An abrupt transition from one specialty to a radically different one is unlikely to be successful, so it is important to prepare for the change in advance. The right strategy and plan of action will help you achieve your goal as quickly as possible and succeed in your new job. If you do decide to change careers, where do you start? We’ve picked up a few basic rules for you:
Rule 1: Think about what direction you are attracted to.
Most people work in the same profession for years simply because of habit. They first took a few years of university training, immediately got a job in their specialty after graduation, and up until now have not studied anything other than the field they already know. It’s never easy to give up on life as usual.
Many continue to do things they don’t like and are afraid to take risks and change their own lives. This has an extremely negative effect on a person’s psyche, causing professional burnout. This psychological problem requires qualified help and practically cannot be solved by one’s efforts.
What to do:
- Analyze your current job, understand what exactly you are not satisfied with it.
- Determine for yourself an area in which it would be interesting to develop.
- Write down the duties you can perform.
- Study the market and select a corporate environment close to your heart.
- Calculate what kind of salary and social package options will suit you.
Rule 2: Develop yourself
It is impossible to make a radical career change without additional education. But this does not mean that you need to start preparing for the examinations for college admission. Continuing and retraining courses will be more than enough.
Training on courses does not take as much time as college, plus the emphasis is on gaining practical skills rather than studying theoretical material. Thanks to this format, you can quickly learn the skills you need for your new job. For example, if you want to become an advocate, you should learn law, Actually, you can use law assignment help on the first time. It will help you to understand principles of this work and after you’ll be able to do everything by yourself.
Most employers respect candidates who have taken retraining courses because it is an indicator not only of knowledge but also of interest in the job. Among other things, there are government programs that offer training for free.
How to enroll:
- Understand what specialty appeals to you most and what skills are required for the position.
- Find the right training center. Be careful and choose the training center carefully; check if it has a license to conduct educational activities and how many years the company has been on the market.
- Choose a program with a broad scope of material, this will give you more of the knowledge and skills you need for your new job.
Rule 3: Develop flexible skills
You do not yet have outstanding achievements in your new professional field, but developing soft skills will help you stand out.
These are performance and stress tolerance, time management, critical thinking, creativity, and many other things that can affect the quality and efficiency of your work. Developing flexible skills is useful not only during the work process but also in everyday life.
How to proceed:
- Analyze which agile skills will be most useful for your future job.
- Be sure to spell out the skills on your resume. Taking courses to improve your flexible skills will increase your competitiveness.
- Not only state-specific flexible skills in your cover letter or an interview but also attach cases that will prove their existence and usefulness to the job. Don’t be shy about the details.
Rule 4: Develop an understanding of the professional environment
Many people wonder how to change careers at age 30 when they haven’t gained much seniority yet. Well, having experience in a certain field is not a guarantee that a person is interested in the job. Submit your professionalism as the main advantage. Think about how to “sell” yourself before the interview.
What to do?
Analyze the professional environment:
- Familiarize yourself with the activities of the company, this is easy enough to do with the help of Internet resources. Study their behavior with clients, read reviews.
- Read lectures and social media posts written by people in your professional field of interest. This will help you understand the behavior and manner of speech, learn new terms. Such a small thing can become your advantage in the end.
Edit your resume:
- Familiarize yourself with job openings in your field of interest. Pay attention to general requirements and job duties.
- Make changes to your resume. Add information about additional training, and write about your past job accomplishments. Emphasize your competence and professionalism and spell out flexible skills.
- Post your resume on various job search resources (including job sites).
- Research job openings for companies you would like to work for and send them your resume. Include a detailed cover letter describing your skills and how you would be most useful to the company.
Rule 5: Use networking
Before you change careers, network with new people in your field of interest. This will not only help you gain more information about the profession but also help you make useful connections.
Feel free to take every opportunity to immerse yourself in a new professional field. The contacts you acquire will not only help you find partners and clients but possibly an employer as well.
What to do:
- Post a post on social media telling people about your intention to change careers.
- Inform people you know about your decision to change jobs. Talk about the area in which you would like to apply what you have learned.
- If there are people in your community who work in the field you want, ask them about companies that are looking for workers.
- Go to events where people in the industry you are interested in the gather. Attending workshops and conferences can help you not only gain new knowledge but also make some useful contacts.
- If you have decided to change your profession at the age of 45, don’t think it will be easy. The most important aspect of your desire should be the right approach, which will reduce the risk of such a complex and multitrack process.
Rule 6: Take a test drive
There are so many exciting careers out there. However, even as adults we suffer from not knowing what we want to be when we grow up. For example, many people are interested in the healthcare field. Definitely with good reason! Medical and healthcare careers are normally on the higher paying side, and there is not only growing demand, but strained supply of health care workers. This bodes extremely well for someone who’s looking to get into the field to find a great job in upward mobility.
One of the cool ways that you can test to see if you may be interested in a career, are to take some free videos or masterclasses regarding the career you’re interested in. Many organizations or schools produce content to help people get into the career and it’s normally free.
Let’s say you were interested in becoming a Surgical Assistant, Dialysis Tech, or Medical Biller…you might first check out some medical coder programs here, and then see if they offer a free masterclass to learn more about the field. This “test drive” might be just what you need to make the best decision.