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[+]Transitioning Into a New Career
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Stir
some in some globalization, add a pinch of legislation, add a scoop full of
management cutbacks, sprinkle job dissatisfaction, spread work place injury and
then preheat the oven to 365 days of layoffs. What you have is the recipe for a
career transition.
With the threat of job layoffs, company
cutbacks, workplace injuries, and job dissatisfaction, now is the time to start
thinking of your future. Whether you have the free will to do so or it’s as a
result of “forced change” due to workplace injury or layoff - It’s never too
late to start over in life.
Every idea can be best realized through a strategic
plan. Planning a new career is no different. A good place to start is by asking loved ones,
friends, co-workers and career coaches what they perceive as your strengths and
weaknesses. Taking that advice and
incorporating an honest self-assessment of what you are good at and what you
need improvement on is key to being successful when transitioning into a new
career. The key word is honesty.
This brings me to my next point which is
self-improvement and marketability. One
way this can be achieved through education.
Education can assist you in obtaining the solid background needed for
your new career and allow you to be more marketable.
Network! Network!! Network!! It pays to use old acquaintances, co-workers,
clubs, associations and social media to reach out to old or new contacts in
order to enquire about a particular field that you are interested transitioning
into. You can obtain information about
what it’s really like to be in that career, get an idea of the different
opportunities, what and if there are common struggles and hopefully even some
insight as to what the salary range is like.
It pays to do the research in order to avoid headaches at a later date.
Consider using community resources that
specialize in assisting individuals with their career plan – including writing
a resume. Remember, before meeting you,
a potential employer uses your resume to form an opinion of you so do not take
it lightly. Also take the time to adjust
and clean up your social media files. It
is a fact that 86 percent of recruiters review candidates’ social network
profiles – whether or not the candidates have shared those links. Ensure that you do not have any inappropriate
“party” pictures as 47 percent of recruiters respond negatively to pictures of
alcohol consumption. If you’re looking into
a new career, start by cleaning up your old image.
We are in an era where it is uncommon to find
individuals that work at the same place for more than five years -- just look
around your current workplace. Making a
transition in your career is exciting and can be very rewarding, just keep in
mind that in order to be successful you will need to be honest about your
strengths and weaknesses, consider continuing education, network and update
your resume, including the use of social media.
If you are serious about your transition, then you will need to take
serious steps to get there. Good luck!
(Thanks to our guest blogger for the submission!)
posted by Champions Career Centre
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