Approaching a mid-career shift is always a difficult prospect. Primarily due to the fact that you have to overcome the sunk-cost fallacy of believing that you should stick with what you’re currently doing just because you’ve invested time in it. Once you realize that you deserve to be doing something that you enjoy, the sky becomes the limit, and the next question becomes a more practical one – how do you go about moving towards this ideal career? Well, the answer is different based on a variety of factors, with one of them being whether or not you know what you want to jump into.
Figuring Out What You Want
This might be the hardest bit. If you’re in a job that you don’t like, and all you know is that you want to do something completely different with your career, piecing together what ‘different’ looks like can take quite a bit of thinking. Much of the time, you won’t have experience in the field that you feel drawn to, making it difficult to get started and making it uncertain whether or not you’d enjoy what the day-to-day looks like. While the former might be something that’s overcome with the right training, the latter can provide you with a way of puzzling together your future.
Thinking about what you want your ideal work day to look like and answering questions like how much time do you want to spend outside, in an office, or working from home, can help you to find a career that meets all of your criteria.
The Right Training
Having your current job does provide a benefit in the sense that it can continue to provide you with financial support while you prepare yourself for your career shift. However, this has the obvious drawback of eating up a lot of your time as well, making training for this next job difficult – but not impossible. Thanks to online learning, you can identify skills that you feel will be relevant – such as an SQLcourse or coding – and organize your free time to work towards this.
Another effective way to prepare for a career shift while working your current job is to build a professional network within your desired industry. Attend relevant events, conferences, and webinars to meet people in your field and learn about the latest trends and developments. Certifications can also be a great way to prepare for a career shift while working your current job. Many industries and professions have specific certifications that are recognized and respected by employers. These certifications often require self-study, participation in online or in-person courses, and passing an exam to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in a particular area. By taking advantage of resources like this exam preparation website on how to ace the Series 7 exam, you can maximize your time and effort and increase your chances of a successful career transition.
Of course, this might infringe on your free time for a while, and learning in your own time does require a certain amount of self-discipline that you might need to practice, but the end result could be a more convenient way to learn.
Location First
Different people prioritize different aspects of their lives, and while some might feel that the finer details of the career itself is what’s most important, you might feel differently. It might be that you’re dissatisfied with where you find yourself situated and want to be closer to friends, family, or a location that you simply prefer. In this case, you might start thinking about your current skill set and what you want to do, but where you can do this effectively. This approach might lead you to think about how a career that has you working from home can benefit you, but then it’s also important to consider the social drawbacks that such a situation might have if you’re used to working from an office.
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