People seek a career change for a variety of reasons. It could be due to newfound interests, a shift in career goals, a desire to work in a better industry or for better pay, or even the desire to have more work flexibility.
These are the reasons why people need to change careers, but changing careers is never easy and requires a bit of work and the right information. In this article, we will walk you through the steps to take for a successful career change.
A career change involves transferring your skills and experiences to a new career and workspace. You could be transitioning from being a teacher to a hospitalist, or from being a writer to a software engineer. It also means you’d be learning new skills and gaining new knowledge for your new career.
An EDX survey found that one out of three Americans aged 25-44 changed careers since their first job after college. Below are some of the reasons why people seek a career change
Career dissatisfaction is one of the main reasons why most people seek a career change and an evaluation of your current job dissatisfaction would help you in successfully changing or switching careers.
You can evaluate by writing down what you like and dislike about your current job, as this will help you transition to a job that does not displease you.
Changing careers could be motivated by the fact that your interests, skills, and goals are not being utilized or fulfilled in your current career/job. To successfully change careers and avoid dissatisfaction with your new job, you must first assess your skills, interests, and goals and then choose a career that matches them.
Changing careers does not always imply changing industries and vice versa. While evaluating your skills, interests, and goals, you should also consider how you want to change careers. This could mean starting a new career in the same or a similar industry, or it could mean starting a new career in a completely different industry.
To successfully change careers and understand your career options, you must conduct thorough research on the jobs and industries that would be a good fit for your skills, interests, and goals.
If you find this difficult, you can reach out to professionals in the industry or career that interests you, or you can reach out to your network. You can also look at the BLS employment projections to see which jobs are expected to grow quickly.
If you have completed the necessary research, and the next step is to develop an action plan. An action plan entails defining your goals as well as each step you intend to take in order to successfully change careers. These action plans could very well include education, training, and certifications, among other things.
When considering a career change, you will need to find out if the career you apply for requires a degree, certifications, or training. Sometimes the career path you decide on would require you to obtain additional education, enroll in a trade school, get training and acquire new skills.
This means you will have to find a way to acquire all the necessary skills and information needed before having a career switch. For example, if you want to switch to software engineering or development, you would require training or enrollment in bootcamps like App Academy, General Assembly, Coding Dojo, Springboard, and Thinkful.
There are numerous reasons for changing careers, the most common of which is dissatisfaction with one’s current job. Whatever your reason for deciding to change careers, you should do the necessary research and properly plan the steps you will take. With the steps we have provided, you can successfully change careers.
