It’s not uncommon in this age of opportunity to find oneself half-way through a successful career, only to discover that it’s not your true calling. As many observers have noted, the younger generations are especially prone to introspection when it comes to job choices – unsure of what’s best for their future, they’re likely to take two or three attempts before landing in the job of their dreams. It’s for this reason that this article is composed – aiming to help anyone who’s looking to change careers, mapping out how exactly you can make your new start a success.
Make a Decision
First thing’s first: you need to make a decision about your current job. It’s advisable to take your time over this in order to avoid any rash attempts to change your lifestyle that may, in the end, be ill-advised. What you’re going to need to consider is a kind of cost-benefit analysis, weighing up your options in a measured and mature fashion. Here are some starting points:
- What is it that bothers you about your current job – and can it be changed?
- How difficult will it be to extract yourself from your current role – and is it worth doing?
- When did you first feel this way – should you wait a little longer to confirm your feelings?
- What do your friends and family say? They can be excellent guides at times like these.
Once you’ve fully thought these questions through, you’ll be able to make a well-informed decision that you shouldn’t be forced to second-guess. You can sit easy in the knowledge that you’ve made a decision with your future happiness in mind – something that’ll grant you great peace of mind.
Consider Your Skills
So, you’re deciding to back out of your current role and your career path in order to forge a new one in pastures new. This is a moment to be excited, as much as it’s a moment to reflect. Use your excitement as energy to apply for jobs, but first consider just what skills you’re going to be taking to the job market – and what might be in demand.
Do you have a future job in mind? Is there a way in which you can reshape your current set of skills and your current bank of experience into a CV that’ll turn heads in your new chosen industry? The answers to these questions are pivotal to your next steps – if you’re all qualified and ready to apply, it’s time to redraw your CV and get those applications out there. If not, then you’ll need to consider next steps.
New Training
If you’re lacking the skills that your desired career move will require, it’s time to head back into academic mode to study for the qualifications that you’ll need to make it in your chosen industry. Whether you’re attempting to become a scientist, a doctor, an artist or a nurse, you should look online to find courses that you can study from your laptop. James Cook University offer a master’s degree in nursing, for instance, that you can study fully online.
The benefits of this form of study are clear: you get to work in your own time, without having to leave your friends, family and partner to move to a new city to study in. You can also build your study schedule around whatever work you’re doing at that time, and generally operate on a flexible and self-disciplined schedule that’ll suit those driven to achieve a new qualification. Medical professionals, for instance, are required to get certifications and recertifications in ACLS regularly, so online training is rather convenient for their busy schedules.
Make New Contacts
Often, when you’ve chosen to change industries, you’ll find that virtually your whole contact book becomes redundant overnight. After all, what’s a software developer got to do with a fire service professional? As you’re on the new beginnings journey, though, building up a new contact book shouldn’t be too difficult or alarming – it’s just a case of putting yourself out there, sending out emails, adding individuals on LinkedIn, and attending those all-important industry events.
You have a magic card up your sleeve when you’re changing industries – you’re clearly going to be passionate and excited by the prospect of your new line of work. This will naturally make you inquisitive and ready to learn when you meet useful contacts, and they’ll warm to you because of your keenness to hear about their lives in the job. Use this ace up your sleeve to woo new contacts and build a network that’ll serve you well in your new role.
Start Preparing Applications
If you’ve been stable in a job for a few years, the prospect of returning to having to write a resume and cover letters might not fill you with any particular joy. In fact, it’ll fill you, most likely, with a sense of dread that you haven’t been familiar with for some time. The curation of your personal profile when you’re applying for jobs isn’t the most pleasant activity to undertake – but it’s crucially important if you’re to find the right role as quickly as you can once you start applying. Make sure that you:
- Have a strong LinkedIn account for prospective employers to look through.
- Have clean and professional social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram – you will get searched for there, too.
- Detail all of your latest experiences and qualifications in your new CV.
- Write a cover letter that includes a short section about the reasons behind your sudden career change.
- Find references that’ll back up your driven work mentality and will confirm you’re excited about moving to pastures new.
With all of these measure in place, you’ll find yourself best-placed to raise eyebrows, turn heads, and earn approving nods when it comes to the application process – something that can drag on and on if you’ve not put the work in beforehand.
Interview With Panache
Finally, the last tip is perhaps the most obvious – interview with style, grace, confidence and charisma in order to impress your potential employers and woo them into offering you the job. Plenty of people who’ve been working comfortably in a job for years can find that the fast-paced world of interviews is a little outside their comfort zones, which makes this piece of advice all the more important for those all-important face-to-face meets. Here are some sure-fire ways to come across well in interview:
- Be friendly, calm, laid-back and generous with your answers to the questions.
- Don’t worry that you don’t know everything: no one does. Be humble and honest.
- Prepare beforehand so that you’ve got some excellent answers to common questions.
- Find a positive and appealing way to explain your decision to change industries.
- Maintain eye contact and make sure that your body language is positive and friendly.
- Be sure to ask important questions about your potential role at the conclusion of the interview.
If you follow all of the advice provided above, there is no doubt that you’re going to impress those who’ve taken the time to call you in for an interview.
Jump In
Once you’re offered the job, you’ll need little encouragement to jump into your new role and take your new responsibilities in your stride. The advice here is more about the nature of your jump than the jump itself. Make sure that you’re prepared for something quite different from what you’re used to – after all, you’re just starting out in an entirely new industry and company.
Try to be open and avoid being judgmental where possible. Just be yourself, be curious, ask questions, and work hard to impress those who might feel they’ve taken a chance in employing you. With that attitude, you’re unlikely to find yourself disappointed in your new career choice.
Changing career is a daring and rewarding decision to make. This article offers the supportive tips you’ll need to guide you from one industry to the next, in a way that’s pain-free and stress-free as possible.