5 Steps To Make A Successful Career Change

In the last post, I shared my insights on why its fine to change careers at any age and as promised I am back again with a constructive plan to help you make the move. 

There could be multiple reasons a person is not satisfied in the current job profile or career and looking for a change. There would also be a sense of doubt if he/she is making the right decision or not. 

So, here I am today sharing with you 

5 Steps To Make A Successful Career Change

 

Evaluate and Decide : 

Before you think to make a career change, you need to first and foremost evaluate yourself and think if you actually require this change. The best way to do it is to keep a journal and ask yourself these questions. 

     Which aspects of your job profile do you like and dislike?

     Are this dissatisfaction due to the nature of your work, work challenges or company leadership?

Once you probe yourself, and evaluate the level of your current job satisfaction, will you be able to make an informed decision. 

Assess your skills and interests: 

The next step is to review your past successful work and projects you handled. Assess which of your skills and abilities helped you to successful complete those projects and tasks. Review whether your core values, abilities and skills are relevant in your current job or not. There are various online psychometric and career assessment tests to ascertain which career option would be best suited for you based on your skills, abilities, interests and aptitude. Based on your findings and research decide if you would want to change industries or just your job profile within the same industry. 

Research about alternative careers:

Based on your skills and interests, start to brainstorm the various career alternatives which would be the best fit for you. Research about career options, speak with your colleagues, mentors, friends and family as well. However, make your own decisions and do not get influenced by what your peers are doing. If need be, consult a career counsellor for expert guidance and professional advice. 

Detailed research on prospective job options:

Now, is the time to conduct extensive research on the best suited job profile and prepare a comparative evaluation of the jobs. One way to do it is to speak to people in your network having the same job profile, contact your college alumni or speak to career consultants. 

Prepare a detailed plan:

Create an action plan which consists of detailed long term, middle term and short term goals. List down the career milestones you aspire to achieve within a set time line. Decide if you need to have any additional educational degree or certification to have a successful head start in the new career. Join networking groups, attend workshops to seize job related opportunities. 

Personal Branding

Over and above the mentioned pointers, I would recommend a person who is thinking about a career change to focus a lot on personal branding.

In order to be successful in the new career, a person will need to re brand. So before applying for new jobs, focus on creating your personal brand. Recently I attending a webinar wherein great insights were shared on using storytelling as a means of creating your personal brand. Share your story of change in career while speaking about your experiences over and above your resume or CV. While sharing your experiences, focus on why these experiences make you a better candidate and the right first for the job that you are applying for. 

Stay Motivated

And last but not the least, stay motivated. Changing a career is not easy and might take time. So to keep yourself motivated, track your progress by acknowledging your small victories which will give you a sense of accomplishment. This will help you successfully make the career move you have always wished for. 

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