10 Steps to a SUCCESSFUL CAREER CHANGE

MAKING a career change usually means investing both time and money. As with any investment, it is important to be informed before you make it. Before you make a career change, here are some steps you can take to increase your chances of success.

1

Decide if You Need a Career Change - Before you begin thinking about making a career change, you have to decide whether you actually need one. You may just need to find a new job, not an easy task; but certainly simpler than an entire career makeover.

2

Assess Yourself - If you decide a career change is in order, you will need to evaluate your values, skills, personality, and interests using self-assessment tools, often called career tests. Self-assessment tools are used to generate a list of occupations that are deemed appropriate based on your answers to a series of questions. Some people choose to have career counsellors or other career development professionals administer them, but many opt to use free career tests that are available on the Web.

3 Make a List of Occupations

to Explore - Look over the list of occupations generated through your use of the selfassessment tools. They are probably rather lengthy. You want to come up with a much shorter list, consisting between five and 10 occupations.

Circle occupations that appear on multiple lists, and circle those you may have considered previously, and that you find appealing. Write these occupations down on a separate list titled: “Occupations to Explore”.

4 Explore the Occupations

on Your List - For each occupation on your list, you will want to look at the job description, educational, and other requirements, job outlook, advancement opportunities, and earnings.

5 Continue Narrowing Down

Your List - Pare down your list of possible occupations based on what you learnt from your research. For example, you may not be willing to put the time and energy into preparing for an occupation for which an advanced degree is required, or you may consider the earnings for a particular occupation inadequate.

6 Conduct Informational

Interviews - At this point you should only have a few occupations left on your list. You now need to gather more in-depth information. Your best sources of this information are people who have firsthand knowledge of the occupations in which you are interested. Identify who they are, and conduct informational interviews with them.

7

Set Your Goals - By now you should have decided on one occupation you want to pursue. It is time to put a plan in place so that you can eventually find a job in that field, but first you will need to set some goals.

8 Write a Career Action Plan

- Now that you have set your goals, you will need to decide how to reach them. A career action plan will guide you, as you pursue your long and short term goals.

9 Train for Your New Career

- Changing your career may mean you have to undergo some training. That can take the form of earning a degree, doing an internship, or taking courses to learn some new skills.

10 Say Goodbye to Your

Current Job - Your decision to change careers may have been inspired by a job loss. In that case, you don’t have to worry about leaving your job. However, if you are currently employed, you will have to quit your job and deal with some issues related to that. Competitive Skills in Today’s Workplace

Today `s work place is very competitive. You will need to have a variety of skills that will give you the competitive edge to succeed. To be competitive in today’s work place you must be able to:

LISTEN WELL - Good listening skills make you more productive, help you get along

better with others, and allow you to work better in a teambased environment. KNOW HOW TO USE A

COMPUTER - No matter what your job is, it is likely you will need to use a computer. It is important to make sure your computer skills are up-to-date.

WRITE EFFECTIVELY - Whether your job requires you to write short memos or lengthy reports, you must be able to communicate well in writing. DEAL WITH CRISIS AT WORK - Being able to solve problems quickly and seamlessly can set you apart from others.

MANAGE YOUR TIME - Learning how to manage your time effectively will allow you to complete projects in a timely fashion.