ALT-1 Making a Career Change
If you are considering choosing a second career, you should congratulate yourself for deciding to make important changes in your life. Your career has a big impact on your finances, your mental state, and your lifestyle. When making the decision to choose a second career, you need to keep your finances, mental state and lifestyle in mind because your new career should complement these important areas of your life. Most people who are embarking on a second career want to make sure that their new career is a better fit for them than their previous career. Make a note of the things about your previous career that you did not enjoy so that you know which types of jobs to avoid when choosing your second career.
A second career should be looked upon as a second chance; an opportunity for you to follow your dreams and build a better life for yourself. If the new career that you want to pursue requires that you upgrade your educational skills, look in to your options to be able to study part-time, full-time, or via distance education. If you cannot financially afford to quit the job you currently have so that you can focus full-time on studying, you should investigate getting a student loan from your bank or from student loan services. A student loan should be large enough to provide you with enough money to attend school and cover your living expenses at the same time.
Any second career that you choose should reflect your skills and talents. If you dream about becoming a world-famous plastic surgeon, but the sight of blood makes you feel faint, obviously, you would have a difficult time working as a doctor. Don’t be solely motivated by money when deciding on a new career to pursue. If you are talented and innovative in your chosen field of work, you have the potential to build a financial fortune. Your second career should be something that you can visualize yourself doing successfully. The tasks you perform in your second career should feel completely natural and enjoyable for you to perform. If you enjoy public speaking, you should consider embarking on a career that will put you in front of an audience.
Researching current trends in the job market will help you to plan effectively for your second career. It is ideal to choose a career that is unlikely to get outsourced or lose demand. Read newspaper reports and watch television news stations to get information about which industries are in demand and which industries are reducing their workforces. The last thing you need is to put a lot of effort and work in to preparing yourself for a new career, only to face difficulty finding a job in the field you want to work in.
Researching current job trends will give you a more realistic view of how to plan for your second career and whether or not the typical salary you can expect to earn if you work in that career would be enough money for you to accomplish your goals. Search the Internet for examples of good resumes from people who work in the career path that you are pursuing so that you have an idea of what job recruiters are looking for. Join professional associations that cater to people who are employed in your desired line of work; networking with others is a great way to improve your chances of being hired. Pursuing a second career can be life-changing, so be sure to plan wisely when choosing another career path. If you pursue a career that gives you the opportunity to do what you enjoy, your job will not feel like “work” at all, and you will feel much happier with your career choices.
