Careers: How to Start a New Career Change

There is a time in every person's career when they feel it is time to make the difficult decision to change their job. This is a daunting time but is an extremely important decision and must not be undertaken lightly. Making the decision to leave a full time, well paid position can be very challenging on the worker as they will be in unknown territory and fearing for their future. Most people when changing their careers are not sure where to start; they don't know what career they want for the future or how to get it. An important part of changing careers is to try and minimise the time spent between the jobs as that is costing you money you could have been earning, when changing careers an aim is to minimise the risks involved.

If you feel the time may have come when you need to change your current career then you need to reflect on your skills and interests that would be useful in the new industry you desire to work in. Looking at these skills and interests may illustrate to the worker which kind of job they would be most suitable to. It is good to do this reflection whilst still employed as some new skills and interests may need to be added or improved on, which could take time. Taking up new hobbies or pursuing a previous interest can open up doors for the worker, when achieving new skills a worker should always use all resources available to them, always ask for help or advice when needed; advice from the right person can be invaluable. There are also several websites and places within the community available that focus on helping workers with career change, and have great results.

When the career path has been chosen changing careers will seem less daunting as there will be less stress. The worker should find out as much as possible about the new career path, some very important information would be salary, hours and whether there was some training needed before hand. Some workers change their career due to a health issue, if this is the case then the worker must carefully think about the level of work they can undertake, they must realistically approach their limitations, but there are a lot of jobs out their for people with health issues so if that's you, don't be dissuaded by your health.

Whilst still at your current job, be on alert and look out for new upcoming job vacancies in other firms. When you apply for a new job at a firm, do a bit of research about the company beforehand so when it comes to interview stages you know who you're dealing with and are already familiar with some of their processes. Make sure your CV is up-to-date and you incorporate your work experience from your current employers. Also make sure it is formatted, tailoring it specifically to that companies needs.

Changing careers can mean big upheavals in someone's life, possibly moving away or a heavy commute, but if you think that this new career choice is what it best for you then go for it.

James Copper is a writer for http://www.careerlaunch.co.uk where you can find information on how to get a career change