Changing Careers - An Inevitable Step

By Waller Jamison

When you get your first job, thinking about different careers is probably the last thing on your mind and fifty years ago, most people entering the workforce would expect to remain with the same employer until the end of their working life. However, the situation has changed radically in recent years and so we all need to know how to manage career transitions if we are to get the best out of our careers. Your ability to deal with change will be partly determined by how well you plan in advance. Of course, your interests and priorities will change at different stages of your life, which can make forward planning a little complicated. It is important to step back from everyday reality for a little introspection, which will help you contemplate your current careers options and look at where you might want to be 20 or 30 years from now. Naturally, this is going to expand and develop as you gain experience and take on responsibilities. This article will help you to plan as effectively as possible.

To begin with, you need to be clear about where you are at the moment and why you have made the choices which got you there. This involves being completely honest with yourself - did you choose your present job because it was the first one you were offered, or it's in the field your parents or teachers felt you should enter? And what were your intentions when you started this job? Did you plan to be there just until something you really wanted, but after 10 years that still hasn't happened? Or did you plan to climb the ladder within the firm, but find you haven't got any further than the first or second rung?

Next you need to consider how your ambitions and priorities have changed since leaving college. Do you have completely different aspirations now that you have some work experience? Or are you still on the right track?

It is important to write down your goals - not only career goals, but personal goals as well. It is possible that some of these will conflict and you may need to do some soul-searching to make sure you can find the right balance. By drawing up a career plan you will be able to contemplate all aspects of your life and see to it that your personal and professional goals and other aims in life are in harmony.

Write down everything that you hope to achieve in your lifetime and develop a plan which will enable you to make it all happen. You can't guarantee that you'll achieve everything but planning will give you a better chance of success. Changing careers is an inevitable part of life and your personal happiness is something you shouldn't leave to others.

© Waller Jamison 2007

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