonal moment as a symbolic opportunity to release outdated goals, old guilt, comparison and expectations that no longer fit.

Now, I'm not suggesting the Moon is going to magically delete your toxic manager from your Outlook calendar. Sadly, celestial HR doesn't appear to exist. 🌙 But the symbolism is useful. Career change often requires letting go.

Maybe you need to let go of the belief that you are "too old" to change direction. Perhaps it's the idea that starting something new means wasting everything you've previously achieved. Maybe you've been carrying the expectation that your career should look impressive to somebody else rather than actually work for you. Or perhaps you've decided that because you've spent 20 years in one profession, you have somehow forfeited your right to want something different.

You haven't. A career isn't a prison sentence. Nor is changing direction admitting defeat.

Sometimes the person you are becoming simply needs a different environment in which to grow.

The Harvest Moon Career Audit

If you're feeling a bit "What on earth am I doing with my career?", try a Harvest Moon Career Audit.

Grab a notebook, your favourite drink and perhaps a biscuit. This is serious work. The biscuit is compulsory. 🍪

Create four columns:

GROWN What skills, strengths and experience have I developed?

HARVESTED What achievements, relationships, qualifications and lessons can I take forward?

RELEASED What am I no longer willing to tolerate, pursue or carry?

NEXT SEASON What do I want more of in my working life?

Don't worry about producing a beautifully strategic answer. This isn't a board presentation. It's a conversation with yourself.

And notice the difference between "What job should I get?" and "What kind of working life do I want now?"

The second question is usually much more interesting.

You don’t have to start from Zero!

One of the biggest career-change myths is that changing direction means starting again.

It doesn't.

You are not 21 again.

You have experience.

You have stories.

You have relationships, resilience, judgement, knowledge, perspective and transferable skills.

Your next career chapter can be built from those foundations.

The trick is learning how to translate them. For example, "I managed a team of 15 people" might become leadership, coaching, conflict resolution, performance management and strategic decision-making.

"I organised an annual conference" could demonstrate project management, supplier negotiation, stakeholder engagement, budgeting and communication.

"I've spent years caring for other people alongside working" might demonstrate organisation, prioritisation, emotional intelligence, resilience and adaptability.

Your experience has been quietly composting into something useful. 🌱

You just need to stop throwing it in the bin.

What comes next?

This is where career change gets interesting. The Harvest Moon isn't about rushing headlong into winter. It's about recognising the transition.

You don't need to know exactly what comes next. You might simply need to know what you don't want anymore. Then perhaps you explore. 

• Have a conversation with someone doing a job that interests you.

• Take a course.

• Volunteer.

• Refresh your CV around transferable skills.

• Ask for a stretch project.

• Try something on a small scale.

• Talk to a career coach.

• Test before you leap.

Most importantly, don't confuse uncertainty with failure.

A season of not knowing can be incredibly productive.

The Farmers' Almanac describes the Harvest Moon as a traditional planning point rather than a prediction, which is actually rather a good approach to career change too. Use it as a prompt to reflect, not as a crystal ball. 🔮

Your career is allowed to have seasons!

Perhaps the biggest lesson of autumn is that change doesn't mean something has gone wrong.

The leaves aren't failing because they turn colour.

Summer hasn't failed because it ends.

Winter isn't a disaster because it's different from July.

Things change.

We change.

Our priorities change.

Our bodies change.

Our families change.

Our ambitions change.

And sometimes our careers need to change with us.

So this Harvest Moon, instead of asking yourself, "What should I be doing by now?", try a kinder and much more useful question:

"What have I grown, what am I ready to gather, and what do I want to grow next?"

You might be surprised by just how much you've already cultivated. 🌕🍂

And if you're standing at your own career crossroads, wondering whether it's time to improve the career you have or explore something completely different, you don't have to work it all out alone.

I offer a free 30-minute Discovery Call where we can explore what's changing, what you want from your working life and whether coaching could help you move forward.

Sometimes the next season doesn't need a five-year plan.

It just needs a first step.

#careerchange #midlifecareer #careercoaching #womenatwork #pauseandempower