The Critical Path to a New Career: A Beginners Guide to Reinventiong Your Career

A job is never just a job. Think about the first question you ask when you meet someone: ‘what do you do?’.

That’s because what we ‘do’ is, in many cases also who we ‘are’: our identity, self-worth and satisfaction are inextricably tied to our career.

And it’s no wonder - we spend a lot of our lives at work! So, the people we work with, the mood of the workplace, the outcomes of our labour: all these things contribute to how we feel about our career, ourselves and our lives.

Now, that’s great if you like your job. And if you love your job? Well, you’re one of the lucky ones! For many of us though, we end up on a career path that just doesn’t feel right. But we stay there because we just don’t know how to pursue an alternative.

It can be difficult to figure out how to change careers. In my many years as a recruiter I saw first hand that jumping ship isn’t easy. Not only do you have to work out what you do want to do, you then need to chart a course to take you there and develop the mental fitness to keep you on course during the transition. So, let’s take a look at all of these steps. Because life is, in my humble opinion, way to short to compromise on something that is so integral to who we are.

What do I want to do?

This can be one of the toughest questions you’ll ever ask yourself . The answer will often start as a negative one – “I know what I don’t want to do…”. That’s fine, and it helps to be clear. But research shows that moving away from something painful is great at kick starting you into action. But to sustain that action and see the career change through to fruition you must take the next step. You must define what your ideal job looks like. What will you feel like doing it? What you will be doing on a day-to-day basis? What are the skills will you be using / learning?

There are plenty of tools in the local bookstore and online that you can use at this stage to help you map out your likes and dislikes, skills and strengths, and the industries or roles you’d consider. Working this through with another person is also useful, because they can guide you and give you an unemotional, unbiased opinion.

How will I get there?

Now that you’ve got a few ideas about where you want your career to be heading the real work begins! At this stage, you need to do lots of research – and I don’t mean just checking out the job boards. Speak to other people in the field you’re aiming for. Find out what the job really entails, what it’s like to be in that industry and to do the job day in / day out. After all, you’d hate to do all of this work to switch roles just to find out that you really don’t like the new one you’ve chosen.

You also need to find out what qualifications you’ll need to get a foot in the door and how you can build your experience outside of your current job. If you can spin your current experience into something transferrable all the better! Then look for ways to prove to employers that you’re worth a try.

Once you’ve made yourself eminently employable, it’s time to sell yourself. The word of the day here is networking! Recruiters are great at finding people other roles within the same industry, but their clients rarely pay them to find someone who is completely switching careers. So, your best bet is going to be to find your new role through your existing contacts or by calling companies directly. This really isn’t as hard as you might think with a bit of structure and direction.

But before you approach any potential contacts you first need your sales tools. Write a stand-out resume, create cover letters no one can ignore and get yourself interview-ready (yes, you will need to practice!!!!) then learn how win over that hiring manager.

Staying the course

Nobody said reinvention was easy (which is why most people end up staying in their comfort zone). However, it’s a little like running a marathon – give yourself the preparation, tools and care you need, and you will make it past those ‘walls’, wherever they pop up.

And just like a marathon, one of the most important things you can do to prepare and ensure you reach the finish line is to make sure you are mentally fit for the challenge.

Again there are a myriad of tactics you can use, including heading off negative self-talk, resolving inner conflicts or limiting beliefs that keep you tied to past results and visualising your success. Then, once you’re on the road, you need to keep yourself fuelled – by celebrating small wins, creating a ‘gratitude list’, and keeping a file of positive feedback you’ve received so you can refer to it regularly and remind yourself that ‘You Rock!’ despite the number of rejections you may have faced that day.

Changing careers, retraining and job hunting can be hard – in fact, just as hard as work! But if you give yourself the right tools and preparation, it could be your key to a life well-lived and feelings of pride when you hear the question, ‘so what do you do?’.