The top reasons for a career change
These days, career change is more common, with a growing number of businesses becoming more open minded when it comes to unique pathways. Many career paths now have swerves and breaks and renewed motivations and direction is the result. The great thing is, there was never a better time to try something different.
1. Changing industries
There’s a wealth of transferable skills that allows movement across industries. The key is finding the businesses who are open minded and embracing diversity to allow you the opportunity. A challenge is it may not be possible for a neat little side step into a new industry as your experience will not exactly translate BUT knowing and articulating your worth and value will help to minimise the transition and at least have you hit a postove growth trajectory. Understanding and sharing your motivations to move into a particular industry will also help businesses understand your drive.
2. Changing jobs
This can be a small or large step. You may have an area within your current role you’d like to pursue. For instance moving from marketing to project management. You have experience, but your pathway is different from someone who has only ever worked in project management. The bonus is you are also bringing a fabulous diversity of skills with you, which is a massive selling point to those that acknowledge it.
You may, however, want to completely jump ship from a career path. I can use myself as an example as I moved from nursing into retail customer experience and sales. Ok, so I created my own opportunity, BUT the key was realising my transferable skills. Nurses have pretty epic people skills, among others, that can easily transfer across.
3. Reentering the workforce
Whether you have taken a career break for 12 months or 12 years, you may find it challenging to see and navigate your re-entry point. For many people, the re-entry point will be different for reasons that are outside or within your control. Skills, motivations and confidence can all change, which has its challenges in getting back into the game. It is important to recognise all the skills you have accrued that you wouldn’t ordinarily add to your ‘list of experience’. These are the fabulous transferable skills that are gained through life experiences. Taking time off to travel the world, care for a sick family member or raise kids. These have all contributed to your swag of skills and hopefully also clearer motivations on what you do and don’t want to do next. Acknowledging and sharing these is the key.
4. Changing work/life balance
Burnout is a bitch. If you have the foresight to make a change in your work/life habits before you reach this point, then credit is due. As someone who went through burnout, you do need to deal with the repercussions BEFORE you consider your next career steps. Don’t let this chance go to waste. Not many of us have the luxury of a break without income, so let me share a story that inspired and left its mark on me. I worked with a nurse who had just reentered the profession after taking a career break. A psychologist suggested a break not only from oncology, but nursing as a whole, so she could look after her mental health. She needed a chance to do this while paying her bills, so went to work at a car rental business at the airport. It was a game changer for her to allow her to destress, take time for herself and reassess what she wanted to do with her career. What struck me was her courage to not only make this move but to not care what other people thought of her for doing so. She made a decision that was right for her and her family and ultimately got her back onto a track she was happy with and alot smarter for. Understanding and making decisions that keep you happy, healthy and productive are always worthwhile.
Change can be healthy, if not scary. We don’t all have firm ideas of career direction and sometimes we are thrown a curveball to force change on us. Either way, it does allow us to experience new things to ultimately help us decide our destination.
