Generating Career Change Ideas

Many people will change their jobs and careers a number of times over the course of their working life. This could be for reasons such as redundancy, money, progression or new challenges. You may be at a stage where you feel that you need a career change - this doesn’t have to be a drastic change, it could just be that you need a change of environment. You may already have an idea about want to do; you may have made the decision to change career and have started researching possible career paths. If you have been settled in a long term career it can seem risky to start over and difficult to know where to start. There are a number of considerations that go into a successful range of career change ideas. This article aims to cover some techniques to help you generate ideas and research them so you can make informed, realistic decisions about possible options based on what you want to do.

Visualise your future

In order for you to generate new ideas about your career, go back to the drawing board and clarify and refocus your priorities. Start creating mind maps to help you create a clear picture of what you want your life and career change to look like. This will help you identify and articulate what you want out of your career and what your priorities are.

Ask yourself:

• What would my ideal job be if every job paid the same?
• What is my dream job? (think about the specifics)
• What would I do if anything was possible?

Identify your transferrable skills

A common concern for individuals changing direction is working out what skills and experience they have that could be transferred over to a new chosen career path. To work out your new direction you need to be prepared to have a clear understanding about what you have to offer and what you could bring to a new career. Take a look at job descriptions and look at the common skills and experiences businesses typically have or need. Think about the skills you have enjoyed using and what aspects of your previous roles you have been good at. What personal qualities are transferrable into other sectors/roles? And how does your work experience relate to other sectors?

Hobbies and interests

When considering your next step, don’t just focus on what you do in your professional life. This could be an opportunity to turn your hobbies and interests into a job or career. More and more people are combining passions and skills and turning their hobbies into jobs as a fulfilling way to make a living.

Use your network

Networking is a way of making contacts and it’s the proactive process of building and maintaining relationships and contacts that you already have to help you identify new work opportunities. Talk to people you know both professionally and personally about the roles that they do. Somebody may know somebody in your target industry who they can introduce you to, you never know who the people are who can support you the most in times of career change. Use LinkedIn and do some research about your target industry and the professionals working within it.  LinkedIn groups and attending industry events are a great place to get to know others working in the industry. By interacting with others and sharing articles and thoughts, you can strike up conversations and build relationships with professionals in your target sector.

Utilise job boards

Often you are not aware of the job roles that exist - one of the most useful ways of identifying roles is to use job boards as a platform for research. Don’t focus too much on job titles but use sites such as Indeed.com, and search adverts that contain keywords that are of interest to you. Combine your strengths, values and interests and begin researching possible roles. This may result in a long list of potential opportunities but it may bring up roles or options that you hadn’t considered before and you can identify titles that spark interest.

Explore and analyse possible career matches

Bring together your ideas and generate a list of possible careers to help you focus your research and the different options.  Identify the underlying themes that tie together the roles you selected in your list of options. Some of the questions you might have at this stage might include:

• Would I need to retrain?
• If so, what are the costs of training?
• Is this option realistic?
• What level would I start at? Do I need to take a lower status?
• How easy is it to secure jobs in this field?
• What is the competition? Where is the demand?
• What other careers are there related to this area?

Renovo is one of the UK’s leading providers of outplacement and career transition support. We work with both organisations and individuals to support all their career transition requirements. If you would like to understand how Renovo can help you please call 0800 612 2011 or email info@renovo.co.uk