At what point do you begin to feel the need for a career change? Picture this, You are sitting at your office desk, tapping your pencil on it, and phones are ringing around you. Then you close your eyes for a while and imagine yourself somewhere else, doing something different from what you do at your job. If this has happened to you, then a career change is in order.

A lot of people change their careers every year. Unfortunately, many simply act on their impulse and then end up making the wrong career move because they failed to do proper research into the field they are entering.

People change careers for different reasons and various motivations drive career change.

Here, we will discuss the various reasons why people need to change careers, factors to consider when changing careers, and how to successfully transition from one career to another.

 

Reasons Why People Consider Career Change

Have you ever wondered why someone with a well-paying job would quit? Or why someone would go from being a Dentist to a Musician? Well, here are some reasons:

• Fulfilment

As often happens, a lot of career decisions were influenced by parents or social demands without due regard to the strength and wishes of the individual and then afterwards in the future many people are unable to find fulfilment in the job that they do. When one cannot find fulfilment at a job, over time,  one becomes dissatisfied and begins to desire a career change.

• Salary / Reward

Salary and financial rewards are among the top reasons why people decide to switch careers. Many people often consider a high salary to be the determining factor in staying in a job or leaving.

• Seeking New Challenge

Overall, you might be content with your job and the job might even be rewarding, on the other hand, it is also possible that after spending years at a job, the daily activities and even workplace interaction might become too routine and boring. And you begin to seek new challenges. Oftentimes, the need and desire for new challenges might be the prompt you need to make a career change and venture into a new career path that would present new challenges and opportunities to gain new skills and knowledge.

• Values Have Changed

It often happens that you might be passionate about your career at a point then some other things happen in your private life that require that you re-evaluate your values and life’s view. It may also be the case that what you enjoyed doing five years ago might not excite you anymore. These changing values, priorities, and life goals might mean a career change is in order.

Can you relate to any of these situations? Are you currently feeling unfulfilled in your current job, or you are having a sense of detachment from your present career, or do you just want to take up new challenges? Then you should consider a career change. A career change offers many benefits and it is filled with endless possibilities.

Factors to Consider Before Career Change

Before changing careers, it is important to consider these factors:

• Age

When changing careers, you have to make sure that you are still within the age gap that is viable for a job prospect. Most companies prefer younger applicants – with a good amount of work experience – because, it is believed that younger people are more adaptable to new situations and are also conscious of the current trend of things.

One also has to check the retirement age for a particular career before making a career switch.  You can, however, proceed to a career even if you find that you are already near retirement age if the demand for labour is high in that field, but you should not have any long-term goals.

• Why Are You Changing Careers

It is important to ask yourself this question before you switch careers and have a clear, concrete answer too. This might give you a sense of direction in your new career.

• Assess your skills

Make sure you have the appropriate skill set for switching careers before leaving your current job. Before you make that career switch, make sure you have the required education and training for that field.

• Analyse your strengths and Weaknesses

While considering a career change, it is important to make an assessment of your strengths and weaknesses and understand what you like to do and your pet peeves. Once you have outlined these traits and characteristics, you then ask if the industry you plan to move to can accommodate these strengths and weaknesses. From this analysis, you would also find certain areas that you’d need to work on.

Check out these 6 High-Paying Jobs That Are Great For Career Changers

 

Steps to follow for a Successful Career Change

 

• Research

Conduct thorough research about the prospective career before making the final decision to switch. If this is done properly, one would be able to understand the basics of the career or field.

In the process of conducting your research into a career, you should ask the following questions:

1. Is it a highly skilled job?

2. Do you have the mental capacity to perform excellently well in it?

3. How much money would you have to invest to learn how to do it?

• Engage people who are already in that field

Talking to someone who works in that field or who already has the job you desire would make your transition easy and afterwards, it would also make navigating the new career easeful. But then, make sure you talk to someone who enjoys their job.

• Do a SWOT analysis

These involve analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a career or job before you venture into it. It is important to make a pros and cons list before you switch careers or jobs.  This entails writing down the disadvantages, advantages and opportunities changing a career would entail. This would give you a certain clarity in making your choice.

• Speak with a counsellor

A career counsellor would give you the proper guidance needed to be able to swiftly change from one career to another without any negative emotional, mental or psychological effects.

•  Consider a specialized degree

One of the most definite ways to acquire knowledge in a field is to acquire a degree in that field. A degree would give you great insight into the theories and practical aspects of the career.

• Reflect on your choice

Give yourself enough time to think about this decision before making such a critical change in your life. So, take all the time you need, but, do not dawdle too long.

• Gather up the courage and do it!!

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