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I can’t tell you which career change will be right for you but what I can guarantee is that the answers to which career to pursue lie inside you. It may take a journey of self exploration to discover the right career. This journey may be quick or you may have a longer path to take. You will need to find out what excites you, consider the existing skills you have and look at how a career can fit into your existing life.
Follow my three steps to help you start thinking about finding a career change that's perfect for you
STEP ONE : Find your passion
The best career for you will be doing what you enjoy and have passion for. This will lead to you being happy and fulfilled in your work. Therefore your first step is to discover what this is. Below are some techniques for helping you do this.
Write everything down…….
Take a notepad with you wherever you go. Note down the things you are doing when you really enjoy yourself. Think about the tasks you enjoy when you are at work. If you do this you will learn a lot about yourself and what you enjoy. It can lead to answers telling you what you want to spend your time doing. Do you enjoy communicating with different people and love shopping? You could be a personal buyer or a mystery shopper. Are you in your element when you are helping others and do you love playing sport, you could be a sports teacher, a football or tennis coach, a personal trainer. Is your favourite time of day when you're out walking the dog? Maybe a pet sitting business is for you. The possibilities are endless.
Ask yourself questions……
Ask yourself this question: If there was no risk of failure and if you were guaranteed to be successful which career would you choose?
Here's another question: if you looked back at your life 20 years from now what would you have liked to have achieved? If you ask yourself questions like these they really get you thinking about what you would really love to do.
Ask other people questions……
Look around you for others who enjoy their jobs. Find out why they love their work. What made them start on their path?
Can others tell you something about yourself that you may not have noticed? What do those closest to you think you’d be good at and enjoy?
Read, read, read……..
Read about others career changes and paths. Search the Internet, magazines and newspapers for career ideas and stories of others career paths. Read books to educate yourself about different career changes. At the moment, I am taking inspiration from reading successful people's biographies. Read about Gordon Ramsay's career path from trainee chef to media personality in his autobiography. His dedication and hard work ethic is inspirational. It makes you think what you could achieve if you put the same hard work into a career of your choice. There are also lots of books and information specifically about career change out there. How to get a job you love by John Lees and Finding square holes : discover who you really are and find the perfect career by Anita Houghton come highly recommended.
Listen to yourself
Sit down and really listen to yourself. Let ideas come and go in you head and when one seems that little bit more important listen to it. Ignore the negative thoughts about why it isn’t possible, this idea is probably the one for you.
Make a list of things you want to do
Use the above techniques to identify possible careers that excite you and write a list. At this stage don’t think about what you can do, just think about what you’d love to do. If it turns out your dream job requires seven years of training and that isn’t something that would make you happy there may be other jobs in the same setting which are easier to move into. For example if you love animals being a vet will mean getting a degree and having qualifications in science but it may be possible to become a veterinary nurse, work for an animal rescue operation or set up your own business as a dog walker/cat sitter.
Remember that a career change is never set in stone. You learn new skills and experience which may take you on a completely different career path in the future. Don’t worry too much about making mistakes. Look on your career as a journey of learning experiences. Try and enjoy and learn from each step you take on this journey. If you take a path you don’t enjoy just take the steps to change it.
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