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The
time has come for a career change. You wish to
switch careers and it's the only thing on your mind
these days. Bored, fired, low pay or high ambition,
there are many reasons for a career change. First
things first! Don't fret. A career change is not as
bad these days as it was made out to be in the olden
days when there were fewer options for employment.
But now, with highly paid jobs available and new
skills that can be learnt over a few weeks, things
have changed drastically. Many people have given up
seemingly secure banking, government jobs etc and
have opted for software jobs, creative jobs and even
freelance options. All you need then is a bit of
courage, a dash of self belief and some clarity of
thought and you can join the band of people who have
successfully changed careers.
If
you are on the edge of changing careers, here are
few things you may want to do to get more clarity on
your thought process. As always, we must begin the
process at home i.e. with ourselves. Firstly, take
an honest look at why you want to change your
career. Junk the trash about bad boss, bad
conditions etc because these reasons do not help you
in your decision-making process. Instead, identify
aspects about the job that you want, about qualities
within you that you feel can be commercially and
creatively expanded. In simple terms, find out what
excites you - meeting people, negotiating, writing,
traveling, sports, communicating or whatever else.
Once you know that this is the one thing you would
like to do for your creative satisfaction, then we
can zero down to further career options. If on the
other hand you are seeking to move because you wish
more compensation, faster growth, travel etc, look
to identify your qualities and experience that could
land the kind of jobs you want. For example, if you
wish to be a software consultant and you have been
working as an accountant, there are many finance
related software skills that you can add to yourself
to find a software career with an accounting
background.
Identify what excites you the most and find a career
that works around your passion. There are as many
options as you want these days. If you conduct some
research, you will be surprised at the kind of
options that are available. From working from home
to traveling abroad to setting up event management
companies to providing creative consultancy, you can
hop on to any career you wish. Normally, most
ex-jobs (even the most boring ones) leave you with a
certain amount of basic skills that come in good
stead for your career change. Organizational skills,
communication skills, creative skills,
administrative skills, leadership skills etc are
skills that you can carry along with you to your new
job. Identify those skills and work on them in a way
that you can leverage them for your new career. This
will give you a head start because most principles
in business or arts work around a pattern and you
can slot it into your pattern.
Find people you know in the new career you would
like to get into and meet as many people in that
business as you can. Their advice on how the
industry works, the skill sets required and so on
will be invaluable. Based on your research, you can
narrow down your search to the courses or skills you
need to add and where from. The process will also
help you meet many new people who could be valuable
resources in your new career search. It also helps
to gain experience on the side, by working on
projects or part-time jobs.
A
career change can be the one decision that could
change your life for the better because it is a
decision you would have taken consciously and
responsibly. It is a decision you have taken for
your own good and therefore you will work at it
diligently and carefully and with a lot of love and
care. In most cases, it is a passion for that kind
of work or the result of your work that motivates
you and both reasons augur well for you in the
career. There will be some initial setbacks - the
cash flows may not be heavy in the beginning, new
places and new environments might be daunting, but
it will all pass. Once you are up and over that
learning curve, nothing can stop you. Good luck!
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