need a career change but not sure what to do
For at to the lowest degree the last 50 years most of us accept been encouraged to 'go good examination results at school, go to university and get a great job'. Many of us dutifully follow that path until, suddenly, we wake up one day and realise we don't like what nosotros are getting paid to practice.
It could be the chore itself that isn't ticking all your boxes or maybe it's the company you work for and/or your colleagues. It could even be the realisation that you made the wrong career choice way back when you were 18 and applying for that university course.
The electric current U.k. teaching system tends to maintain a focus on learning traditional subjects and has struggled to adapt to the changing industrial environs. If you have never been exposed to the full spectrum of possibilities for learning and future career paths information technology can be hard to pick the right arroyo, especially aged 16, eighteen or 21.
The world has changed and we are at present described as entering the '4th industrial revolution' – a time when robotics and automation are going to transform the way we work. This means new opportunities in new fields of work and many of the jobs that once existed are now disappearing. Arguably there has never been a improve fourth dimension to switch careers.
Notice a job you enjoy doing, and y'all volition never have to work a day in your life.
Mark Twain
What is a Career?
Is a job a career, or is a career just a job?
That depends on an individual's perception: while you might not like your task – no, let's exist fair: while you may non be satisfied with your job – ane person'southward task is another person's career. Not all jobs are bad, it'due south just we all have dissimilar perspectives, interests and expectations at different stages of our lives.
Nosotros could say a 'career' is a role with a divers path of advocacy requiring ongoing grooming and commitment whereas a 'chore' is simply paid employment that may require little knowledge or preparation and has little prospect of advocacy. At the end of the mean solar day though, a career (or job) is what it ways to y'all.
A career or task – piece of work – has a huge impact on our lives. Information technology gives united states fulfilment, a social environment, and remuneration to go nearly our lives. We spend so much time at piece of work information technology follows information technology has to be satisfying, and that satisfaction has huge repercussions on our wellbeing as individual people.
Expect at it this fashion:a xl hour working week multiplied by 48 working weeks per year and at least 40 years working life, equates to 76,800 hours! If you spend almost of those nearly 77,000 hours miserable in your occupation, remember how that may affect the balance of your life!
Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba, and Joanna Coles in the videos below share dandy career advice.
When you consider the corporeality of time we spend working you would recall that we would all have the fourth dimension to inquiry our career options, nonetheless inquiry past Glassdoor in 2014 showed that on average we spend six times longer (24 hrs) researching our annual holidays than nosotros devote to finding out about a new employer when we are task hunting! Perhaps it'southward fourth dimension to reassess priorities!
Times have inverse and indeed change is accelerating equally far every bit work is concerned. More and more people are opting to accept the plunge and get freelance and information technology is increasingly likely that people will have multiple roles/careers over the course of their working life.
You're lucky if you lot know exactly what you want to do in life (or equally a career) at an early historic period. Virtually people don't.
If you lot aren't one of the lucky few who ever knew what they wanted to be when they were young and single-mindedly pursued the end goal, information technology is highly likely you drifted into an occupation.
It is besides (unless you were very lucky!) probable that the piece of work you do is only a means of paying your bills, something you do for the requisite number of hours per calendar week and that you 'live for the weekends'.
Does that sound similar you? If it does, how does this touch on the remainder of your life? What impact does it have on your cocky-esteem, your wellbeing, your mental health? Do yous ever call back back and wonder what it might have been merely if you'd …
Some people tin happily carry on working a job they don't much care for (but don't actually hate) for their unabridged working lives. If you fall into that category there is admittedly nothing incorrect with information technology – after all, we should aim for a work life balance and 'piece of work to live not live to work' is a good mantra.
Many of us though trudge through the working week, dissatisfied, feeling undervalued, feeling our 'talents' are existence wasted – in short feeling miserable – and at the same fourth dimension misery loves company. And so, without meaning to, all these negative emotions spill over into the rest of our lives and affect our nearest and dearest too!
