I wanted to talk today about people making a career change. By career change, I mean they are making a change in their career field. Such changes can be prompted by several things, among them:
- A shift in priorities. This typically is a shift to more family time and less time at work. For most men this occurs in their late 30s to early 40s. I don't know when it occurs for women, but I tend to think women might have higher family priorities to begin with. They don't tend to be as caught up in the "get ahead at work at any cost" mentality.
- Chosen career field has changed dramatically. This is typically due to one or both of two things: disappearing opportunities (due to technology and efficiency) and some functions being outsourced offshore.
- Desire to do something different and more challenging.
- Desire to "give back" and be more "socially relevant." This means shifting to a non-profit from the for-profit world.
- Desire to be one's own boss.
So how does one go about such a change? I would like to talk through some of the specifics. The last reason for change will include some of these, but certainly there are several other issues to look at that I won't delve into in this column.
The first thing you need to do is assess and confirm your decision. There are several questions I ask in both roles I play that I would recommend you ask yourself:
- What functions/aspects/day-to-day responsibilities of your current job do you like? Ask this about your last three jobs.
- Ask the same question as above, but from the dislike perspective.
- What are the things that attracted you to the last three jobs?
- What would have to change to keep you in your current job? This question can be very enlightening. Many times people don't really want to change careers. They may just need to change companies or some of the things they are doing, or work on some personal issues. The latter can cast a pall on the rest of your life. I have worked with many pastors, one of the highest burnout professions there is, who think they want to change careers. What they really have needed to do is change attitudes and responsibilities.
- Write yourself an ideal job description. Remember, the sky is the limit.
If you still want to make a change at this point, the next thing you want to do is talk to family members, friends, and professional colleagues. Have them all do a "360" on you. This is not as highfalutin as it might sound. You will just ask them to give you a list of character strengths and weaknesses as well as what kind of role they think might be an excellent fit for you. Remember these are the people that know you best. Interestingly enough, this is the way I ended up doing coaching — through several friends recommending that I look at it.
The next thing you will want to do is some testing. I would recommend a skills test, a vocational aptitude test, and a personality test. All of these you can take online for a few dollars. Also a lot of community colleges offer certain tests to residents for free. I am not going to recommend one test over another. There are a number of good ones. Chances are good if you have come this far, made the decision to change careers, and done the two things recommended above, you already have some pretty good ideas. The tests will primarily confirm your ideas, but will also probably give you a couple of additional things to think about.
Now that you have done a lot of work around whether to change or not, it is time to start the change. I will discuss that next week.
Here's wishing you terrific hunting,
Bill
About the Author
Bill Gaffney has 16 years experience as an executive recruiter and a career coach. He can be reached at 937-567-5267 or wmgaffney@prodigy.net. For questions to be considered for this column, please e-mail askamaxa@yahoo.com.
