Changing Careers? How to Choose the Right Career For You

Changing careers is something that many people find quite intimidating. You have gotten comfortable in your job, but at the same time you don’t feel fulfilled. Changing a career can help you feel that fulfillment, but it can also decrease your salary. In worse cases, you may find out that you don’t like your newly chosen career and end up having to take additional time to really find out what you are good at and what career is right for you. However, while changing careers can be stressful, it can also be rewarding if you find something that really ignites your passion. Follow these simple steps and suggestions to find your new career. Focus on Passion What do you love to do? It’s a simple question, but most people don’t have a concrete answer for this. Start off by just writing down a few things that you really love to do that can be turned into a career. Next, pay attention to your current career and think about anything that recently made you excited. For example, some of the world’s best copywriters started out in marketing firms because they liked marketing. However, they only really felt alive when they were writing advertising copy; the rest just seemed like grunt work. In this case, these people found out what they loved about marketing and advertising: the writing aspect. Is there one or several aspects that you love? Think about them and how they can apply to a new career. If this doesn’t apply because you don’t like anything about your career, then focus on the things you like to do outside of work. Time and Introspection Finding a new career isn’t easy, especially if your identity is linked with your career. Before jumping into a new career, give yourself some time and introspection. Think about who you are as a person outside of your job, and what really makes you feel alive and excited. You may need weeks, months or even years before you really discover what you want to do. Be prepared to give yourself this time. If you rush this decision, then you will probably be looking for a new job within the next few years. Consider your Strengths What have you been good at in the past? Consider all of your strengths and see how they fit into a new career. Think about your transferable skills, or skills that you can easily apply to a new career. For example, computer literacy can be applied to nearly every available career. Public speaking, while not quite as widespread as computer literacy, is another transferable skill. This can help you discover what you are actually good at outside of your present career. Talk and Work Here are two other things you can do to help change your career. Do you have any friends that are in your career of choice? Talk with them and see how the career is. What do they do each day, and how do they feel about their job? While being a print operator may be your ideal job, for example, you may feel disillusioned when you find out about all the work that goes into making plates for offset printing. Another thing you can do is try to do some work in one of your new career options. For example, if you are thinking about teaching, then go to a pedagogy convention. Listen to the people speaking and talk to the teachers there. Or, if possible, get a part-time job in your career choice. This one can be harder, as some careers do not like you doing this, and it can be difficult on your schedule. But, it is an available option. Consider a Business Getting a new career under another business may not be in your best option. While it takes a lot of work and money, starting your own business can be a great idea. This puts you in charge and you can feel the freedom of being your own boss. But, make sure you know what you are doing before starting a business. Conclusion Finding a new career takes time and effort, but the payoff can be great. You can find a career that makes you happy about going to work, and you may even get an increased salary. Just take some time to think, and you should find the perfect career.