Published 8 Oct 2018

3 Steps to Changing Your Career

by William Inglis

There’s an infamous line by fictitious How I Met Your Mother character, Barney Stinson. He says, ‘new is always better.’

While there are plenty of issues with his logic, most of which are pointed out in the show, you might be looking out the window wistfully and considering a new career. The Balance suggests the following to be the most common reasons to change careers:

Negative relationship with the boss
Bored and unchallenged by the work itself
Opportunities to use their skills and abilities
The meaningfulness of the employee’s job

You might, however, have read one of our articles about a job sector that you hadn’t considered. These industries include the health sector, IT or catering. Each sector comes with its own challenges, benefits and routes to achieve the position.

Whatever your reason, a change can be exciting and scary in equal measures. Here’s our guide to how to plan a career move, how to execute it and anything else you need to know.

According to the Telegraph, the percentage of age groups looking for a career change is as follows:

18 – 24 years

25 – 34 years

35 – 44 years

45 – 54 years

55 + years

Step One – Think, Then Research

In our opinion, these are three questions to ask yourself when you initially think about changing careers:

What did you want to do when you were growing up?
Maybe leave out the idea of becoming a Teletubby, but certainly include those initial career ideas that you had at school. Your thoughts will have changed after an advanced understanding and certainly evolved, but your basic impulse is perhaps something to dwell on.
What are you passionate about?
For this author, it’s writing. He’s done it since a young age so once he found out he could use this talent as a career, there was no turning back. Maybe for you, it’s art, if so, find out the many artistic careers out there. If you enjoy video games, why not think about a job where you create for others to enjoy. If, however, you’re only passionate about helping others, the health sector might be for you.
What do you want from your job?
For some, money is the deciding factor. These people will take a large amount of stress or put up with an unsavoury workplace if it means some extra cash in the bank. That’s completely fine. Others might prefer a job that they can switch off from as soon as they’ve left the building and not think about it for the next twelve hours. Whatever you want from a job, apply it to your passion and what you’ve always felt like you want to do.

Once you’ve asked yourself these questions, it’s essential to research. Use tools like our careers’ blog or Google as a more extensive (and perhaps more obvious) search tool to find out what you must do to build towards your ideal job.

Talk to friends, colleagues, and anyone that will return your calls. Those that are doing the job are the best people to speak to. They can give you an honest rundown of the positives and negatives, as well as a realistic idea of how to get there.

Bonus: Gain some extra first-hand knowledge by taking part in work experience. Yes, it might be something that we did at fifteen, but it’s a great way to find out about the sector you’re thinking of moving across to.

The average person will change jobs
between

5 - 0

times in their
professional lifetime

In a survey to find out the reason why
people don’t change careers,

of the respondents said it was due to financial commitments such as a mortgage

Step Two: Identify the Path

This step might come under the first one, but it’s crucial. You might want to become a writer, but you’ve trained as an accountant. How can you move sectors? These are the things to consider:

How to build up experience
You might have to work for a lowered wage, and in some cases for free. Only work without pay if the experience satisfies the desired goal. For example, if the experience will genuinely benefit you when it comes to a job interview for your dream job.
What the professional end goal is
Do you want to move careers to give yourself flexibility? Then a full-time career in the sector won’t be for you. Equally, if you’re ready for a long-term career investment, freelancing might be a good start, but it isn’t your end goal.

Step Three – Execution

Here, honesty is the most significant factor. Be honest with your boss, your colleagues, and most importantly, yourself. Remember the reason for leaving that career and think about why you’re chasing down this new opportunity.

Talk to your boss. Even if they’re the least understanding person, it’s professional courtesy to keep them in the loop.
Don’t leave tasks unfinished and your old co-workers to pick up the pieces.
Work until the end even if it’s merely because they can give you a positive reference.
Remember that your new career will have its own challenges.

It’s easy to feel obligated to stay in a career that you don’t like. It’s very easy to go along with what other people think you should be doing but remember; you’re the one that has to do that job, so why not find something that makes you happy?

To discover the educational opportunities available to help you get where you need to be, why not explore your options:

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