Making a Career Change - 7 Things to Do Before Making a Career Change

Take some time to do some smart research before you commit to making a career change and you will ensure that your next career move is a smart one.

1. Evaluate what you like and dislike about your current career

While you may feel as though you drag yourself to work every day, hopefully, you initially accepted that job because it was a good fit for you in some ways. Take some time to objectively think through the different facets of your job. What skills do you use or what tasks do you perform at work that you truly enjoy. Those tasks and skills may form the basis of your next career.

2. Consider whether you need a full-blown career change or maybe simply an industry change

Often, when people are ready to leave their current careers, they assume that they need to make a completely fresh start in a completely new career in order to find happiness. This is not always the case. Perhaps you still enjoy the nature of the work that you do, but there have been changes to your industry that have made your career unpalatable. In that case, consider whether you can find the same type of work but in a different industry. You may just need a slight shift and now a full-blown change in order to meet your career related needs.

3. Know what you want

People who are contemplating a career change often know what they don't want. "I never want to work for another micro-managing boss." or "I am completely burnt out on front-line work." Unfortunately, they don't always know what it is that they do want.

If you are stating all of your career change needs and expectations in the form of what you don't want, it will be important to take some time to think through exactly what it is that you do want. It is much easier and more powerful to make yourself move toward something that you want than to move away from something that you don't want. People seek to find positive experiences more consistently than they seek to avoid pain. Therefore, if you are working toward a positive experience (those things that you do want in your next career), you'll be much more motivated to do the work required to get there.

4. Understand your financial needs

While, over the long term, a career change can have a lot of potential to increase your household income, over the short term, you may need to make some financial sacrifices to meet your new career goals. You may need to spend money on tuition to attain the training required for a new field, or you might decide to accept a lower paying entry level job in your new field to gain necessary experience. If your career change will have an impact on your household income, ensure that you will still be able to meet your financial obligations through your period of career transition.

5. Assess your educational needs and priorities

Never embark on a career change without a clear understanding of the educational background required to be competitive in your new field of work. There are many jobs that are not regulated, that is, there are no legal requirements in terms of required training. However, simply because there are no legal requirements doesn't mean that you don't realistically need specific training to be competitive in the job market.

The best way to determine educational requirements for a job is to talk to people who hire in that industry. They'll know what is really necessary for entry into the field and they will give you current and unbiased input. The worst way to determine educational requirements for a job is to talk to staff at schools. They are highly biased and want you there in their programs, so they are not necessarily the best source for this type of information.

6. Talk with your partner and anyone who will be impacted by your career change

Making a career change will impact the lives of those closest to you. Be sure to discuss your plans with these people. Help them to understand what this change will mean in terms of demands on your time, household income and future changes. Getting the support of those who are close to you is a crucial part of your career change success.

7. Talk with people who do the job you'd like to do

People who do the job that you'd like to do are the best sources of information about your new career. They will give you unbiased information about the day to day job, their biggest challenges, and sometimes the requirements to get started in the field. To many people fail to take this step when deciding on career options, and it should not be ignored.

Lisa McGrimmon is a career expert who has helped over two thousand clients achieve their career goals. To learn more about making a career change and gain enormous control over your future, visit Career Choice Guide.