If you current job or career isn’t inspiring you any more, it may be time for a change. Changing careers can be scary, and you have to be clear on your intention if you want to do it successfully. Here are a few Dos and Don’ts as you think about your career change:
Do Consider the Quality of Life You Want
First of all, when it comes to changing career, you need to think long and hard about the rewards that are involved. After all, even if you find the most perfect job in the world for you, if it doesn’t pay your bills and allow you to live the life you want, it may not be viable in the long term.
Therefore it’s essential to do some serious investigation on the type of wage or salary that you can’t expect from the field you are considering changing to. This means comparing various sources and even contacting people that are doing this job, or something similar to get this information directly from the horse’s’ mouth.
Do Consider How Your Skills and Experience Would Help Others
One area to consider carefully when changing your career is how what you have experienced could help others that are in a similar situation.
Something that you can see a fantastic example of in posts like this one where Nick Gross teaches gen z success based not on what they want to do, but who they want to become. In fact, his focus is less about the size of the paycheck they can expect and more about how they wish to affect the world.
Something that is not only a great example of how to change career from one field (rock band drummer) to another (career educator), but also advice that has relevance to anyone that is considering a career change themselves.
Don’t Rush Your Decision
Next, when you are looking at changing career, it’s crucial to give a decent amount of time and consideration to your decision. This is because most people have bad days or even weeks at work where they question why they are in their job at all. However, if you change career every time this happens you are likely to make rash decisions and end up with a patchy work history, something that may hold you back from success later down the line.
Don’t Burn Your Bridges…Yet
Lastly, while you may be sick of your old job and colleagues, remember that burning your bridges during a career change is not a good idea. This is because you never know when your old contacts will come in handy, and it’s always a good idea to have a plan B. Just in case your career chance doesn’t quite pan out in the way you had hoped.
If you’re not sure what kind of career you want next, try a career and personality test like Career Fitter. It can help you visualize and explore your options.
