you want a career that’s purposeful and meaningful to you? A career that makes a difference in your life, provides you with satisfaction and joy, and urges you to get out of bed every morning? Everyone wants that, but not everyone is so lucky to find the right career paths at the first try. Making a career change, or a career transition, is a very common activity for both young and mature workers. Some workers initiate the change to get out of a job they hate, some make the change to reach a higher salary level, and some brave ones change their careers to chase their professional dreams.
When should you consider a career change?
You don’t enjoy your work anymore– You stopped having fun at your job, you’ve lost your passion and your job only bores you, you hate going to work every day, you even tried to change companies but it doesn’t stop you from hating your job? It’s time to make a career change.
Your talent and contribution are not valued– Your hard-work and contribution is not recognized, your professional achievement at work is not properly credited and rewarded, you don’t see the purpose of working hard anymore? Maybe you should consider changing career.
You want a higher pay– If you can’t make a living with your salary and there is no further improvement in this industry, you can’t afford anything and you can no longer stand counting every penny in your spending, it’s time to chase something better.
Professional growth no longer exists– The job outlook has worsened in your industry due to technology, politics or economy changes, there are no longer job opportunities and professional growth potentials in your industry and you know it’s only getting worse? It’s time to change career.
What you should do before making the major change?
Map your career landscape. Look back at your previous work experience and study what’s worked for you and what’s failed you. This is a good chance to list out things that you enjoyed and hope to continue enjoying in the future, as well as things that made you uncomfortable that you would like to avoid in the future. Having your personal preference in hand will help you find the career that truly engages and satisfies you later on.
Find your expertise. Analyze your most outstanding talent and strengths that makes you stand out in the job market. Find out what you can do better than everyone else, what you are willing to walk some extra miles to accomplish, and what you are willing to learn. You top expertise from your previous jobs may not be your strongest strength in a new industry, therefore, you also need to identify skills or qualifications that you are able to and willing to acquire.
Identify your passions. Naturally, you’d expect yourself to love your new job after the career change; and that’s why you need to identify your passions. List out tasks that stress you out or irritates you, and tasks that get your excited and make your toes curl. It’s very important to pinpoint your passions in work and tailor your new job search with your passions during the career change.
Do your research. When researching jobs and industries, keep an open mind as the difficulty level and potential growth may not match perfectly with your expectation. You might discover some industries that you’ve never considered actually provide the most high-paying jobs, or some positions that you’ve never thought about actually have the most growth potentials.
Identify your goal. This is nothing like the first job hunt you’ve had when all you wanted was a doorway into the industry. This time you need to accomplish a career transition and to further accomplish your goals in life. Whether you want a higher pay, a less stressful or less tiring job, or a friendlier work environment, you need to lay the goals clearly in front of yourself and tailor your career development with the objectives you set. You need to get rid of the thinking and behavioral patterns that stuck you at a hateful job and start fresh.
Seek for help. As one of the most important step of making a career change, professional guidance and education plays a significant role in your new career development. Like we mentioned earlier, in order to enter a new industry, you’ll likely need to acquire some new skillsets. Career-related education can help you gain skills you need in the new industry effectively, and you get to meet other career changers and expand your professional network. At AOLCC, we take career development and skill training very seriously and we are devoted to help people find the right career paths since 1987. We provide friendly and comfortable learning environment and we help students chase their dreams at their own pace. Browse our program listings by province and find the career education that is right for you!