1. Conduct a self-evaluation and reflection
Before changing careers, it’s essential to do some self-evaluation and reflection. This helps you set a strong foundation and understand if a career switch is a right move for you. Reflection helps you determine your goals and what you need to do to achieve them, through weighing various factors relating to both your career and personal aspirations.
Asking yourself these questions can help you reach a decision:
- What is the key reason why I want to change careers? Is it because of a challenge I’m experiencing?
- This first question is important, as it sets the purpose for your course of action. Knowing why you want to change careers will determine the next steps you need to take to be successful.
- Is a change of career going to address said challenges?
- After reflecting on the reason, you should weigh your options. Yes, you may have challenges now, but there will also be new challenges elsewhere. Knowing this, you can evaluate if there are other factors affecting your current job role, that are driving you to consider this change.
- Given that, is now the right time?
- If you are still determined to push through with the career change, ask yourself if the timing is right. You may find it to be a necessary move if your industry has been heavily affected by the pandemic.
- Transitioning comes with certain challenges as well. Can I handle them and is it worth it?
- Big changes don’t come without challenges and will take a lot of time and energy. It is crucial to ask yourself if all of these will be worth the transition. Having set your goals and values can easily help determine if you should push through with the career change.
2. Assessing high demand for related industries
Another important step is to research the industry you’re thinking of transferring to. Naturally, if there is a high demand for employees in a certain field, there would be more job opportunities available for you when you make the switch. Healthcare and social work are some fields in need of extra manpower. while sectors such as food and agriculture, energy, and transportation are also looking to hire.
Since the pandemic has accelerated the need for businesses to transform digitally, tech knowledge has become more important than ever, making the sector a viable option as well. One specific industry would be e-commerce web development. Companies in this field, such as Singapore-started Verz Design, offer a variety of digital services – from web copywriting and creating social media posts, to web marketing such as search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).
It also offers e-commerce web development specific services like web design and custom programming, all of which are essential for businesses to fully transition to online channels. This high demand makes tech one of the popular industries to switch to when considering a career transition.
3. Identify how you’d like to grow within the company
Getting a new job should be treated as a mutual relationship where both parties benefit.
While it’s important to help the company see why you’re an asset to their business, you should also consider your personal growth in the role. Identifying what you can offer, along with what the company can offer to you, are both equally essential.
Setting personal goals helps determine your path to growth while highlighting your priorities. To determine if the company is right for you, you should evaluate if your goals align with the company’s values and objectives.
Understanding all the factors that can support or hinder your goals will help you achieve them. Knowing exactly what you want to accomplish, why, along with how it should be done and who needs to be involved, will be the key to your success. The more specific and measurable these goals are, the easier it will be to achieve them.
Changing careers in the midst of trying times can definitely feel like a huge leap of faith. However, once you’ve done your due diligence to assess that now’s the time for the switch, it can turn out to be the best decision.
This article is contributed by Verz Design.
