Career Change: Some Basic Steps

In any given workplace there is bound to be at least a few people who would love to take their careers in a totally different direction. Very of them will take the necessary steps to do so however. The main reasons for this are 1) Uncertainty on how to approach the complex issue of career transition and 2) Fear of losing the security that comes with a current position. The best way to overcome these barriers is to approach the possibility of career transition in a calm, professional and informed way. This will help you to make the right decisions at the right time! Possible elements of this process include the following:

1) Ask yourself some hard questions: Changing careers is obviously a major life decision and therefore not one to be taken lightly. You should therefore make sure that you consider the change for all the right reasons and none of the wrong ones! Ask yourself the following questions:

·         Why do I want to do this? Many people plan consider career changes as a way of fulfilling a life-long dream or as a way to be of greater service to the community. These are obviously legitimate reasons for taking such a major step. If however the only reason you are considering the change is that you are dissatisfied with your current management then the best course of action might be a change of employer rather than taking your career in a completely different direction.

·         What do I want to do? Just having a vague notion that you would like to change careers is not going to be enough to launch you into a new direction. Try to develop a good idea of that exactly it is that you want to do.

·         Is this the right time for a career change? Timing is one of the most crucial questions when considering a career transition. This is especially important when you remember that your family’s economic well-being might be at stake. You should therefore seriously consider whether you are ready to make to move now or whether a period of saving up for it or of retraining might not first be necessary.

2) Investigate your alternative career: If you decide that you want to go ahead with a career transition you will need to move from a good idea to where you want to be heading to investigating some specifics. This includes decisions on exactly what you want your new career to be and what the best way to get there would be. Deciding on an answer to the first question will often lead you to the answers for the second as well. Some of the ways in which you can make a decision about what it is that you want to do are to:

·         Define what it is what you would like to achieve and be remembered for

·         Analyze your passions and talents

·         Ask friends and colleagues what they think a good alternative career for you would be

·         Get formal career advice

·         Investigate whether there is a hobby or other part time pursuit that you could turn into a career

Once you have made a decision about an alternative career you would have to start looking at ways into that career. In some cases the entry routes are very clearly defined (e.g. if you want to become a doctor you would have to go and study medicine for a number of years) while with others you will have the opportunity to be a bit more creative in terms of how you go about things.

3) Plan and Implement the change: Once you know where you want to go and what the best ways to get there are, the next step would be to actually start the journey. Try to manage this like you would any other vitally important project by deciding on action steps and dates for their completion. This will help you to move things forward instead of just continuing to dream about perhaps changing careers one day. One of the best ways of keeping to your action plan is to make yourself accountable to someone (perhaps your spouse or a mentor) for the completion of the steps.

Changing careers is never easy and straightforward. When you consider however that the payoff could be the career of your dreams it is quite likely that all the blood, sweat and tears would be more than worth it!