Job Guidance Resources
Ten Steps to a Successful Career Change
Interested in a new career? If so, it is important to take
the time to evaluate your present situation, to explore career
options and to choose a career that will be satifying for you.
Ten Steps to a Successful Career Change
- Evaluate your current job satisfaction. Keep a journal
of your daily reactions to your job situation and look for
recurring themes. Which aspects of your current job do you
like/dislike? Are your dissatisfactions related to the content
of your work your company culture or the people with whom
you work?
- Assess your interests, values and skills through self help
resources like the exercises in What Color is Your Parachute.
Review past successful roles, volunteer work, projects and
jobs to identify preferred activities and skills.
- Brainstorm ideas for career alternatives by discussing your
core values/skills with friends, family, networking contacts
and counselors. Visit career libraries and use online resources
like those found in the Career Advice section of the Job Search
website.
- Conduct a preliminary comparative evaluation of several
fields to identify a few targets for in depth research.
- Read as much as you can about those fields and reach out
to personal contacts in those arenas for informational interviews.
- Shadow professionals in fields of primary interest to observe
work first hand. Spend anywhere from a few hours to a few
days job shadowing people who have jobs that interest you.
Your college Career Office is a good place to find alumni
volunteers who are willing to host job shadowers.
- Identify volunteer and freelance activities related to your
target field to test your interest e.g. if you are thinking
of publishing as a career, try editing the PTA newsletter.
If you're interested in working with animals, volunteer at
your local shelter.
- Investigate educational opportunities that would bridge
your background to your new field. Consider taking an evening
course at a local college. Spend some time at one day or weekend
seminars. Contact professional groups in your target field
for suggestions.
- Look for ways to develop new skills in your current job
which would pave the way for a change e.g. offer to write
a grant proposal if grant writing is valued in your new field.
If your company offers in-house training, sign up for as many
classes as you can.
- Consider alternative roles within your current industry
which would utilize the industry knowledge you already have
e.g. If you are a store manger for a large retail chain and
have grown tired of the evening and weekend hours consider
a move to corporate recruiting within the retail industry.
Or if you are a programmer who doesn't want to program, consider
technical sales or project management.
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