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Never Change Careers Before Answering These 6 Questions First

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It took less than a year for him to scream about the mistake he made. Fewer than 12 months after transitioning to a new career, a friend I’ll call John found himself more unhappy than he had ever been before making his career change. This was quite a feat since he often told me how miserable he was in his previous job. John’s experience is much more common than you might think.

Many people find themselves highly disappointed after making career transitions. This happens, in part, when the career move wasn’t planned well and the decision to make the move was never really vetted in the first place.

Whether you desire new experiences, want to explore new professional passions or have a goal to earn more money, it is critical that you first identify why you want to change careers if you want your experience to end successfully. Flexjobs lists the top five reasons that people want to change careers as money, recognition, stress, work-life balance and advancement opportunities. What are your drivers for change?

I strongly advise that you never change careers before answering these six questions first lest you risk ending up miserable.

1. Do you want a new career, or do you really just want to get away from a stale job, a bad boss or bad culture?

Often times, I find that people are so busy trying to get away from their current pain, struggles and discomforts that they neglect to properly consider the pros and cons of where they may actually land. They want to run away from something so badly that they fail to consider where they are indeed running to and why.

Are you feeling a pull to break into a whole new career, or could it be that you’ve simply been in your current job for too long? Or might it be that you just desperately want to get away from a bad boss or bad company culture?

The answer here matters a lot because it could be that you can gain much more career fulfillment by changing jobs in the same company or same field rather than embarking on an entire career change to a different company, field or industry altogether. Weigh this out so you don’t run to a new career when all you really needed was a new job in the same career.

2. What does success in the new job or career look like? Does this fit with reality?

The stress of a current situation sometimes causes people to feel that any other place will do; any other career will do; maybe any other job will do. If something inside of you is just screaming and crying out for something new or different, take the time to evaluate what it looks like in reality? Before putting in all the effort to entirely change jobs or careers, consider which aspects of your job or career you truly want or need to change.

To gain a clearer perspective of what real life is like in the new job or new career, take active steps to learn more.

  • Conduct informational interviews. Reach out to current employees, managers and retirees and respectfully ask for an hour of their time. Explain your goals to change careers (or jobs), and invite about three different people to lunch for an informational interview. Come up with a set of five questions to gauge what life is really like in the new job, career or industry, and then use their answers to your questions to get a much better understanding of what to expect.
  • Request job shadowing opportunities. Contact companies or organizations that hire people doing the work you think you want to do, and ask if you can job shadow someone for a few days. Be sure to explain your reasoning. By all means, assure them that you only want to shadow and that you won’t get in the way or intrude. Also, be prepared to sign confidentiality agreements, and don’t be surprised if approval means that you have to bring your own liability insurance along.
  • Offer to volunteer free labor. Determine what volunteer opportunities are available in your desired new career field, industry or company, and apply for a volunteer assignment. This is a great way to get more benefit than a job shadow will provide. Even if you have to volunteer to do the mundane tasks, take it. Not only will you get a more up-close view of the dynamics in the new profession, you may also get to do some meaningful work. But the biggest benefit here is that you gain direct access to others who may already be doing the exact work you think you want to do. Your volunteer service can land you some key networking contacts that may come in handy in the future.

3. What career capital can you leverage?

Career capital represents the sum total of the transferable skills and intellectual, educational and relationship advantages that you already have at your disposal and can use to get a leg up in realizing your professional goals.

Before you can know what career capital you can leverage for success, you first need to outline your precise career goals and define what you mean by career change. Note, the phrase career change is used to describe a myriad of career moves - some more mild (which might better be called job changes) and some much more drastic (which are true career changes).

Are you looking to stay in the same industry and the same field but simply want a promotion? Do you want to advance from employee to manager or from manager to the C-suite? Do you want to stay in the same industry but work for a different company? Or are you seeking to work in a completely different industry but keep with the same line of work? What about a completely different industry and a completely new line of work? Do you seek to go from an employee to starting and running your own business? Do want to become an entrepreneur?

Once you figure this out, you will be able to better assess what career capital you already have and what you will need to obtain, develop or secure to ensure a successful career transition. Determine what transferable skills you possess that will fit nicely in the new job or career. Again, career capital expands way beyond transferable skills. You’ll want to evaluate the intellectual, educational and relationship capital that you can best leverage to your benefit and how.

Think beyond just what you can leverage in order to transfer into a new career. You should also ascertain what’s necessary for you to succeed in your new job or career over the long haul.

4. What skills and credentials do you need to compete for a new job or career?

Beyond career capital (what you already have available), you need to research the new job, company and industry to determine what skills and credentials (education and certifications) you will need – but don’t already have – to be more competitive.

You can learn some of this first hand from doing things like the informational interviews, job shadowing or volunteering. You can also learn about the skills and credentials you may need by reading job descriptions for new roles that interest you, reading career magazines and looking into college programs to see what new graduates are obtaining. Other sources of information are industry and professional organizations and social networks such as LinkedIn.

5. Are you willing to do what it takes to develop new skills and earn new credentials?

It’s great to know what skills and credentials you need to succeed in a new role, but it’s better to get real with yourself about whether you are willing to do the work to get them. If you learn that the new job or new career will require you to develop skills or earn credentials that you aren’t really prepared to do the work for, you need to reconsider your goal.

But if you you find that you are willing to put the work in, you should consider all your options. It may be that you can develop the necessary skills or get certifications through online courses or webinars instead of going through traditional courses. You may be able to gain credentials and skills by attending industry and professional conferences and workshops.

The point here is if you have to get more education, a certification or some particular skill, search out routes to accomplish this that align best with your life, budget and time restrictions. Get what you need in the most convenient and cost-effective manner possible.

6. Are you willing to start at a lower level and take a pay cut to enter a new career?

The more experienced – and frankly older – you are, the more pay, seniority and status you are likely to have in your current career. This means that entering a new career may require that you to take a lower-level position and even a pay cut. This could also result in a decrease in the status you currently enjoy.

How much do you want to make a career transition? Do you want it bad enough to deal with these changes? If you don’t, you need to reconsider your goal. The more drastic the career change, the higher the odds of experiencing a position, salary and status decrease.

The greater the gap between your current position and your desired career change, the more likely you are to start on a lower scale. How drastic a career change do you want to make, and do you want it enough to go through this?

Success depends on your answers to the questions.

Skip this process at your peril. You can definitely end up like my friend John. He was super excited about his new career, and then he was miserable in less than a year. I recommend you take the time to answer the six questions for yourself. The answers will help you better understand what is driving your desire for change, help you make more informed decisions and validate whether you are making the best career moves for the best reasons.

Completing the process will also ensure that you experience a smoother career transition that sets you up for long-term success. If you do embark on a new job search or career change, take in these 21 motivational quotes to help lift you up along the way.

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