Career Change: 7 Do's and Don'ts
Considering a career change? The process of discovering your next move can feel empowering--or overwhelming. These seven tips will help you determine the right move.
CIO — What's one positive outcome of the recession? It's leading people to consider a career change. Though the process of figuring out what to do next can be overwhelming, it's also empowering. Taking stock of one's skills, strengths, interests and experience makes an individual realize how much he or she knows and has to offer. Investigating career options also helps employed professionals extricate themselves from dead-end jobs. For people who are unemployed, a layoff can be the catalyst for pursuing a professional dream. (See How to Create a Better Life After a Layoff.)
Considering alternatives to the work you're currently doing or you've done in the past is a worthwhile exercise for anyone, at any point in a career. Despite what the unemployment rate may lead you to believe, there are always options.
Yet those options may make career change difficult. Figuring out what path to pursue and where to focus your limited time and energy can be daunting. As a result, professionals sometimes go about career change in a scatter-shot way that squanders time and energy. To help you focus, career experts offer some realistic advice for pursuing a career change.
1. Don't rush to go back to school. Many people decide to enter academia after they've been laid off because going back to school is socially acceptable, says Martha Manglesdorf, author of Strategies for Successful Career Change (Ten Speed Press 2009.) "It's easy to rush the decision to go back to school because it feels like you're making progress," she says.
The danger is wasting your time and money on a degree that you end up not using, which happens often enough, says Mangelsdorf. She recommends talking to people with the degree you're thinking of pursuing, to find out what's involved, how they're applying it, and whether it's right for you.
2. Figure out what you want to do. Kim Batson, a certified career management and leadership coach, asks her clients a variety of questions to help them zero in on their next career moves: What do you really want to do? What have you always dreamed of doing? What's motivating you to consider a career change? Is there an industry or group of people you'd like to serve? What are your strengths and skills, and how—and where—else might you use them?
3. Find out what the work is like. If you have an idea of the work you'd like to do, test your theory that it's right for you, says Carl Wellenstein, a career coach and author of 12 Steps to a New Career (Career Press 2009.) Do research on the field or profession that interests you. Find people who are working in the profession you're considering and talk to them, says Wellenstein. You might even be able to shadow them on the job. Look into signing up for a program like VocationVacations, which allows you to "test-drive" your dream job by working in it for a one- to three days.
