Making A Successful Career Change

Making A Successful Career Change

According to the Odle (2012), a career training specialist and business feature writer, about 50 percent of employers target mid-career changers whenever they are hiring new employees. So if you are planning to make a career change, selling your skills and yourself to potential employers requires taking a few steps. Here are some tips that will make you successful.

Have A Genuine Reason

It should be noted that being unhappy in your current job is not a strong enough reason to make a total career break or a career change. So it is important that you carefully analyze whether it is your employer, supervisor (or office situation) or that you dislike your current job is the problem.

Work Experience

Even if you are considering another entirely different career, work experience is a plus. So re-work your resume – don’t throw it away. Just like every other experience, you will need to quantify all the experiences you had in the past. For instance, if you are in field of budgeting, list how large an amount of money you had responsibility over or how much money you saved for your organization (Odle, 2012).

Your Focus Should Be on Skill Transfer

Highlight all the skills you have and which you can transfer to the job in your resume and during the interview. The reason for this approach is that many skills in your previous job can be transferred to the new job. For instance, if you are a technical writer, explain to the potential employer that you understand release cycles, can handle a lot of details of a job and can easily meet deadlines. If you are transiting into the health care industry, for instance, explain to the potential employer that you have specific experience with Six Sigma technique (and be honest about it). This can make you very attractive to the potential employer.

Planning! Planning!! Planning!!!

Plan ahead. To make a major career change, you will need to plan ahead of time and be well organized. For instance, you may need additional training on your new area of interest. This means that you should start early to put money aside so as to pay for a full-time program in your new area of interest. To be successful, you can work during the day and attend evening classes. This will show a potential employer that you have your act together.

Research! Research!! Research!!!

It is very important that you examine all possibilities before you attempt a career jump. Get advice from people in your network. You will also need to read career and job profiles in books and magazines at your local library. If you can afford it, meet with a career management professional. You will be more successful in your career change if you arm yourself with more information.

Get Additional Help

Make inquiries about the new field or industry you plan to join. You can ask someone in the new field to tell you what is going on in the industry. Get as much information as possible on the job prospects of the new career. This information will help you to better prepare your resume and perform well in the interview. The bottom line: You should get a feel for the field that interests you.  To do this you will need to talk to people in the profession about what they do, read industry journals, and attend conferences. You should also learn whether or not your target industry has growth potential. Fortunately, many entrepreneurs, trade magazines, and organizations have created many websites that offer searchable databases where job openings in many specific industries are listed. So it is necessary that you start looking at these sites on a regular basis in order to make a successful move.

References

Odle T. (2012, September 23): How to Make a Successful Career Change. Baltimore Sun – Business & Jobs Section, p. 6.