Thinking about changing careers? It’s time to find your passion and make that your job.
Changing a career ordinarily is no easy feat, but it is inevitable if not a necessity if done for the right reasons, do not stay in a job that makes you complacent or in a harsh working environment. The simple steps taken to enable a successful career change most of the time is to;
- Try to evaluate your daily job routine and try to determine exactly what you disliked about it, check if your dissatisfaction is a result of the content of your work or the people you work with or the company culture in particular.
- Review past jobs, successful roles, volunteer work into referred skills and activities.
- Find out as much as possible about job listings that pique your interests, get to know more about the chosen field, and reach out to those already in the field; they may be of assistance to you.
- Identify and take educational classes that may bridge your background to your new field of interest, consider taking courses online to help garner more knowledge relating to the field.
- Identify transferable skills that you acquired at your last job, a current job that you can take to your next career.
- Don’t be daunted if you don’t have the skills required to succeed in your new position, use the research phase to identify which of the skills and areas you are lacking and start by filling up the gap.
So if you are in the middle of changing jobs right now or considering the possibility of doing just that in the nearest future, then you need to consider the companies hiring.
Some of the occupations providing jobs right now are tech, doctors, nurses, delivery drivers, Managers of a restaurant, real estate Agents e.tc.
Read this – 5 Ways to Make Extra Income During the Summer
There is never a time in life that career change is bad, most especially if you feel you aren’t on the right career path, and it is never late to change careers, so if you feel unhappy about your current employment, why not change it. lets look out for these comprehensive steps taken to enable a successful career change;
Steps Taken to Enable a Successful Career Change
Decide your next career
You’ve probably had many ideas about what you’d like to do next, but now’s the time to narrow it down and make a decision. What is it you actually want to do?
Think about your current strengths and weaknesses. What do you like in your job and what do you hate? What is your passion in life? What makes you happy? Do you want to work for someone else again, or do you want to work for yourself? Is freelancing an option, or even starting your own business?
Once you’ve answered these questions you should have a good idea about what direction you need to take. Have you considered going freelance? If not, why not?
Upgrade your skills
Now that you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to do, do you have the right skills to move forward and mould a career from it? For example, you’ve decided decided to become a freelance web developer.
Can you code? Do you need to improve your skills before forging a career? Maybe first you need to take a course in web development and build yourself a portfolio before making it your full-time profession.
There are loads of courses available both on and offline. And tech is hot right now, so you won’t be running out of work opportunities any time soon.
Finding a mentor in your field
Finding a mentor in your field can provide an invaluable resource and support when you’re thinking of changing careers. And if you’re thinking of starting your own business, it’s crucial.
Why learn from your own mistakes when you can learn from someone else’s? Start by asking them a lot of questions, and listen carefully to what they say, don’t assume you know it all already. They may not have been working in digital when they started out, but a lot of the fundamentals of work and entrepreneurship remain the same as they ever were.
Begin building a support network
Begin building a support network while still holding down your day job. You may want to get out of there as quickly as possible, but believe me, handing in your resignation letter too soon could be your biggest mistake. Your colleagues, employer and clients are your biggest links to your future work if you are thinking about going freelance, and they could be your key to your future jobs with other companies. Either way, you do not want to upset them and do not burn any bridges, however tempting it may be.
Set yourself some goals
Goal number one: set yourself some goals. Don’t use “lack of organizational skills” as an excuse to stay unhappy in your job for the rest of your life. Anyone can write a list, including you. Working backwards outline your goals for the year, then the next six months, then the next six weeks.
Keep your long-term goals in sight at all times – frame them and put them on your wall. This will remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing and what you’re ultimately aiming for. Your goals should be specific, with a definite deadline and written down. Above all, make your deadlines realistic. Give yourself more time than you think you need.
Creating your action plan
Creating your action plan means defining a clear goal and milestones to complete it. By this point, you’ve done all the research and should be able to narrow your career change to a specific occupation. It’s time to consider what it will take to get there.
Think about things like education and certification, skill development, attending networking events and seizing opportunities to practice within the specific industry or field. Write down what steps you plan to take and a timeline to completion.
Rebrand yourself
Before you start applying for new jobs, you may need to undergo a bit of personal rebranding. It’s important that any candidates looking for a job use resources like a resume, cover letter and social profiles to create a personal brand that makes sense to employers. This may be even more important during a career change because your existing experience may not clearly align with your desired goals without a little thought and planning.
Why People Consider Changing Career
- Desire to find meaningful work: most people change jobs because of the innate desires in humans to contribute positively to others around them; working on the good of others can bring in a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.
- Access to meaningful pay: As people mature, their needs increased, and so is their spending power, they would need to cater for themselves and families, so if their current jobs no longer fix their ever-growing bill they chose to swap career for better pay.
- career burnout or stress at work: the need to always meet company deadlines, quotas, work long hours and also still worry about job security can tire out the workers.
- No longer feeling passionate about the job: what may sound like an exciting job initially may get to lose its luster with time, thereby making the job tedious and uninteresting this occurs as a result of following the same routine for a long.
- Aging out of an industry: some jobs that require a physical level of activity like sports needs workers that are physically fit to undertake it but as these workers aged and the energy level wane, they would find it very difficult to cope, thereby making the change in the profession becomes a necessity.
Some factors to consider before changing profession: the ability to start from scratch, to know if work is available to your age group, the willingness to work for someone younger than you, and most importantly, is the ability to manage your finances during your job transition.
