Career Change
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Career Change:
5 Steps To Success
It can take years to get to that point or it can happen in a split second. A career change can be one of the most stressful things that we deal with in life.
How many stories have you heard of people that have been doing the same job for years and are completely fed up with it and ready to move on or …
… the person that unexpectedly gets laid off, downsized, or fired from there job that they have had for years and had done their job well or…
… for health or medical reasons someone cannot continue in their current job or…
… modern technology claims more jobs by outsourcing or automation.
All of the above scenarios have the same thing in common, which is a person that faces a career change, expected or unexpected, and still has financial responsiblities and commitments to live up to on a monthly basis. Quite a serious matter indeed.
Career Change: 5 Steps
There are 5 basic steps that can help in a career change and here they are:
Step #1: Take inventory of your likes, dislikes, interests, and passions and how you want to incorporate those into your line of work. What things excite you most and what do you enjoy so much that it hardly feels like work? The key here is spending some time to rediscover yourself and with this new self-assessment, define what work role you would like to have in your future.
Step #2: Research new careers that are more inline with your passions and things that you “rediscover” about yourself. Here is where you might feel like a fish out of water and that is pretty normal. Just keep investigating and delving into some new ideas and possibilities and you will find something that resonates with you. When it happens, you will know it because it feels like being an excited kid again.
Step #3: Define your skills and leverage those in the market. Do you possess great communication skills, planning, coordinating, speaking, or creative skills? Look to see how you can best apply those and build value in yourself, this will help in a career change.
Step #4: Seek some additional education in the fields that interest you for future work. You can find all of the information and direction that you need online. There are accreditation schools and classes that can all be done online so that you are more “well rounded” in your knowledge and skill set.
Step #5: Your ability to network is one of your biggest assets in searching and finding a new job at a career change point in life. Many times in life, it is not what you know but who you know that makes a big difference. Get out there and talk to people, visit businesses, pick up the phone and start engaging. You can pick up valuable information on jobs available, companies, trends, and possibly some valuable advice. Sometimes, the hardest part is just getting yourself “out there” especially after a loss of a job. But it is absolutely necessary, kind of like riding a horse. Time to get back on leave the fear of the fall and loss behind you.
Quick and True Story:
“Many years ago, I was fired from one of the best jobs of my life as a financing and leasing manager and a large corporation. Having been there for years and built a network of colleagues, the firing was quite difficult to accept emotionally.
What I decided to do after a week of languishing around the house was to get in my car and drive, drive, drive, and keep driving until I achieved some clarity. After about 2.5 hours of driving, I stopped for lunch and was at a diner when I overheard 4 men speaking in the booth next to me. They happened to be in the same industry as I was and I made it a point to introduce myself after eating. I gave them my contact information, told them that I was new to the area and was looking for work. After lunch, I got in my car and drove home.
3 days later, I got a call for an interview from those 4 men that I met and it was at a company that was 5 times the size of my previous company and they were looking for a finance and leasing director to handle the “whole show”. I got the job and work there for many years. “
Sheer luck? Maybe. But it never wouldn’t have happened unless I changed my perspective, got in the car, and did something about it to make things better.
If you commit to helping yourself and making things better no matter how confusing that road looks, good things will happen.
Career Change: Is There Some Fear?
A Career change is nothing to fear but you do have to meet it head on with clarity and purpose for a positive outcome.
Last year I made another complete career change and it has been the best thing ever. It has brought new found purpose and enjoyment to my life and family and it took a full blown recession and complete frustration with what I was doing to consider my career change.
If you are interested in learning of a way to make a successful career change into a new field and still exploring, click here to see what helped me and the reason that I will never go back to what I was doing nor to a 9 to 5 job ever.
Click Here
I hope that you found value in the article, if you did please share, like, and comment.
To Your Success,
Carlos DeNecochea
P.S. Learn how thousands of people have completed career changes and are living a more fulfilled life now. CLICK HERE for the video.