Many people experience dissatisfaction after they have fully delved into the career path they felt they wanted. You may feel unfulfilled from your job tasks and may feel no sense of reward from the work that you complete. This usually indicates that it is time for either a full or partial career change. It is important to recognize when you need some sort of career change and also how to begin the process of transitioning into a new career. The following points should help you when deciding to make a career change.
- Assess your Finances
The decision to change careers may be something concrete and complete for you intellectually, however, it is important for you to figure out if you have the resources to facilitate such a change. Very often, your income will decrease in the initial stages of a career change. This is because you may be less experienced or new to the field you are entering. As such you may not be given a position with a similar level of authority or pay scale as at your previous job. If you are venturing into owning your own business, expect initial expenses and accept that your profits will not be immediate. Are you willing to make a financial sacrifice to gain what you want from a career? If you are prepared both mentally and financially to manage earning less and spending for initial expenses then you are on you are one step forward in being able to make a career move.
- Assess your Resources
You need to consider more than just your finances when making a career change. You also need to assess you available resources to determine whether or not you should make the change. Your life may have changed from when you were first employed and you may have many more responsibilities to take into consideration. Figure out whether or not you will be able to give the time, energy and effort needed to support this new change. Every job is different (self-employed or not) and requires different things from you intellectually, emotionally, physically and mentally. Are you prepared to deal with a change in routine and to give of your resources in a different way? Once you have come to terms with what is required of you in that way then you will be better able to manage a career switch.
- Is this what you want?
You need to thoroughly assess the reasons why a career change seemed appealing to you in the first place. Are you certain that a career change will fix the issues and problems you are having with your current job? You also need to figure out the nature of the change you seek. You may think you want to change your career in total when in actuality all you require is a lateral change across jobs. In such a case, the transition may come a lot easier than you had anticipated. Figure out what you truly desire and see whether it actually requires a full career change or not.
- Make the necessary preliminary changes
Research what is needed to move into your desired career path. Are there any additional qualifications and certification required for your need job? What are the experience requirements? What would you need to do to obtain these qualifications? Once you have fully researched and understood what is required for you to make these changes you will be better able to analyze where you are at and where you need to be. A new career path may seem exciting and ideal from an outsiders’ perspective, however, ensure that you have a working knowledge of what is required to do the job that you wish to switch to. After researching you may find that such a position/career path is not what you had anticipated.
- Build your network
Switching from one job to the next is fairly simple, however, moving up in that career is what may prove difficult. Before making the switch, try as much as possible to build your networks. Befriend as many people in the industry as possible so that when you finally make the switch you will already have people who can help you elevate and grow in that area.
- Accept the time lapse
Perhaps the most daunting part of switching careers is the time it will take to become satisfied in your new career. Aside from the resources, finances and network building exercises, you must develop the patience to deal with the length of time it will take to become fully satisfied in your new career. Understand that changes do not come overnight even if you have made a smooth transition to your new career. Focus on what is ahead of you and enjoy the process and the time it takes to get to where you want to be in your career.
Deciding to make a career change is not an easy thing to do; it takes a lot of courage and willpower. Once you have fully understood and come to terms with what is required of you, you should be able to make informed decisions. More information on making a career switch is provided from the links below!
– http://www.wikihow.com/Switch-Careers
– http://www.howstuffworks.com/second-career-ideas/10-reasons-to-change-jobs.htm#page=1
– http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2012/04/14/the-5-biggest-mistakes-career-changers-make/2/
– http://lifehacker.com/what-should-i-know-before-i-change-careers-512289050