People change careers for many reasons. It may be due to a lack of interest in the industry you’re in, a change in your personal values, or a change in career goals. Either way, changing career paths can have serious ramifications to your life.
But it need not be as terrifying as you think. You can make a successful career change without seriously disrupting your life by following these simple steps.
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Assess Your Job Satisfaction
Is the cause for your desire to switch careers more to do with your current job or current career path? Be honest with yourself, because it might be that the issue isn’t so much your career as a whole but your employer or position. As such, it’s important to ask yourself whether the source of your dissatisfaction comes from the work you’re doing, the people you work with, or your company culture.
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Determine Your Interests, Strengths, and Priorities
Look at your past roles, projects, and jobs to see what your interests, strengths, and priorities are. There are free tests and online tools you can use to evaluate your strengths and motivations, which will help you determine which career paths you might be able to move to—it might be that you can move to another role within the same industry.
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Assess Your Options
So, now that you know your interests, strengths, and priorities, the next step is to identify potential career paths or jobs that match your current skills, contacts, and credentials. This is known as your career capital, which will prove crucial when pivoting into a new career path.
As romantic as the idea of “doing what you love” sounds, for many people the more viable is to do what you’re good at, which is one way to develop your passion. In other words, if you’re going to switch careers, you’re better off moving to roles where you can use your existing career capital.
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Determine What You Need
Do you lack certain skills to be a marketable candidate in a new field or role? Do you need classes? Licenses? Certifications? These are all within your reach depending on where you look. You could, for example, take online courses to learn how to code, do digital marketing, or use a CRM platform like Salesforce. It’s best to build on your existing skill set so that any courses or certification you need to get won’t require as much time or money.
For more career growth tips and insights, be sure to follow this blog. If your search for a job or a new career needs a little push in the right direction, contact the staffing specialists of Top Notch Personnel to learn how our services can help you.
