New Year’s resolutions are far enough behind now that some of us have either counted theirs as a win or a lose. If one of your resolutions was to change your career in 2016, it is not too late to follow through with this desire. Our work is a big part of our happiness and if you are unhappy with your current employment situation it is time to do something about it.
Deciding to change your career is the easy part. The challenge comes with the follow-through. Changing industries does require a good amount of effort, but it is not impossible. Below we have listed an overview of how you can make good on that career-orientated resolution in 2016.
Experiment
You may be one of the lucky ones that knows exactly what career they would like to go for. The truth is that most people don’t have a clue of what they would like to do, they only know they don’t like what they are currently doing. Whether you know your intended path or don’t, you need to start experimenting with different roles in real life. All the research in the world won’t help you know how the job is going to FEEL. Take an adult class in the area you are interested in. Volunteer in a organization that caters to your interest. If you are really stuck, just pick something at random that sounds interesting and try it out. Knowing for sure the new career will make you happier will help immensely in your success in going for it.
Get a Coach
Once you have decided what career you would like to go after, get someone to help you along the way. LinkedIn is a great site to find mentors and coaches that would be willing to help you get a foothold on your goal. Coaches also have connections in your desired industry, so they will help with the next step of networking.
Network Network Network
We talk a lot about networking on this blog for the simple reason that it works wonders in the career world. Once you have decided on a path, find the local organization that meets up for happy hour or other networking events in your city. Don’t feel intimidated either, most people at the event will find you the most interesting person there because you are coming from a different background with the goal of achieving what they already have.
Research
Research is an obvious entity of making any decision in life. In the case of changing your career, you will want to know what are the high demand jobs in your chosen industry, what is the average salary and benefits package, how is the promotion ladder structured, and so on. Just because you know you want to change your current career of health care to the fast-paced and booming apartment industry, doesn’t mean you know exactly what job you might want. Once you get a feel for the new industry, get as specific as you can on what your job goal is. You can also employ a staffing company that specializes in the industry, such as Hire Priority for the apartment industry, to find you that specific role you are looking for.
Make Peace With Your Current Lifestyle
One of the major obstacles of changing a career is the daunting thought of starting over. You will more than likely take a big salary cut and also possibly take on more hours because of training and playing catch up to your new co-workers. Deep down you know that these present day undesirables will result in years of career satisfaction, so making the change will be worth it in the end.
Another factor you have to consider is preparing your employer for your departure. You never want to burn a bridge in the career world, so be completely honest with your boss about why you are deciding to go a different direction. You are going to need their recommendation when you start to apply for jobs that you do not have paid-experience in. Prepare yourself personally and professionally for your career change.
Don’t let 2016 slip by leaving you in a career that doesn’t make you feel fulfilled. Make that important change sooner rather than later!