Career Change - What to Consider

Changing jobs is more common now more than ever. Most people will change jobs every two to three years to progress their career in their 20s or early 30s. No job is for life anymore. Previous generations, people would stay in the same job for forty years. What if you want to change your career completely? This would be known as a career change which is moving away from your current career and starting a new career. There are many reasons why a person may want a career change. They may want a new challenge, pursue more meaningful work in line with their values or outgrown their current role. For some people their current career may make them feel bored, frustrated, miserable or disillusioned with their work.

The thoughts of changing career may be stressful, overwhelming and scary because of all the unknowns attached. I have experienced a mixture of those feelings before. It is not easy to process these emotions and coming to accept the career you studied for turns out not to be for you. After one year within accounting and working towards my professional accountancy qualification I felt in the long run that accounting was not the career for me. I did finish off my training and qualified as a chartered accountant. At the time I could not promise myself would I regret it if I did not finish my exams and qualified as an accountant. I know myself a lot better now compared to back then. Looking back on it I would have not regretted it if I did leave it. The main learning from that experience was to trust myself more and my intuition. Now I am working as a recruitment consultant and have my own coaching business. I am satisfied with both roles and the career changes I have made.

There may be a lot of questions racing through your mind when considering a career change like:

1)  What will the work be like?

2) Do I need to do further training to gain new skills?

3) Will I need to go back to university to study?

4) What if this career change doesn’t go according to plan and is worse than my current career?

You might need to do courses and further training. Maybe you will have to go back to university to study a diploma or masters. Possibly the skills you have already acquired in your current role will allow you to make this career change and your employer may train you up. There is a chance that the new career change may put you in a situation where you are worse off than your current career and hopefully this will not be the case.

There is always going to be fear of the unknown of a career change since we can’t know for certain if it will work out. Fear is normal. Control your fear instead of letting it control you. Ask yourself this question if you are having doubts about a career change: Do you want to still be feeling the same way you are now in your current role in a year, five years, ten years or twenty years from now? For me, the answer would be ‘no’. There is more risk playing it safe and taking no chance at all.

Some other questions you might want to consider when making a career change are:

1)  What are my values?

2) What are my keys skills and strengths?

3) What are my hobbies and interests that I enjoy?

4) Will this new career financially support me in the life I want to live?

5) Can I volunteer or do an internship to gain new experience to get an opportunity for this career change?

6) How long will this career change transition take?

Have confidence in yourself when asking these questions. Be curious and explore your options. You have so much potential and the journey to unlocking it can be seen as an exciting adventure. Don’t adapt the belief that you are stuck and unable to change your career. A career transition is a process which takes time and could take a couple of years. The key is all the small steps that are to be taken. Do your research into the training and courses that are needed. If you do go back to university, see it as a second chance to better yourself. You might already have skills that could be transferable that could make the career transition process easier. There are career coaches, guidance counsellors and job support officers out there to help you.

It doesn’t matter what age you are, there is still time to make that change and to pursue your dream.  We spend over 2,000 hours a year in work and how we feel in work will determine other aspects of our life such as relationships, health, financial and our own self-development. Take control of the steering wheel for your career and explore all the opportunities that are available to you.