Whilst it may non be necessary to be completely fulfilled by what you exercise to earn money, not feeling actively miserable for 40 hours per week must be something to aim for, mustn't it?
Changing careers is becoming increasingly mutual: the average person volition change careers five-7 times during their working life according to career alter statistics and approximately xxx% of the total workforce will now alter jobs every 12 months.
You may fin interesting the article we wrote recently on How to modify careers at twoscore. Be flexible here. Whether you're 35 or 45 is not the consequence. The point is that you're mid-career and are looking for growth, change and options.
Gone, in the master, are the jobs for life which previous generations possibly expected. And then, if y'all personally are feeling the demand to change, look at these stats and know you aren't on your own!
Why Do You Desire to Alter Career?
This is the key. This has to be the very first question to ask as the answer will determine key areas y'all demand to address.
As we touched upon just now, for well-nigh people today some sort of career (and the term is used loosely) is essential to one's wellbeing. It gives you a sense of purpose and pregnant and contributes to many, many areas of our lives from friendships and support, to earning enough money to buy a decent car, to squeamish dress for your children, treating the wife, and likewise treating yourself.
Take the scenario of not working. Take you always been unemployed? It's non fun and it's certainly no holiday watching your finances and cocky-esteem wither away after weeks or months of application after application, non knowing when you'll even get a job allow alone an inspiring ane.
For the fortunate few who accept sufficient resources non to work they are often incredibly bored. Some of the near restless and dissatisfied people are entrepreneurs who've made their £ millions simply to be bored stiff later they've sold the business: few people accept more than than one smashing idea they can make a massive success of. They literally do just potter around most days.
Conversely, some people are workaholics. That's what they bask and their wellbeing lies in their beingness busy.
Where you notice your force and happiness is something only you lot know only the impact your career has on your wellbeing must be key for a fulfilling and prosperous life however that's defined.
Continue YOUR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
How Do You Identify a Possible Culling Career?
Get some aid!
That is the first and foremost thing you lot need to practise. Ask a friend, family member or seek external, professional person advice. You volition struggle to sort through this by yourself.
Socrates is quoted every bit maxim 'To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom' and that'due south exactly where yous should begin – take some fourth dimension to actually appraise yourself. Talk to u.s.a. at Success Stream every bit sometimes it is difficult to be objective about yourself!
The next pace should exist to try to identify what information technology is virtually your current part/career that isn't ticking your personal boxes:
- Do you enjoy the type of work but have issues with either the people you lot are working with and/or the company you work for?
- If you savor the type of piece of work you are doing only are having problems with colleagues, is this something that could be brought to the attention of your managers and tackled?
- If the company itself is a problem, are there other places you lot could move to offering the same kind of roles?
- Is your pay level the master trouble?
- Could you lot ask about a pay ascension?
- Is the commute too long?
- How about request if your employers have any work from home schemes or compressed hours arrangements in society to minimise the number of days yous need to travel
- Do actually dislike the work you're doing but don't have a clue what you would like to do instead? Sit down down and start to make some lists – this is an ideal fourth dimension to bring a personal development jitney onto your team, they will listen objectively and assistance steer yous through the minefield – often coming upwards with things you would never accept thought of on your own
- Identify what you enjoy doing and accept a real passion for.
- Could you brand a living out of pursuing this passion?
- If not total-fourth dimension could you lot follow this passion every bit a side-line to see how information technology develops?
- Would you need training in lodge to develop a paid career in whatever field information technology is?
- Research the market – who else is doing it and how well are they doing?
- Just what if you lot don't have a passion which could be turned into a paid opportunity and no inkling to what sort of piece of work would best fit your personality? Every bit we said, a personal development coach could really assistance bring clarity and inspiration and so accomplish out to usa if y'all're feeling lost
Work Through Your Career Ideas
Are your expectations realistic? What are your expectations of salary, promotion and free fourth dimension? Verse recitals won't make you a millionaire unfortunately though it might be fun.
