Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Table of contents
- What’s Your Personality Like?
- Will an Assessment Help?
- Evaluate Your Current Job
- Do Your Research
- What Matters Most in a Different Career?
- What’s the Job Outlook?
- Create a Pros and Cons List
- Shadow Someone in a Different Career
- Check Out the Education and Training Requirements
- Update Your Resume and Your CV
- This can be Great Career Change Advice.
Did you know that many people will change careers 3 to 7 times throughout their adult life?
Given how many people change careers many times throughout their lives, it’s essential to know what careers are the best to change. People should know the top jobs for shifting fields, and the best career change advice out there.
If people knew the best career advice and what to do, they would have a better idea of what career to choose. They might switch fewer careers as an adult.
Here’s a guide on the best career change advice and answers to the most common questions.
What’s Your Personality Like?
Finding the perfect career depends a lot on your personality. For example, it may be challenging to be a public speaker if you are naturally an introvert.
Similarly, it may be challenging to work at home alone if you are an extrovert.
You should consider taking a personality test like the HEXACO revised model or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. These personality tests can give you insight into whether you are an extrovert or introvert. They can also tell you what you like to do and what you don’t like to do.
In some instances, these personality tests can tell you what jobs fit your personality. Some personality tests can give you recommendations on how your personality would do in a particular field.
If you’re unsure of what kind of career change you want, take a personality test. You may find out more about yourself than you never knew before.
Will an Assessment Help?
As a personality test, you can also take a career assessment that tells what career would be perfect for you.
You should consider taking one of these tests before switching to a new career that you know little about. Taking these assessments is sometimes offered at colleges, or you can take them online.
Ultimately, a career assessment can give you insight into what kind of career would be great for you based on your strengths, weakness, and skills you possess.
You should also ask yourself questions about your strengths and weaknesses. For example, these are questions you would ask if you want to be a medical assistant.
Evaluate Your Current Job
Before you change careers, you should evaluate what you don’t like about your current job. You should also consider why you do like your current job.
If you are in management and make a certain salary, you should consider how long it would take to get to that point in a different industry. You will also have to consider starting from the ground and working your way up the ladder.
Think about what you don’t like to do and why it makes you want to swap careers at your current job.
Are you burned out? Is the pay low? Do you wish there was more opportunity to work your way up the ladder? Are you no longer interested in your job? Are you simply looking for a change?
These are questions you have to figure out. Choosing a different career is a significant change that can affect your family and your living cost if you don’t properly plan out a new career.
Evaluating your current job and why you don’t like it can help you figure out what you want in a job and what you don’t want. You might want to write a list of what you like in your current position and what you hope to do in your new position.
Do Your Research
Another tip to consider when you are searching for a new career is to do your research. You should look at every aspect of your new career.
You should look at the pay, the job growth, the skills required, and much more. The more research you do on a new career, the more you can prepare for it. You should also look at the leaders in your new career field and see what advice they have.
Leaders in your new career can offer wisdom on how to climb the ladder faster. They can tell you how to transition into that new career quicker and seamlessly.
If you jump into a new career because it looks great on the outside, it could be something you’re not expecting when you change to that career field.
You should also consider interviewing people in your new career. They can offer insight into what it’s like working day in and day out, giving you everything you need to know about a career before you jump into it.
What Matters Most in a Different Career?
While you are looking for a new career, you will have to assess what matters most in that new job. Is it money? Is it passion?
You may have a passion for teaching, but you don’t like the pay. You have to decide what kind of job you want the most, including your interest, pay benefits, and more.
Figure out what matters most to you in a career, and it can help you decide what career is best for you.
What’s the Job Outlook?
Another critical part of your job search is looking at the outlook. You want to see what the job growth is like for the next ten years in a particular field.
If it doesn’t seem to have a strong outlook, you should know why that is. You should see if the job is being outsourced by technology or if there’s just no longer a need in that career.
However, you may find a career that is one of the fastest-growing among other professions. This is why you need to consider what’s required of the job to get hired quicker.
For example, here’s a look at the fastest-growing Allied Health careers.
Create a Pros and Cons List
Before you switch careers, you should consider the pros and cons of that career, mostly the cons. It’s easy to only focus on the pros of what it would be like to work in a different career field.
But you also have to be realistic about what to expect. You should look at online forums and see what people say negatively about the job. You should also see the typical lifespan of that particular career – you may find that the average person only stays 5 to 10 years in that specific field.
Ultimately, creating pros and cons can give you an idea of what to expect from a job before jumping into it.
Shadow Someone in a Different Career
While you are considering a new career, you should also shadow someone. You should follow someone around while working on their job, seeing the nitty-gritty details of everything they do.
This gives you hands-on experience, and it can be an eye-opener to what it’s like to work at a specific job. For example, some people shadow nurses because it gives them an idea of what it’s like to work in a hospital, and the pressures that come as a nurse.
Check Out the Education and Training Requirements
If you are considering another career, you may need a whole new education. You may need to go back to school to earn another degree or certificate.
For example, if you are changing from a business career to a medical career, you’ll most likely need to return to school to take additional classes. You’ll also need to see if you need to earn a certificate or pass a test.
Becoming a lawyer would require you to take the Bar, for instance. Overall, figure out what educational requirements you need to be successful in your new career.
Update Your Resume and Your CV
Before you apply for jobs in a new career, you will need to update your resume and CV.
You want to show your past job history and any relevant skills on your resume and cover letter. You especially want to show potential employers why you are switching careers.
If you return to school for certifications or a degree, it’s important to highlight that on your resume. Also, show volunteer work you’ve done in a particular industry that can help you pivot into a new career.
The more relevant your resume and cover letter are, the more it can help you land the job that you want.
This can be Great Career Change Advice.
Overall, the career change advice found above can help you transition to a new career faster and easier. It can help you figure out what you are looking for in a new career and what to expect when it comes to the educational requirements.
Switching careers as an adult can be difficult because you may need to return to school or start at the bottom of the ladder. But learning everything it takes to get there will make it a more painless process.
If you have questions about the educational requirements when changing to certain fast-growing careers, contact us here.