Switching careers, particularly as you get older, can be one of the most nerve-wracking yet rewarding decisions you can make in your work life. The reasons behind wanting to make a career change can be wide-ranging: dissatisfaction with your current job or salary, lack of opportunity to progress your career, lack of stimulation in your current role, simply a desire to try something new, or something else all together!
While making a career change can often be associated with changing into an entirely different industry or geographical location, this isn’t always necessarily the case. Often, simply swapping into a new role or organisation within the same industry can be enough of a change to help reinvigorate you to reach your career goals.
Below we outline a few key things to keep in mind if you are considering a career change which aim to help you better navigate the situation and end up in your new dream role!
First thing’s first – you can’t begin to understand what you want in your ideal new role, until you’ve determined why you want to leave your current one! Often, finding someone else you trust to chat through this with – be it a partner, friend, or career coach – can be a great start in helping provide you with a clearer picture of what’s driving you to make this change.
Another important step in making a successful career change is reviewing some of your key interests and skills to determine the type of roles that may be the best match moving forward. Depending on your experience, this may not only stem from past employment – you might also consider volunteer roles or successes in your past studies as valuable indicators of where you would be best suited moving forward.
Before you take any firm steps into a new industry or job, you should take the time to find out what working in that role really entails and if this sounds like the right opportunity for you. One of the best ways to do this is by talking to people already within the industry or position that you’re considering to gain a better understanding of the day-to-day responsibilities and tasks it involves. You may also want to consider spending some time volunteering or undertaking short-term employment to get more of a taste of what it actually entails.
While a big career change can be exciting, it’s also important to consider the reality of your broader life situation in considering your decision. Making time to assess how long you can go without an income or whether it’s realistic to take a temporary step back in your career as you make the transition into a new role is a necessary step in the process to ensure you don’t put yourself in overwhelming financial difficulties.
In some cases, the skills and experience you have developed in your work life to date may be easily applicable to a new industry or role and you may be able to slot seamlessly into a new position with your existing skill set. However, in many cases you may first need to take steps to improve upon your current skills or learn a completely new skill set in order to be in a position to transition into a new role – this may even include undertaking further study or obtaining a new qualification.
If you’ve done your research, talked to people you trust and weighed up the pro’s and con’s and you’re still set on making that career change – then it’s time to take the plunge! Ultimately, spending your time in a job that you enjoy and feel valued and supported in will provide you with the best framework to reach all your career goals, so now it’s over to you to make that happen!
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