There are a few steps you can take yourself to bring more clarity to your ideas:
- Take a personality profile test, at that place are lots of them, Myers Briggs being perhaps the all-time known. There is a free assay at 16Personalities (based on Myers Briggs principles) which will identify which of the 4 main personality groups y'all fall under (Annotator/Diplomat/Explorer/Sentinels) and offers some suggestions as to suitable careers for each blazon
- List your interests and and so look to encounter if there any roles out there which include them
- Consider shadowing people in other roles – try to aim for very dissimilar types of positions, including ones which you lot wouldn't accept thought a friction match!
- Endeavor asking your friends and family if they accept any ideas almost what a proficient career lucifer would exist for yous (oft they tin meet what you can't!)
There are also personal development coaches merely like u.s.a. who help you observe your mojo. Phone call them trainers, coaches or mentors. Even the best of the best like Usain Bolt, Mark Zuckerberg and Richard Branson take had mentors. Assist is at hand to help you reach.
How Thinking "Exterior the Box" Could Help
So, yous've done your cocky-reflection, maybe worked with a coach, taken the tests etc. and finally figured out the field you lot should be looking to work in … let'south say, for arguments sake, that in the 16Personalities exam your result was Diplomat with the sub grouping Mediator.
This type of personality group is drawn strongly towards writing – being an writer – a notoriously hard (and commonly not well paid) career.
Within the writing field however falls re-create writing, blogging, PR for small companies/social enterprises, writing case studies, even researching. So, once yous identify a central personality trait/need you tin widen your career options by thinking just a little differently.
Another case of this kind of non-linear thinking could be that you could exist bang-up at maths. The obvious pick might exist to go into academia or educational activity but maths is at the core of many sciences such equally computing, software development, engineering and astronomy, or creating crosswords – the primal is you accept an analytical mind.
Never be agape to try something dissimilar – until you explore the possibilities yous won't know if it will work for you lot.
Making the Modify
Alter is something many of united states of america fear: the one-time, the familiar, the routine, are comfy – even if unfulfilling and unchallenging – and it can be all as well piece of cake to resist taking the steps towards something new.
Effort to think this quote "Feel the fear and exercise information technology anyway' – it'southward the title of a book by Dr Susan Jeffers (add information technology to your 'to read' list) in which she shows how you tin change passivity into assertiveness and make those changes y'all need simply are afraid to do.
In one case y'all are committed to the career change – even if the alter is more of a gentle course correction than a total-blown change of direction – make sure y'all take the necessary actions, these could include:
- Booking coaching sessions
- Updating your CV
- Shadowing people in their roles
- Taking the necessary training to upskill yourself
- Joining networking or peer groups (information technology's oftentimes non simply 'what' you know just 'who'!)
Bear in mind that all the soul searching, idea seeking and planning in the earth won't make the slightest bit of difference to you if yous DON'T Take ACTION.
Y'all May Not Find Your Ideal Career First Time
If it doesn't work out and the modify you brand still doesn't feel right, and so don't be afraid to try again! Remember, Edison famously tried 1,000 times to create the light seedling.
How many times do people change careers? Between five and vii. Switching jobs/careers is no longer seen in a negative way so don't permit onetime paradigms color the way you approach your working life. Many of the electric current workforce can look to still exist working historic period 70 and 40 to fifty years is a long time to continue doing just one affair, especially if it doesn't make you happy.
Remember Mark Twain'due south quote higher up. This should be your aim! You lot volition of course be working just if yous truly enjoy what you are doing, it fulfils you and yous feel y'all are living a life of purpose you will be a happier person and this will reflect in your personal life and relationships.
It'due south rarely too belatedly to change either!
Don't fall into the trap of thinking "I'm 45, it's besides belatedly". If you expect to be working until your 70s at that place is plenty of time for not one but multiple careers.
Source: https://www.success-stream.co.uk/want-to-change-career-dont-know-what-to-do/
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