A new year brings new career opportunities, and if you’ve been considering a career transformation, the changing calendar provides a fresh outlook on changing your career. Julie Redfield, talent management expert at PA Consulting Group, offers the following tips to embrace to help make a career change:
1) Make a list
Make a list of the pros and cons of your current job. Take the time to actually write them down and discuss them with a trusted confidante. This action will help you realize why you want to make a change, and what your new career needs are.
2) Be honest with yourself
Be honest with yourself on your true motivations for the new career. What inspires you to make this change? Is it a bigger title, is it a field you where you have always wanted to be, is it a company that you personally believe in, is it a big name company, or is there someone you want to impress? We all have different drivers, and it’s important to take the time to understand your true reasons.
3) Make sure your desire to change jobs or careers is fact based.
Changing careers is a major life decision and should not be taken lightly. Take the time to gather facts about your new industry, companies and the jobs you are researching.
4) Discuss with your current manager
Discuss with your current manager the things that are making you unhappy. Most employers don’t want to lose good employees, and you might be surprised what changes your current company will make to accommodate you, perhaps even allowing you to make a career change within the company.
5) Identify target companies
Identify target companies and research them. Use social media sites to find out what employees are saying about the company, and try to find your own contacts within target companies.
6) Talk to a trusted mentor
Talk to a trusted mentor to get advice. Make sure it is someone who knows you and is willing to give you honest and candid counsel.
7) Find a recruiter
Find a recruiter who specializes in your field. Build a strong relationship with a least one recruiter, so that they get to know you – the more you know your recruiter, the better equipped they will be to find suitable prospects for you.
8) Use your network
Use your network to put feelers out in the marketplace. Get the word out that you are looking to make a career change.
9) Join an association
Join an association in your new field. You’ll meet industry contacts and learn more about the field.
10) Be prepared to tell your story.
Don’t be afraid to tell people your true personal story and why you want a career change. Everyone can relate to the human side of career changes, so be clear, and direct about you want and why.
Julie Redfield is a talent management expert at PA Consulting Group. She brings crisp clear solutions to complex people issues, combining the human perspective with sound business practices, preparing companies to have the right people ready for the right roles at the right time. She brings a commercial focus to the HR function by having it motivate and engage employees, focus on business outcomes and drive bottom line growth.
About PA Consulting Group
PA Consulting Group is a firm of more than 2,000 people, specializing in management and IT consulting, technology and innovation. Independent and employee-owned, we operate globally from offices across Europe and the Nordics, the United States, the Gulf and Asia Pacific. PA Consulting works with businesses and governments to anticipate, understand and meet the challenges they face. PA Consulting has outstanding technology-development capability and a unique breadth of skills, from strategy to performance improvement, from HR to IT, and has expertise covering energy, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, government and public services, defense and security, transport and logistics, telecommunications, consumer goods and automotive. For more information about PA Consulting Group, visitpaconsulting.com/us .