Are you thinking about changing career? Before you take the big step of leaving the career path that you have been following, stop for a moment and consider why you are wanting to make the move.
First, assess your career as it stands at the moment.
Have you successfully:
- Met all the challenges your work can present?
- Worked your way up the ladder?
- Been recognised and paid accordingly?
- Acquired third party approbation and respect?
If not, then you might be better staying in your current job or moving over to a competitor who can offer you these possibilities.
It could be that your current job is colouring your judgment. It is quite common to want to make a complete break simply because you are unhappy in your current job. There are a number of reasons why this can occur and you should ask yourself if any apply to you.
At the moment, do you:
- Clash with your immediate superior or co-workers?
- Sense your skills are being unrecognised or overlooked?
- Dislike parts of your job so that it puts you off going to work?
- Feel disgruntled because your talents are not being put to good use?
- Lack motivation or incentive?
- Struggle with the working hours or conditions?
If any of these apply then a change of department within the company (if it is a large one) may suffice.
You need not make the decision either alone or uninformed. The Department of Employment offers free guidance from Careers Advisers with whom you can talk through the various options. They will discuss with you whether there is an alternative way to provide the break you need. They will look at whether you should:
- Ask for a different job with the same employer
- Get a different take on your current job working for a different company
- Make a complete break and start afresh in a new career and, if so, which one
- Take a sabbatical to give yourself a chance to gain a new perspective
Retraining is harder the older you get. Apart from the increased difficulty in acquiring new skills or knowledge, there is also the fact that a way of life is ingrained into you and shaking it off will be no easy matter. Therefore, only consider a restart if you genuinely believe that there is no other way forward. Obviously this has a big impact outside of work and you must talk about it in detail with your family as your decision will have a great effect on them.
If you are in a position of responsibility, your boss may well be prepared to allow (or even appreciate) you staying on in the post while you retrain via evening classes, day release, correspondence course or online tuition, also giving them time to find a replacement. Many bosses will be considerably more permissive once they discover that you are not taking your knowledge and skills to a competitor. It is certainly worth asking them.
Changing career is never easy. You are suddenly in competition with people much younger than yourself who learn faster, have longer careers ahead of them, and are normally prepared to work for less. But, then again, there is no price for happiness and, if you are discontented in your current career, you must change it as quickly as possible.
