People desire a career change for many reasons. For some, the monotonous effect is strongly affecting their productivity. Others are just not coping with their current work-life; the stress and not being fulfilled characterise the reasons they give to want to call it quits in their current career.
For whatever the reason is, the good thing is you can have a career change anytime you feel it is right to do so. And with technology driving the course in today’s world, making the switch can come swiftly and easily.
Yet, there are things about career change you may not have known. Here are our five such things you should be aware of when considering a career change.
1. Obtaining a Degree in the Field does not guarantee a Job
There are just two good reasons for returning to school: either you want to study for training and be well equipped for a job, or you have thoroughly researched what you have to do to join a specific career and have concluded that you need additional schooling or degree. So, would you need a degree for a career change? The keyword here is specificity. If you go back to school for a job, you need to know why you’re going. Don’t expect the school to find a job for you.
You have to be sure getting back to school is crucial to the landing of the job, if not; it is going to be a waste of time. Some have taken this route in the past, borrowing so much money to get back to school only to realize later on that what is required is the skill and not necessarily the paper certificate. They could have gotten the job all the same if they take advantage of online courses which may not cost them that much.
If you want a career change and are not sure what you want to do, it’s a very expensive way to get back to college.
2. Changing a Career is a Process and not a Destination
We tend to not know exactly what a career change is like. It’s a process that takes time. Depending on where your shift is going, the entire process can take months to years before you finally find your feet. The best way to handle a career change is to look at it as a process that takes steps to reach a destination.
Keep in mind that a career grows with time and you need the patience to grow it. You may not find yourself operating at the level you’ve been in your last employment straight away.
3. You Must Know How to Do the Job
When you’re considering a career change, much will be expected from you.
Nobody will give you a job offer unless you know how to do it. Since this is not your first job, you will be considering getting into the field at a level above the entry-level with little to no experience at all. So what can you do if you want to get into a new career, if you have no experience to do the job or if you never can use the new skills confidently?
The first thing is to figure out exactly what you need to know and learn it as easily and cost-effectively as possible. You can register for online courses, earn yourself graduate certificates or go for extension programs and full studies if it requires you going that far. If you need real-life experience, intern, volunteering or getting the lowest entry-level job you qualify for are some ways. This can be a sacrifice for you to get in that field to learn the ropes and grow in the field. Once you are there, you can progress quickly, especially if you have many other transferable skills.
4. Challenges are there
As hinted at earlier, a career change won’t come by a snap of the fingers. It takes some time and effort to finally get in there and be productive. Every aspect of your life will be touched including family, social, and finances. The demand of the new job and the environment are other areas.
There are certain obstacles you will face, even if you’re not too old to reinvent yourself. Take those who are looking to start in a new sector at the entry levels for instance; they go through stages in the industry before getting to the pinnacle of their career. Employers tend to worry about your experience or fear that you can quickly grow to properly fit into the role you’re employed.
If your wages are going to be cut, definitely your finances will also be affected negatively. It will require that you start putting things in place in terms of your insurance and other areas you are committed to. Ideally, you should have set up an emergency fund to help you with such changes. Finally, you have to prove yourself all over again in a career change, a psychological phenomenon that you probably didn’t have to do in some time. You must be humble enough to step back a bit and learn new company patterns and models. You must be ready to confront this and overcome.
5. You’re taking Your Experience along with you
This is a good one in the career change move; it is not all challenges when you desire a career change.
A career change should be a bit frightening though, but it’s ideally at least better than beginning your first job. This is because you now have a lifetime work experience with you, even if it is not directly connected to your new field.
“Use all transferable skills to get you a job,” says Gina Curtis, recruiting manager, Employment BOOST, a reputable professional outsourcing and resume writing service. For instance, if you have many years of application development experience and are responsible for much technical work, you can use these same skills effectively in many other roles that relate to this experience.
This goes to tell that a career change can be a good one that the transition will be easier when your current career is closely related to the one you are transiting to.
How important your background to your new career is something that must be borne in mind as you look for choices. Do your best and try to find a career path that matches your background instead of moving in another direction completely.
https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/changing-careers-truth/
https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/career-change-and-the-seasoned-worker
