Tips for Finding a Whole New Career - Fast and Easy!

There are a number of reasons that people change not just jobs but careers, fields of work. What are some of them?

1 – Your interests have changed since you chose your college major, and you don’t enjoy your work, or there’s something else in particular you want to do.

2 – There are fields of work available now that didn’t even exist when you took your first job out of school.

3 – You have learned about a field of work you knew nothing about when you first started working, or when you chose your major.

4 – You were too much under the influence of your school guidance counselor or your parents when you chose your original field of endeavor. Now you’re thinking for yourself.

5 – Having been fired or laid off, or your former employer having gone out of business, you cannot find a job in your former field and are now forced to look for something else.

6 – You have moved — perhaps because your spouse  was relocated in his or her job — and you cannot find an opening in your usual field of work in your new geographic location.

7 – Your previous field of work has been obsolesced and nobody is hiring in that capacity anymore.

What to do now?
If your career change was voluntary — that is, if you changed fields specifically to get into a new type of work — you know where you’re going. Now all you have to do is find a company that wants to hire you (perhaps you want to go back to school for some education or training in your new field first), and you’re golden. But what if you’re switching careers from your former occupation rather than to a specific new one?

1 – Look around to see what other occupations can use the same skill set or knowledge that you possess.

2 – Consider whether any hobbies you indulge in or volunteer work that you do have left you well-suited for a particular type of work. (For example, if you’ve been doing public speaking in the course of charitable work, you may be suited, as a fellow I know was, to take a position as a safety instructor.)

3 – Look at any employment ads you can find — online, in the local paper, anywhere — and see what types of jobs are out there. The perfect job for you may be one you never considered, perhaps even one you don’t know exists.

4 – Visit a job counsellor for advice.

5 – Consider going into business for yourself. If you ever wanted to, now might be the best time.

6 – Consider a temporary employment offer that has the potential to become permanent.

Go for it

The expression “think outside the box” was never more applicable than it is here. Don’t think of yourself as “a quality control engineer,” “an accountant,” “a software code writer,” “a teacher.” You’re boxing yourself in. Mentally clear the slate. Think of yourself as “a person with the following skills, knowledge, and abilities… and interests: (fill in the blanks).” Then find your new niche.