Dissatisfaction, boredom, changing lifestyles, and limited opportunities for promotion or compensation top traditional career change lists. But today, career change drivers are likely to be for non-elective reasons. It doesn’t matter if your decision is driven by the pursuit of happiness or the pursuit of survival; Follow these important rules to ensure a smart and lasting career change.
1. Take an objective look at the emotional reasons you are changing your career. Pursue a passion or a talent? Are you looking for a career with meaning? Leaving a dead end job? You will need to know and firmly understand the true reasons and drivers if you expect to go the required distance in a new career.
2. Starting a new career is like starting your own business. Make sure you have the capital and resources to start the journey! Doing related part-time or volunteer work while researching, preparing, exploring, and pursuing your new life will allow you to make important progress while keeping vital financial and emotional safety nets in place.
3. Know what you have to offer. Being able to explain it in 1 minute or less. Your explanation should include new career benefits and needs that you will cover, and a factual reason why or how you can provide them. Use new professional vocabulary and connect “old” words with new ones. If you can’t draw those connections, find out how to create them.
4. Create a strategy! Strategy is an overdue plan. Where do you want to be in 5 years? Research job descriptions and career profiles and list the requirements. Then, track down the necessary steps, education, and training you’ll need to get there. Finally, map out the action steps, job titles, and skills you need to follow and land in the process.
5. You need a marketing plan, not just a new resume. A resume can force you to talk about the past and make you sound insecure about what you want to do. A marketing campaign exposes your strengths and applies them to the activities and the new direction you are seeking. That marketing “blueprint” can make a great new cover letter, get you through tough new interviews, and help you reframe your resume into the tool you need to get admitted into your new career.
Changing careers requires a job change, a scary proposition. However, career change training and good career change tips will help you overcome this difficult challenge. Don’t let your fear stop you from finding a job you love.
