How To Find A New Career

If you have been spending more time during work hours doing anything but your job and

daydreaming about doing something else – you may be in need of a change. We are not talking about an extended vacation kind of change either. You may be experiencing the need to change careers.

You read that correctly…time to change careers, not time to change jobs.

The average worker will have three or more careers in their lifetime. In each of those careers

they may have a handful of jobs related to each specific career. In fact, the days of working for the same company your entire working life for a gold watch at the end of it all are over. The current trend adopted by Millennials is known as job hopping.

Think of it as changing jobs whenever you get tired of one and need to be challenged again in another one for a few months. Naturally, not all of us are wired that way and so when our brain is telling us there is much more to life than the 5 by 5 cubicle we’ve spent the past several years treading water, it’s not the easiest thing to grasp.

The fact that your brain is telling you to go beyond where you are should be your first clue. But how do you go about changing careers once you’ve mastered all there is to know about your current one?

How to find a new career? Let’s begin by looking at the basics and that generally means examining yourself. We are not talking anything in depth here, just some questions that you should be able to answer without a lot of problem.

First, what do you like and what do you not like? If you dislike working late nights and that’s

all you do, then it’s time for a change. If you like work that involves travel and your current

position does not offer that, and then you are due for a change. List the likes/dislikes regarding work and you may be able to see a pattern.

Second, list your likes and dislikes such as hobbies or activities you enjoy. If you like reading

books, write that down. If you happen to be rather handy in the kitchen or are the neighborhood ‘go-to’ guy during grilling season, add that to your list.

Again, there should be some kind of pattern that reveals itself that may become matches on

both lists. These lists will be your first step in finding your new career.

Let’s assume that from those lists you have determined that you really do not like your present work situation but a couple of elements from it still interest you. Also, let’s assume that you have rediscovered an interest from a casual hobby. Take that information and move into the second step to finding your new path – researching new careers.

It’s not really rocket science at this point. All you need to do is start looking at various

resources for hints of where your ‘likes’ may steer you in a career path. For an example, a

newspaper editor may get weary of the pressure of deadlines and ongoing push to churn out

content daily. However, that same person still loves to write. Becoming a book author or

freelance writer are possible – and logical – new career paths for this person to follow.

But what if you are not interested in logical?

This is where your third step comes into play on your search for a new career. With you list of

‘likes’ you can now add to it something known as transferrable skills. These are the different

skills you have picked up over your years of working wherever you have worked. Even if you

have had just one job all your working life there are several transferrable skills you have

collected along the way.

They will range from work-related (customer service, inventory, phone ordering) to character

traits (personable, patient, good listener) to even your hidden talents you only explore in the

privacy of your time away from work (martial arts, cooking, fishing, handy with tools).

You may be surprised to learn that many of the skills you have will provide you with a seamless transition into a new career. This brings us to the fourth step in your search for a new career and it centers on your social network. We’re not talking your online network so much as your interpersonal connections that come from friends, neighbors, co-workers and family.

These are the connections that will be able to show you potential new career positions faster

than you will be able to find them on your own. Consider widening the networking net by getting involved within your community in volunteer organizations or by joining groups that can connect you with prospects.

As you can probably gather from the details here that changing careers is not an overnight

move. It takes time to sort out your likes/dislikes, research possible options, identify transferrable skills and cultivate new and existing connections. All of these steps are necessary in order to make that leap less risky and a lot less scary.

The bottom line is that once you determine the goal is to get away from Career A and begin

Career B, you have accomplished the most difficult part of the transition. Many workers feel the need to move on but never do due to several fears related to self-esteem and motivation. You’re already miles ahead of them.

Your final step is the actual job hunting part.

If you need to sharpen some skills, this is the time to do it. If you need to add some additional skills, this is the time to do it. Adding an extra dose of education will only enhance what you can bring to the bargaining table so it is a wise choice to add where you need it.

The job hunt itself will be easy if you’ve done your research correctly. Don’t be surprised if you discover that your best option is to start your own business or becoming a consultant. You may find that your new career has always been sitting there waiting for you to take notice of it.

But you’ll never know that if you don’t take the first step of looking at your present situation

and identifying that the change you need is not another job – it’s a whole new career.