Managing a career change | Career Choice

Should You Change Careers?

Are you dissatisfied with your current job? Have you been laid-off and facing a dearth of jobs in your profession? Are people in your profession being replaced by technology or overseas workers? Have you reached your maximum potential in your career? Is there another career that interests you more than your current career? Are you looking for lifestyle changes that are not possible to achieve while you are in your current career? Is your current career in decline? Are you relocating to an area where your current position is not in demand? Have you completed a course of study and desire to pursue a career based on your new education? Do you seek new challenges above and beyond those that you typically encounter in your current career?

If you answered Yes to these and similar questions, then you should consider changing your career. Some writers have estimated that the average professional will change careers between 3-5 times during their work life. The key to accomplishing a successful career transition is careful planning. In your planning, include the following: a thorough, initial evaluation of the reasons for changing careers, a clear understanding of the effects of a career change, in-depth research into the outlook and requirements for your new career, detailed knowledge of your skills/characteristics that apply to the job and a plan for identifying and acquiring new skills you will need.

Remember when times are rough it takes longer to find a new job, let alone change jobs. So plan well and take necessary steps in advance.

Career Change Evaluation Process

First, analyze your motivation for changing careers. Compile two lists – one with your anticipated advantages (“Pros”) of a career change and one with your anticipated disadvantages (“Cons”). Here are some example advantages and disadvantages that may apply to your career change:

Advantages
• Higher salary
• More responsibility
• Less responsibility
• Better working conditions
• Better job security
• More interesting work
• More valuable work
• Higher job satisfaction
• Greater potential for professional growth
• More free time
• Better benefits
• Greater demand for workers

Disadvantages
• Lower salary
• Less responsibility
• Feeling of “starting over”
• Degree of uncertainty
• Educational/licensing/certification requirements

After compiling your lists, review them to determine if you have identified the major advantages and disadvantages for changing careers. Frequently refer to these lists as you proceed to plan your career change. You can use your lists as checklists for each new job opportunity that you consider.

Effects of a Career Change

When considering a career change, you need to anticipate and prepare for the effects that you will encounter. First, there will be personal, emotional changes in your life. You will be entering unfamiliar territory. Your usual routine and environment will be disrupted. Strengths that you have developed in your previous careers have to be reapplied in a new setting. You will encounter completely new situations and challenges. These changes can cause anxiety, uncertainty, and stress. Plan strategies to manage the changes and build a support system to help you succeed. One of the support elements in your life can be your family and friends. Involve them in your planning process. Share your anxiety, fears, and concerns with them so that they will understand the process you are undertaking and will be able to provide some support. Your career change may directly impact your immediate family as your work routine changes, your attention strays, and your stress level increases. You may need to delegate tasks to devote time to advance your skills and education or conduct your job search. One important function your family can fulfil is to help you relax and reduce the stress that a career transition can create.

Of course, the greatest effect will be the effect to your career. If you have carefully identified the advantages and disadvantages of your new career goal, you will be able to see the ultimate effect of the changes you are making. In the process, however, you may encounter obstacles to your plan that challenge your decisions and test your resolve. For example, if you are changing careers due to foreseeable downturn in your current position, that downturn may occur before you have completed your career transition. If that occurs, you may be laid off from your current job before finding a new position. Your career will seemingly stall. When this happens, stay focused. Your full-time job now becomes your career transition and job search. Put all of your energy into a successful career transition and don’t waste energy in unproductive anxiety and stress.

How Should You Manage a Career Change?

When you have determined that you should consider changing careers and have evaluated the advantages, disadvantages, and effects of this decision, you need to start managing the process. Your next step is to determine a target career (which should be based on your personality, skills, values, interests, goals/constraints and so on). There are a number of tools to assist you in this process. You can consult career counsellors – schools and government employment agencies offer services and there are private counsellors as well. Discussing options for family, friends, and colleagues is also helpful. Compile a list of promising careers and positions for your next step.

Research New Careers

Conducting informational interviews is a way to gather rich information on the specifics of a profession. Unlike traditional job interviews, informational interviews are occasions when you ask questions about the targeted career and position. You are on a fact-finding tour of a profession. In addition to the information that you gather in informational interviews, you should also research the forecasted job outlook for your targeted career and position. Is there growth in this area? Is the area subject to overseas outsourcing? Will professionals in the field be replaced by enhanced automation? Will there be a steady increase in the demand for professionals in the field? What are the main skills that are needed?

Evaluate Education and Skills Needs

When you have identified the positions you will seek in your new career, compile a list of the job requirements for those positions. Collect this information from your informational interview notes, career profiles, and position announcements. Organize the requirements and then ask a professional in the field to review your list. Make sure that you have identified the major requirements of your targeted position. Next, identify your current skill set and educational background. Include specific skills and training as well as more general traits and educational attainments. When considering a career transition, many people ignore their more general, transferable skills and focus instead on their lack of specific experience in the new career. By identifying general traits, you can apply these to the specific requirements of a new position by relating the underlying commonality. For instance, if the new position requires you to manage the order processing system, you can relate this requirement to the organizational skills that you developed in your previous career when you maintained your student’s academic records. With the list of job requirements and your list of skills, you can conduct what is known as a gap analysis. In this process, you match your skills to the job requirements. After the initial comparison, review the job requirements that did not match one of your skills. Is there an underlying skill or trait that you have which relates to the job requirement? If no skill matches the requirement, then this identifies a gap in your profile. These gaps are indicators that further training
is necessary. The final step to prepare for your career transition is to enhance your skills and education based on the gaps that you have identified in your profile. There are many options for this step. You can attend training courses – instructor- led, on-line, self-paced, or computer-based. You can volunteer or serve as an intern to learn on the job. For more formal learning, you can enrol in a certificate, license, or degree program in which you will complete a series of courses. With these new skills in your profile, you are ready to launch your new career.

Reality test your new career options

If you have the luxury of time, ‘reality test’ your new career. Do some part-time or voluntary work on the side, take a short course, shadow someone in that job and so on. Essentially, craft practical experiments to get a first hand experience about what the field is like..

Take the plunge

Start letting people know of the specific job(s) you are looking for. Work your network to get job leads. Contact companies you are interested in directly. Also use recruitment firms, job boards, classifieds, etc but try not to spend too much time on these.

Source: Sandbox Advisors, RMP