PREPARE YOURSELF FOR A SUCCESSFUL CAREER CHANGE

Stuck in a job that you do not like or weigh below your ability can be energy-draining. There are 6 steps you can do before changing your career.

1. Evaluate job satisfaction. Keep a daily journal of your emotions looks for recurring feelings. Do you like your job or find it boring?  What are your dissatisfactions related to? Whether it is the nature of your job, your company culture, or the people with whom you work? While you’re doing this, you will have a reflection on yourself and your desire.
2. Assess your passions, values, and skills. Review past successful roles, experiences, and projects help you to identify your skills and preferred activities. Know your core values and strengths is very useful before changing your job. Through your past experience, you can see your task preference and start from there to decide where you want to go.
3. Check out job options. Conduct market research of several fields to identify a few preferences for your choice. You can find a great deal of information online by Googling the jobs that interest you. Brainstorm ideas for career options by researching career options, and discussing your core values and skills with those you trust. You make find out something you have never thought before.
4. Try it out. Identify volunteer and freelance activities related to your target field to test your interest. Sometimes what you imagine about the work is totally different from the reality. To save yourselves from time wasting and headaches, why not do some freelancer or volunteer to check if the job is actually for you.
5. Invest in yourself. Before taking a new opportunity, you should prepare yourself for what lies ahead. Learn something new, identify educational opportunities that would bridge your background to your new field. Spend some time in one day or weekend to attend a seminar. Find different ways to gain new skills to pave the way for a change. If your company offers in-house training, sign up for as many classes as you can. There are ways you can prepare yourself for a career change without having to go back to school.
6. Consider a new job in the same industry. Change your job direction totally would be very challenging because you cannot harness the skills and knowledge you earned in your field. Why not consider alternative roles within your current industry which would utilize the industry knowledge you already have. For example, if you are a programmer who doesn’t want to program, then becoming technical sales or project management would be a good option for you.

Regardless of your profession, there will be definitely obstacles you will have to overcome when changing your career. But, being prepared will help you move past them with more confidence and greater ease. If you no longer find interest and challenges in your current position, find something else to do that will make your heart shine.