Changing career at any point in your life doesn’t need to be daunting. In an age in which the way we work and the future of some kinds of work are changing, we need to know how to adapt.
There have never been more opportunities to consider a different kind of career, no matter what your age. Remote working and portfolio careers encourage people to become multi skilled and adaptable. Online courses make gaining new skills available to everyone and flexible study enables people to fit training for new skills around their lives.
Why might you want to change career?
Motivation for changing career will be different for different people and it’s important to identify what this is for you. It could be your priorities in life have changed. Perhaps you’ve started a family and want a job to fit in with your new responsibilities or perhaps the job you have frustrates you. Your options may be different depending on your reasons for making a change. Take a look at 6 steps to your ideal career – part 1 and 6 steps to your ideal career-part 2.
Why will my choices be better this time?
Assuming this decision to look at changing career direction has come after some years of work experience, your level of self-awareness regarding what you enjoy and what frustrates you in terms of work is likely to be more developed than when you were younger. You can use this knowledge and experience to your advantage. You will also bring invaluable transferrable skills.
What about the risks?
Change always comes with an element of risk. If you’re set on changing career direction you’ll need to plan to mitigate the risks. If your decisions impact others make sure you plan to minimise this and that you have their support.
I want a career change but don’t know what career would be right for me.
If you haven’t already done so I would recommend you take a look at 6 steps to your ideal career – part 1 and 6 steps to your ideal career – part 2 to explore what careers might suit you best. But be warned, if you want to do this properly you need to do the research.
You could try a careers questionnaire or other online test but these are only effective as a tool to help you work out the right career for you. Information from such tools may be completely useless and depends on the information you input. Treat with caution anyone who says such tools will enable to you know your ideal career. I would recommend human interaction to come to a final decision which may come via a careers adviser or coach or gaining some experience of the different work options.
Unpaid work experience, work shadowing and interviewing employees in the role in which you are interested is a great way to explore whether a career is right for you. If you are undecided about your career choice this is a good way to explore different career options before investing too much time, effort and money.
Think about any contacts you might have in the industry you are interested in. If you speak to friends and family, even if they don’t work in the industry themselves, they may either know someone or know someone who knows someone who works in the industry in which you are interested.
LinkedIn is a useful tool for identifying people within companies that would be useful to contact. Networking will also be useful when it comes to finding paid work so any effort you make at this stage is worth it.
I know what career I want but I’m not a good match for the job description.
First of all, is it skills, knowledge or experience you lack for your desired career change. Or is it all of these.
Start by researching the industry and job role. Contact a handful of employers and employees with questions. If you haven’t already done this during the career research stage you could do this now on LinkedIn or you could try phoning the HR departments of some companies within the chosen industry.
If you are calling the HR departments remember to ask what they look for in their applicants. Make a note beforehand of your skills and knowledge which may be transferrable and ask how likely your chances would be if you also had the requisite qualifications to apply.
If you need new qualifications and you are clear on the type and level of qualifications required, look at where they are offered. You could consider online options alongside traditional classroom style study if that would fit your lifestyle better. The cost and whether you have the required entry qualifications will also need to be factored in to your planning.
What about experience
With the right qualifications you could explore working on a voluntary basis to build up experience and contacts. For instance a charity might welcome expertise on a pro bono basis or voluntary work under the supervision of an experienced practitioner. Experience will enable you to recognise the value of the skills you will have inevitably gained in your previous employment and help build your confidence in your new career.
Taking the first tentative steps
If your career change has a prescribed route to entry, such as teaching or medicine, your course tutors will guide you through the process. But if not your career move might need to be managed.
Consider whether you would be able to explore your new career path on a freelance basis. If this were possible you may choose to do limited work which could fit around your current job and life until you are in a position to make a complete change. This may also enable you to build a portfolio of work or customer reviews that will help you get more and better paid work in the future.
Such an approach to building experience will also help you when applying for vacancies with an employer. Examples of work and references from customers will be powerful evidence of your experience and ability that a new employer would welcome.
What about my age. Am I too old?
Absolutely not. Employers these days are more open to people entering a career field and industry at different stages of their lives. The ridged expectations of where you are expected to be and by what age have relaxed over time. Laws on ageism and an ageing workforce have contributed to this change.
The main consideration for an employer is whether you have the knowledge, experience and talent to fulfil the job description.
With regards to self employment including freelancing, it used to be only professionals with years of relevant experience and contacts who would become freelance. However, with the move to portfolio careers, the growth of online platforms to advertise your services and employers becoming more receptive to outsourcing, engaging a freelancer to do a variety of tasks has become more and more common.
The added benefit for you is that your value to the employer is assessed in terms of your demonstrable ability. As the employer’s risk of engaging your services is limited to the duration of your contract the traditional barriers to career changers entering a new field as a freelancer with limited experience have become less of an obstacle. If you are unable to deliver to requirements you will not be offered more work, so success is dependent on performance.
And finally…
The decision to change career direction will not have been taken lightly. It may take years to achieve, require budgeting and the support of others to get you there. However, whether led by necessity of circumstance, ambition or for the benefit of your mental health, that change may prove to be one that defines your life for the better for years to come.