Do you feel stuck in a job that isn’t you?
Is your time as a stay-at-home parent coming to an end and you need a new direction?
Taking the first step toward a career change can be exciting but before you know it, you’re floundering and don’t know what to do. Finding work that fits around you and your family can be really important and sometimes roles in home health care agencies near me might look like a really great flexible approach
There’s no way you’re going to have it all figured out, and such a life change isn’t going to happen overnight. It is possible, however, to go after your dreams as long as you take it one step at a time. If you’re teetering on the brink of making such a momentous decision, here are some tips to help you along the way.
Do You Really Need a Complete Career Change?
Before you start job hunting seriously, sit down and ask yourself, do you really need a complete career change or is there something that can be done to make your current role more challenging? Speak to your employer and express your concerns and see whether there’s anything that can be done.
A good way to analyse your current job situation is to keep a journal, noting what happens and your reactions to a normal working day. Do this for a few weeks and you might notice a recurring theme. Is it the work you do that leaves you feeling dissatisfied, the company culture or the people you have to work with?
Evaluate Your Strengths and Weaknesses
If you come to the conclusion that a career change is in order you need to look closely at yourself and evaluate your skills, values, personality and interests.
There are self-assessment tools you can use online. By answering a series of questions, it will generate a list of occupations that suit you. Another option is to speak with a career counsellor or some other career development professional.
Make a List of Possible Occupations
The list that’s generated by a self-assessment tool will probably be very long. Look through it and there are going to be some career options you’re able to dismiss right away. The ideal number of careers to consider would be between five and ten. Narrowing the list down means you’ll be able to conduct more in-depth research and ultimately find the right career.
Research Your Options
For each occupation in your list, you need to find out more details. For example, qualifications, expected salary, job prospects, job description and opportunities for further development or promotion. It might also be an idea to check out various jobs and where they’re located.
You can use job aggregators for it. For example, on Jooble, you’ll find enough good open positions to familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of an industry you are interested in.
Narrow Down the List
After conducting your research, there may well be some more career options you can cross of your list. For example, you might not be prepared to study for an advanced qualification that a certain role requires or there are no local opportunities and you’d have to consider relocating. If this is the case and you are looking to relocate to Spain for example, be sure to explore options like https://housinganywhere.com/s/Barcelona–Spain to find a place to live before you make your final decision.
Get Personal
With just a few jobs in your list you can now get more personal with your enquiries. Find out as much as you can about the fields and reach out to any personal contacts you might be able to find in that area. An informational interview is a great way to get a feel for a particular role. LinkedIn is one place to look for contacts in specific career fields of interest.
Experience it First-Hand
The only real way to find out whether a role is the right one for you is to experience it and observe work first-hand. Set up a job shadow or two if you know someone who has a job that interests you. Another way of getting some first-hand experience is to identify volunteer and freelance activities relevant to your target field. If you think you’d like to work with animals, for example, volunteer at a local animal shelter.
Upgrade Your Skills and Qualifications
It’s quite possible that some of your possible career choices require certain skills and qualifications you don’t yet possess. This means you’re going to need to go back to school or study online. There may be evening courses at a local college or an online course you can enrol in. If you live in Liverpool or Merseyside, for example, and are interested in a career as a personal trainer, a full time personal trainer course is available.
Write Your CV
When you’re ready to start applying for jobs in your new industry, you have to write a powerful career change CV. Changing careers means you’ll need a fresh, revamped CV. Creating a CV is not as easy as it seems.
There will, however, be a number of skills you already posses that are transferable. These might include your organisational skills, leadership abilities, knowledge of Excel, and Word. These transferable skills should be included in your CV because they are still applicable.
Highlight your strengths and have confidence in your abilities. You might be lacking in experience for a particular role so make sure you showcase everything that positions you for the role. Include quantifiable achievements, community, voluntary, pat-time or temporary work, specific skills or added qualifications.
Craft a Cover Letter
A career change cover letter is an important part of any job application process. It is also the hardest part of the career change process.
Trying to demonstrate you’re qualified for a job when you might not have formal experience in the field can be very challenging. When writing a cover letter, the most important thing you can do is highlight the transferable skills you have and then write specifically about what you’ve done or achieved in the past that demonstrates you can do the specific role you’re applying for.
Every cover letter you write should be tailored for the role you’re applying for. A generic approach just doesn’t work.
Now you know the steps to take for a successful career change it’s time to knuckle down and work your way through them. You’re not going to be successful straight away, unless you’re really lucky. But with the right approach you’ll soon find your dream career.
*Collaborative post*
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