How to Successfully Change Careers: Make a Life-changing Decision
You need to make a career change. If you stopped and thought about it for a second, hop in. This might be the best decision you have ever made. You must be exhausted from your current profession. Did you know that a tedious occupation can lead to depression and other mental illnesses? Careers are a big part of our lives. And if you’re not enjoying your work life, there are huge chances that stress might take over you.
If you’re thinking about how to change career successfully, know and accept one thing. It requires effort, time, and patience. Understand that things will not settle right away. And you’re allowed to have feelings in that journey. Just because you feel demotivated a week or a month later, doesn’t mean it was a bad decision. Unless you’ve thought your way through.
Decide If You Need to Change Careers
The first step is to decide if you need to change careers or not. In some cases, it might be just one project at work that is exhausting. In others, it might be something else that was demotivating you to go to work. Probably family problems disrupted your mood, or you just need a vacation to fix everything.
How can you come to know if you really need a career change? Note down the things that you don't like about your profession. Is it the work environment? Would you be better off with the same position in another organization? If yes, try that first. If not, move on to the second question. Do you need to change career or just shift it? Would you want to stay in the same field but another position? If yes, research that, work on your skills and try changing jobs before entering a new profession.
If you’re tired of repeatedly doing the same thing at work and see no future growth, then you’re making the right decision by switching professions. Not having a work-life balance is also a good reason for a career change.
What Profession WIll Provide Career Fulfillment
you mustn’t choose an occupation based on the lifestyle of people in that field. You may love their lifestyle, but there are hidden stress and hard work days.
Think about what would fulfill you. Think about the workplace environment. Should you be starting a business or a new job? Does the chosen industry has scope in the future? And if you need constant growth, will the chosen occupation be good for it?
Note down these questions and others that you might have in mind, then search about the professions that might be the answer.
Analyze Your Target Industry
Now that you’ve chosen the industry you want to enter, research it. If you know anyone from that field, ask for their assistance. They might be able to ease the process a little bit for you by telling you about their experience. Ask them about the degrees and courses needed. A successful career change may also need a lot of studying. You would also need to work on creating a resume for your new job.
If you’re going for a startup, it’s best to stick with your expertise. That doesn’t necessarily mean your educational background. You can make a business out of handmade jewelry or candles if you’re good at it. If you’ve always been a job person, then there will be a hefty amount of research you need to do about starting a business. Plenty of responsibilities and terms play a major role in a successful business.
Commit to Consistency
There’s this Chinese proverb that goes, “the more haste, the less speed.” Haste will lead to demotivation that will cause you to procrastinate. If you need to change career successfully, consistent effort is important. It could take months or even years for you to reach the goal you aim for. But that doesn’t mean that the process won’t be fun. There will be ups and downs. You will learn a lot. Some days you will be excited to work, and other days you will have to drag yourself to do it.
But in the end, the feeling of achieving what you aim for is priceless.
Trust Your Gut Feeling
How absurd would it sound if I advised you to believe your instincts and ignore some logical statements when you’re going to change career. Not just a career change, but I would advise the same for other important stuff. Except if you’re a doctor and performing surgery.
Many successful Entrepreneurs, like Oprah Winfrey and Steve Jobs, went with their guts. And look where it has taken them now.
Anyone can follow the process and reach for generic high-paying jobs. But how is that anything new? If you want to change career to do something not everybody can do, follow your gut.
What’s Stopping You - The Blocks
Have you figured out everything you need to change careers? Then what’s stopping you now (if anything)? Maybe you have a family of kids to feed. Or other responsibilities, like looking after old parents.
Whatever it is, think about the possible solutions. Because if you didn’t change career ‘cause some responsibilities were a barrier, then my friend, regret may not leave your side. This journey will require you to tell yourself a hundred times a day that the effort will be worth the outcome.
Careers That Don’t Require a College Degree
Do you Want to change careers but have no clue what to go for next? I’ve got you. Check out these professions that don’t require a college degree.
1. Flight Attendant
- Average salary: $59,050
- Unemployment rate: 22.1%
- Anticipated job openings by 2030: 31,100
For people who absolutely love traveling, this one is for you. Flight attendants usually look after the passengers, report the emergency conditions that might come up, and inspect the passengers before the flight can take off.
Airlines offer their staff tons of perks, such as discounts, hotels, and food. But since it’s a job, you will have to work too.
2. Computer Support Specialist
- Average salary: $52,690
- Unemployment rate: 5%
- Anticipated job openings by 2030: 58,000
This will be an ideal job for tech-savvy people. As a computer support specialist, your duty will be to help customers diagnose their systems' problems, such as trouble logging into the system or being unable to run certain applications.
3. Computer Programmer
- Average salary: $89,190
- Unemployment rate: 2.7%
- Anticipated job openings by 2030: 409,500
As a computer programmer, you decide your salary by choosing which language you want to learn. Here’s a thing; don’t just change careers and become a programmer because of the perks you see them getting. I’ve been there, and it’s hard for people who are passionate about it, let alone if you don’t even know the 0s and 1s of programming.
Programming is not just limited to a full-time or part-time job. You can be a freelance programmer and choose when you want to work and when not. Or even do a business out of your programming skills. For example, building custom software for local businesses.
4. Become a Blogger
- Average salary: $39,186
If you want to change career and become an online worker, blogging can be a great choice. You can earn through Google ads and brand partnerships. Creating a successful blog requires a lot of dedication and analytical thinking. You would have to pick a relevant niche, write blog posts that show your audience you value their time, and research (a lot).
But that doesn’t end here only. A blog can help you run your business if you decide to change career and build a business. You can market your products or services through a blog. And gain customers online as well as offline.
A blog can also help you run your online store. What’s the best part? It requires little to no investment. No, you shouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on programmers and web designers. Not when you know of Strikingly. It is a website builder that doesn’t require any coding experience to build beautiful websites.
Over 12 million global users have their stores and blogs built using Strikingly.
Image taken from Strikingly user website
The drag-and-drop features enable you to apply and test the website design easier than ever.
Strikingly blog publishes the latest blog posts to educate its customers about trends.
It gets even better. You don’t have to pay anything for the website templates. Yes, more than a hundred free template options are available. On paid plans, you get a 14-day-trial. Just see for yourself how cost-effective these pro features are.
Image taken from Strikingly
Furthermore, Strikingly offers 24/7 customer support and has published guides on the site for newbies.
Conclusion
A successful career change is time-consuming but worth it. Listen to your gut and don’t do the opposite of what it says, just like you might do about your friend’s relationship advice.
