Career Change: Steps to Change Your Career

Seek experience that is relevant to the job you would like to do. Often this will be volunteer work, such as: helping at a hospital if you want to change to a medical field; or volunteering at an animal shelter if you want a career working with pets. But you might be able to find a low-level paid position that will be a first step towards changing careers. If you'd like to open a pizza shop, find a well-run pizza shop in a different neighborhood and ask if they need part-time help.

You will get a much better idea what is really involved in your dream job if you see it up close, in addition to learning relevant skills. Few make a successful career change in a single bound. It's better to dabble in your desired field first.

Recognize that there will by naysayers and learn how to ignore them. These naysayers could be in your own head or in your own family. I like to think about them as hecklers at a ball game. You have to stay focused on playing your best game. Don't allow doubters to draw your attention away from your goal.

Here's a sample of what you might hear:
"What are you having a mid-life crisis?"
"Can you really afford to do this?"
"Remember what happened to your cousin, Alicia, when she tried to start her own business."
"Why don't you wait until your kids are through college before taking such a risk?"
"You can't run your own business, you have no head for money."
"You expect your job to be all fun and games, why do you think they call it 'work'?"
"Have you lost your mind?"

Don't let these comments get to you (like woman in picture). Balance them by getting a support network (see next section).

A career coach is great if you can afford one. But there are many less expensive options. And while a friend or family member can offer personal support, get some expert advice as well.

ChangingCourse.com offers a free newsletter, teleconferences and several other programs to help you define or reach your career goals. Curt Rosengren writes the Occupational Adventure blog and will respond to questions from commenters. He has also written an ebook, The Occupational Adventure to help people jumpstart a career change. You'll find expert advice and support in a variety of forms, often at no or low cost.

Making a career change is typically a long and difficult journey. No one laces up a pair of running shoes and goes out and runs 26 miles. They sign up for a marathon where there will be plenty of other racers, support stations, and people to cheer them along the way. Take a route where you are not going it alone and you will greatly increase your chances of success.

Get started. All journeys start with one step. Perhaps for now you simply want to get more information about changing careers. In addition to the resources I've already mentioned, check out the books and online resources listed below. No time to read? Find an audiobook and play it on your ride to work.

One of my favorite song lyrics is "Where were they going without ever knowing the way?" from The Way by Fastball. Planning is worthwhile, but sometimes we feel we don't want to begin our journey until we have all the answers. Where are we going? How will we get there? Now and then it pays to just get started and figure it out along the way.

  Find Your Life Mission and Live It   - If you want more than a job change, if you want more than a career change... if what you really want is a meaningful life change, maybe it's time you started thinking about Changing Course.

I noticed this webpage was getting a lot of hits for people querying changing careers at a particular age. Thirty seemed to be a particularly popular age for folks to be querying changing careers at. Perhaps it's the "seven-year itch" for seven years after college.

But I guess I want to encourage folks who are thinking about changing careers to do so, regardless of their age.

I made a big change, though not a total career change, after working at a big corporation for 16 years. It was scary I had all these friends who had worked at the company for about the same length of time and they were all continuing to work away contentedly. I remember wondering what exactly I was so scared about and not having much of an answer. The truth was my big corporation job no longer had real job security and while I was taking a salary hit, it was manageable.

And then I realized change is scary. But if I was scared to change jobs after sixteen years, how would I feel once I'd been there for 25 years or 30 years. It wasn't going to get any easier. And so with the same feeling that I have when I leap into the pool of cold water. I took the plunge. And I have never, ever regretted it. Never. Not during times of unemployment (and I've had them). Not when I've seen friends at my original employer continue to climb the corporate ladder and earn more money than I do.

I march to a different drummer and the beat of THAT drummer fills my heart with joy.

Good luck to all you potential career changing folks, whether you are 62 years old or 25!

Since everyone seems to ask themselves, Is this the right time to change careers?, I thought you might find the following post interesting:

This week I was kind of "stuck" for a feature article topic so I took the one minute walk down to our creek for a little Think Time. It's such a peaceful place with wildflowers in bloom, birds flitting through the woods -- and of course, the soothing sound of flowing water.

It's one of my favorite places to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature. And I'm so grateful to be living the kind of life I always dreamed of. . . A beautiful place in the country. A career that I love working with amazing clients. A flexible schedule. My husband joining me in the business.

It wasn't always this way. My "before" picture looked something like this: long commutes on congested freeways, 10 - 12 hour days, plenty of stress and high pressure, grabbing quick meals from the drive-thru. Maybe for some of you, that's the life you're living right now. And I know you want OUT. Badly. Believe me, I understand.

Some of you aren't quite sure what it is you want. You're restless. Dissatisfied. Bored. Whatever it is, you just know you're not happy doing what you're doing.

Is now the time to start following your interests and passions? Is now the time to go after your dreams?

To get more help deciding, you can go to the source of this post, the newsletter of Bonnie Pond: Relaunch Your Life Coach (excerpted with permission from author)

There are two reasons I posted this lens off the Polly Klaas Foundation.

1) They were having a contest where the lens had to be created by March 20th. This gave me a goal.

2) One of the lens categories was the lens should be about a hope or hobby. Many of us have hopes of changing jobs. Given how many hours a day we spend at work, it is important that we act to make these hopes and dreams a reality. In establishing a vision for my publishing company, Aboon Books, I borrowed a story I heard at an Eagle Scout Court:

A boy was hiking and saw an eagle's egg roll off of a high cliff and into some bushes. The bushes broke the fall of the egg and it was unharmed. The boy looked at the cliff and knew there was no way to climb up and place the egg back in the nest. He came across a wild turkey's nest on the ground and placed the eagle's egg there.

The eagle hatched along with the turkeys. He was raised with the turkeys, which do not fly very far or very fast and only get a bit off the ground. One day two eagles soared overhead. The young eagle watched them and asked a turkey, "Why can they fly so high and we barely get off the ground?" The turkey answered "because they are eagles and we are turkeys." And so the eagle, who was raised as a turkey, lived as a turkey and never soared as high as his wings could have carried him.

The moral of the story is obvious: If you want to soar high, listen to your own self and not what some turkey says.

Follow your hopes and dreams!