While work is by no means the only thing that matters in our lives, it is something that we spend a great deal of time doing. Hence why, even if a career once felt like the perfect match, issues like dissatisfaction, a lack of belief in your abilities, and even just a growing feeling of dread at the start of the working day are all signs that you could benefit from considering a career change.
After all, as the saying goes, a change can be as good as a holiday. The trouble is that, if you’ve been trundling along in the same career for twenty years or more, you might not have the first clue about either what the modern recruitment landscape looks like, or even where you would like to go next. These setbacks can be daunting, and they’re a primary reason why many of us stay stuck in imperfect roles. Luckily, no matter your starting point, you can make this journey far easier by simply considering the following baby steps towards the change you need.
# 1 – Consider your situation
You’ve been in your current role for so long that the chances are you don’t even think twice about established benefits such as leaving for the school run or having certain holidays off. In reality, though, these priorities, alone, are a fantastic starting point for narrowing down your new career field. After all, compromising on these essentials could leave you miserable even in a new role, so it’s always worth considering how exactly a career must fit within your situation as it stands. This will then leave you with a list of potential options that cater for your preferred time frames and needs, and that stand the best possible chance of being the right fit as a result of that.
# 2 – Complete a career test
Career tests might be something you haven’t considered since high school, but there are plenty of fantastic free options out there that, even at this stage in life, can be far more useful than you might expect. This is true not necessarily because of the outcomes (though those are worth considering too, based as they are on skills, etc.), but more how you feel about the outcomes. After all, just as when you were a teenager, you likely have some hidden desires about job roles you’d like to see crop up here. If you’re disappointed when they don’t, or equally when they do, then you’ll be in a far better position to understand what you truly want from this next career move.
# 3 – Work with a recruiter
While it can mean some initial outlay, new-career seekers at a complete loss could also benefit from working with a high-quality recruiter. This can prove beneficial for a wide range of reasons, including the ability to gain expert advice about well-suited careers that might not even cross your mind otherwise. If you take the time to seek a trusted recruitment team with a strong network and a recruitment database on hand, you particularly ensure skill-matched pairings and a well-established name that will be able to fight your corner throughout this journey. By taking the pressure off your shoulders, that can bring a great deal of joy back to this process, as well as ensuring the new career that you need at the end of things.
# 4 – Consider your network
If all else fails, it’s also well worth considering the network you’ve already built up for yourself within your chosen field. After all, knowing the right people who can already attest to your talent can make a huge difference when you’re breaking into a new field, and it’s surprising how often networking at things like fundraisers and business events can end up becoming a cross-field affair. Let’s say, for instance, that you previously worked in sales. Your old roster of clients, in particular, likely spreads across a whole lot of career subsects, providing you with an automatic in-point to other areas. All you need to do is consider which products/services most interest you, and how you can turn that contact into a potential job opportunity down the line.
Changing careers can be daunting at the best of times, let alone when you haven’t even considered where you would like to go next. Still, new career paths are always there waiting to be uncovered, you just need to use these techniques to knock away the overgrowth and finally find your footing!