Can you Successfully Switch Careers?

Yes!

Particularly since the pandemic, many of us have been reflecting on all areas of life, including our careers. You might have asked yourself: Do I enjoy my job? Am I on track to my dream role? It’s expected more and more now that people will have more than one career path in their working life and as society and technology evolve, there are brand new jobs being created that have never before even existed.

So how do you go about switching careers?

1. Reflect

Take some time to evaluate your professional experience so far. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What have you enjoyed about positions you’ve held in the past and what have you not enjoyed? What do you want from your next job? This will help to inform what career move to make next.

2. Keep an open mind

Try not to narrow your opportunities. If you don’t have the necessary qualifications or experience for an attractive position, that doesn’t mean that you can’t gain these things. Use that ambition to drive the next steps in your career.

3. Research

Investigate everything you can about the profession you would like to break into. Look into:

• The sectors you could work in
• The responsibilities of the role
• The expected salary range
• The typical working hours
• The working conditions (for example how collaborative the role is, the working environment and the proportion of men and women in the profession)
• The locations you could work in
• The qualifications and experience required and preferred
• The skills involved
• Examples of employers

4. Prepare

It’s highly unlikely that you have none of the skills, qualifications or experience required for the job you are interested in. Look back over your career so far and record examples of when you have demonstrated transferable skills and experiences that have prepared you for the role you would like.

If there are any qualifications or experience you need and are missing, make a plan to complete the necessary training. Often, undertaking a course online is enough to demonstrate to employers your interest in the profession and your enthusiasm to learn more through training and experience on the job.