Your Guide To Making A Career Change

Statistics tell us that the average person will change careers five to seven times during their working lives and, with an uncertain job market and increasing levels of youth unemployment, it’s likely that young people starting their careers in 2020 will experience even less job stability.

The maths tells us it is practically guaranteed that you will change careers more than once throughout your career. So, how do you go about making a career change?

Research

The first thing you’re going to want to do is to read anything and everything you can get your hands on about the industry you are hoping to enter. Speak to people you know who are in the industry and absolutely berate them with questions. Ask them about the culture, the challenges their job presents, ask them what a typical day looks like, ask them what they wish they knew before they entered the industry themselves. With these answers, you’ll be able to identify any skills gaps you may have, gage what qualifications you’d need, and decide if this really is the right career for you.

Make a Plan

To make any major leap you need a plan. Start with your end goal in mind and map out all the steps that will help you get there. Set aside a certain about of time every week or every day to plan a step-by-step path to get yourself from A to B and set yourself realistic timeframes to in which you should achieve these goals. However, if you don’t make your deadlines, it is important to cut yourself a lot of slack, this is a major move and sometimes life gets in the way.

Educate Yourself

If your new career is in a markedly different field than your first you may need to study or get certain new qualifications. Luckily there are a whole host of websites offering online courses that will offer you the qualifications you need to get your start in a new field. Websites such as Courses.com.au offer a range of online education programs with government subsidised tuition which is especially important if you’re going to be studying while supporting your family.

To help point yourself in the right direction, sport, fitness and recreation courses allow you to stay in shape and gain accreditation as a facilities manager, swim teacher or a personal trainer and online courses mean you can do all this without leaving your home! Design and multimedia courses can leave you with qualifications that will allow you to work in the lucrative and exciting industries such as web development, animation and video design or editing. One of the most exciting industries you can qualify for with an online course is in the field of education. You could become an early childhood teacher, childcare worker, nanny or even a teacher’s aide which, for our money, are some of the most rewarding careers you can find work in.

Make a Leap

At the end of every journey is one final leap. No matter how long you have been planning the change, the leap is always terrifying. You will never feel 100% ready to make a career move like this but you just have to have a little faith in yourself, your preparation and the fact that many people have made this leap before you.