Thirty years ago it was unusual for people to change careers. If you got a good job you stayed in it for as long as possible – and often all the way to retirement. Nowadays things are different and the average Brit has three or four different career changes, sometimes a lot more, and dozens of new jobs.
But how do you know when it’s the right time to make a change? And how do you prepare for it?
There’s no real clear indicator that the time is right to move on. You don’t always get a choice if your company is going through hard times, but sometimes it’s something that’s been building for a year or two. It’s best to make sure you take your time. If you’re no longer enjoying work, take a holiday see how you feel about going back, talk to your manager about your responsibilities. Look at what new jobs are available on listing sites such as Reed. Solid advice is to give it six months, and, after all that, if you still don’t really enjoy what you’re doing, it’s time for a change.
But what to change to? The best advice is to go with your instinct, and if your instinct is split, take more time out. There’s nothing saying that you have to make a choice straight away. Travelling used to be something that gap year students do, but now there are thousands of people of all ages out on the road, and you only have to save up a little bit of money to be able to travel for long periods. Getting away from the UK, out of your regular routine is a good tip.
Hopefully, though, you’ll have an idea of what you want to do and will have researched it a little bit before you make the switch. A good tip is to look (just look) at some qualifications related to the new job. After all, you want to make sure that you can do it. Speak to the chartered group for that particularly industry, so if you want to go into marketing, give the CIM a call. Another tip is to attend industry events for your new chosen career, you never know, in the networking you might find yourself a great contact.
Most of all, don’t be afraid, if you’ve decided to change your career than you should go forward with it and stick it out. After all, you wouldn’t change unless you hadn’t enjoyed what you’d been doing for the previous year or so, so what’s the worst that can happen? Good luck.
