Job/Career Change: 10 Easy Steps (part 2)

3. Career Choices

If you want to be happy with your career change, it is your responsibility to make sure that you pick the right job this time around. Take some time to research and explore your options. Volunteer, get a part time job, visit a site — do whatever it takes to get as much a feel for the real world of the job that you are considering so that you won’t regret your career change in a few months.

Think about not only what you can do but also what you like to do. If you are going to make a job change, salary and benefits may be a factor in determining the route you should take, but that should not be the only reason that you make the move. Find a career that you will actually enjoy.

Statistics show that people who work in a job that they enjoy are healthier and experience fewer stress related illnesses. Also, take a look at the knowledge, skills and abilities that your prospective career requires. Do some research on your chosen career and your state’s department of labor is a good resource for finding profiles on various careers.

Select several career choices and read up on them. Read about the requirements as well as any additional education or skills that are needed.

4. Transferable Skills

When you change jobs you are typically making a lateral move. A career change is usually not even on the same scale and often requires different or additional skills. When you are deciding on a move, take a moment to think about it. Are you making a lateral move? Or are you making a move into a job that challenges you more and asks more of you than your current job?

Once you have taken a good look at your new career, determine what transferable skills you have that you can bring to the table. Transferable skills are those skills that you can bring from one job position to another. When you are pursuing a new career, it is important that you can identify your own transferable skills. This can be very useful in when and how you make your move.

5. Additional Education

Once you find the career that matches your overall background check out the gap between the required qualifications and your competencies. Does the field require a specific training and education? If so, it can range from self-study, specific certification courses, additional formal education, volunteer work, part-time job and everything in between.

Depending on the career move that you are making, it may be necessary for you to get some training. With the boom of online schools that allow professionals to take courses online, on their own time, getting a college or graduate degree to boost your career change is now easier than ever.

If the online route isn’t your thing, though, you can also take classes at your local university or community college. There are also technical schools that offer courses in many different careers. Also, note that non traditional students — students who are older than 24 years old — are a rapidly growing population on college campuses throughout the United

Click here to read part 3 of this article