Changing your Career

Changing your career can be daunting...

But it doesn't need to be! It is estimated that employees will change their jobs once every five years (BBC, 2017). People are influenced to change careers by a variety of things; lack of satisfaction, chasing higher wages and reaching the 'ceiling' of their previous jobs- not to mention an old-fashioned change of scene!

If this sounds like you, check out our guide below.

Start with the basics

If you feel like you are wanting to change careers, it can be tempting to jump ship quickly, like ripping off a plaster. However, effective change should be made conscientiously to avoid disaster.

Before you change, identify:

  • The root of the problem. Why you are feeling the way that you do? What is leading you to this change?

  • Is this an issue with the job, the culture, the people? Have your plans needed to change now you know more about the route you were taking or the career itself? Has a door been closed to you?

  • Are any of these things fixable with other means, for example could you follow your creative passions more in your own time?

  • Are there any benefits to your current role and/or experiences? What have you learnt? About yourself? About the job or sector?

  • What can you take away from where you are? This could be knowledge, but it can also be skills and contacts from your network.

  • What will be the costs of changing your career? These may not be just financial costs, but also emotional or physical. For example, you may have to travel further to get the career you want or even completely retrain. Identify what will happen if you leave where you are now and how you can potentially mitigate some of these problems in advance so that you aren't surprised when they occur.

  • What might you need to find/get before you can change career- particularly connections, qualifications or experience.

  • What are your goals from this change? What do you want to have or achieve, and do you have any priorities? You don't want to end up in the same position you were in before.

Sometime the issues we experience in our careers can be along reoccurring themes where we can fall down at the same problems every time. This could include always feeling frustrated at work over the same things, finding you are unmotivated and uninterested in what you study/do, or being unable to progress in your chosen path.

This can often be down to a lack of three things:

  • Self-awareness
    What are you good at? Where do you need to grow? What will make you happy in your career? What sort of person are you? Where do you find challenges or excel? What experiences are you lacking to help you?

  • Research
    What opportunities are available to you? What are the realities of the career, now and later? What can you do? Does it match what you need?

  • Planning
    How will you get there? What do you need to find out? Who can you ask for help?

Before you change your career, make sure you have taken the time to consider these three things. Check out the links to our resources below.