The days are gone when you had to stay with same company until you received your gold watch for 50 years of service! Now, you don’t even need to stay in the same career year in year out if you’re not happy with the one you’ve chosen.
If you’re in a rut and have decided to change career path, here are some tips for changing your career, regardless of how old you are or how long you’ve been in the workforce.
1/. Have good self-awareness.
Know what you enjoy doing, know your strengths and talents.
2/. Understand what the new industry you are entering requires in terms of skills, experience, qualifications and talents.
Do your research. Speak to people working in the area and make sure it’s what you think it is.
For example – I always thought being an airline hostess would be great until I realised I hated sleeping in a strange bed every night 🙂
3/. Be realistic.
Research opportunities that are available and find out how the industry recruits for them. Make sure there will be work available if you do decide to retrain for a new career. Ideally focus on growth industries with lots of potential for employment.
4/. Be prepared to start at the bottom again.
This can be a big ask if you’ve already climbed the ladder in a previous career, but it may be necessary. Starting at the bottom allows you to gain experience as you work your way up the new ladder. Understand your transferrable skills and talk to the right people to make opportunities to accelerate your success in your new career.
5/. Set clear and achievable goals and timeframes.
Changing career takes time and effort so you’ll need to have patience and perseverance. Set realistic timeframes that will help you stay committed to your goals.
Want to change career but not sure what to do next?
Let’s Talk Career provides career guidance and coaching services in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane & Far North Queensland, Perth and Auckland.
Email us today to discuss your Career Coaching needs on info@letstalkcareer.com or
Freecall: 1800 284 255 or (03) 8686 9102 to make an appointment. We’re happy to answer all your questions.
We would be delighted for you to reproduce our articles, as long as they remain intact and contain the author’s details as follows: Kris Reynolds is Managing Partner at Let’s Talk Career (www.letstalkcareer.com) in Australia. Kris can be contacted on 1800 284 255 or kris@letstalkcareer.com.
Related Posts
