Are you lost in your career? Are you unhappy? Do you feel like your talents are being wasted and you’re not developing as a professional? It’s time for a career change!
Here are the 3 key steps towards a successful one:
Career change step 1: Diagnosis
Firstly, you need to detect the source of your dissatisfaction – take a step back, be observant and try to figure out what it is about your job that makes you feel unmotivated. Do you have the career evolution you aimed for when you entered the company? Does this job take you a step closer to your next professional goal? Are you bored and want to explore something new? These are some questions you can ask yourself to understand your motivation behind this career change. But you should also think outside the box – each situation is very unique regarding its context. Note that in most cases, the source of the problem seems clear very quickly but you must dig deeper to uncover the real, more hidden explanations. It’s paramount to have a meaningful source of the career change since such a transition is a long, exhausting shot to take.
Next, it’s time to assess your skills and interests. Start by reflecting on the areas you thrive in and which tasks motivate you the most. If it’s difficult to objectively analyze yourself, rely on a third-person such as a colleague, an HR advisor, a close friend or even a former manager. Online self-assessment/orientation tests can also help you gain further insight into your potential. Once you’ve identified your current skills and interests, start thinking about areas of improvement and new skills you’d like to develop. After all, the goal is to maximize your career profile, and this can only be done if you’re constantly trying to improve.
Now, if you did a good job in fully analyzing your situation, combining the reasons why you’re looking for a career change and your current skills set, you may move on to phase 2 of the process.
Career change step 2: Planning
Having identified your key strengths and motivations, it’s time to start searching for change opportunities – is it a completely new job in your current company? Is it the same in a different industry? Is it the same job in the same company but relocated somewhere new? Etc.
Remember: change opportunities can take different forms so make sure you explore all of them and establish the best case scenarios. And most importantly, create an action plan to reach whatever goal comes out of this reflection process.
Research everything this new objective requires such as hard/soft/language skills, work experience, networking, industry knowledge and motivations. This will enable you to rebuild your profile presentation, personal brand and application material accordingly in order to meet all the criteria. Finally, set objectives on what to achieve such as a meeting with your +1, X number of interviews obtained, X referrals received or X motivation letters sent.
Truth be told, this planning stage can be long and complicated, but it’s a necessary step to ensure your career change is on track.
Career change step 3: Execution
Now you’ve built a plan for your career change, it’s time to execute it, starting with communicating your new aspirations to the parties concerned such as your manager, recruitment companies, headhunters, or even your professional network. Make sure you identify the right interlocutor and prepare your message thoughtfully so it’s well received.
Activate your network: whether it be your family, friends, former colleagues, acquaintances or even previous university teachers, you’ll know someone that can guide you or put you in touch with the right person. They may also be able to help you find new opportunities and provide you with advice if you need to rethink your strategy. Last but not least, promote yourself in a smooth and constructive way so people will engage with your career change project and support it.
Hopefully if your career change plan was well-conceived in phase 2 of the process, the execution won’t take much time to show good results. If not, maybe you have to reflect on the flaws you missed along the way, how you can reshape your messaging to ensure it properly delivers your potential and eventually seek further help from a professional.
We’re now heading to the end of the process and we wish you nothing but success in your new endeavors!
We hope this article has inspired you to finally get the successful career change you need!
If somehow you find the process overwhelming, very time-consuming and/or quite difficult to execute without any help, consider investing in a career coach.
HR experts are here to accelerate and facilitate such a process by guiding you every step of the way, from the very beginning stage of self-analysis all the way to career planning and execution. Without a doubt, they’ll open new doors for you and make sure your career’s heading in the right direction according to your profile and potential, helping you set challenging but realistic goals.
Your career change will definitely become possible and in a much shorter timeline.
To help you land a successful career change, sign up for a FREE diagnostic session here.