Have you had a little quiet voice at the back of your mind, whispering… “I really want to change career and be a [insert job of choice here] but it’s just too late.”

We’re here to tell you all the reasons why we think you’re wrong.

The truth is, we’re all different people to those fresh-faced graduates that stumbled out of school 10-15-20 years ago. It’s completely normal to have different aspirations and goals as you’ve grown older. Keep on reading for our step by step take on how to change career.

That Niggling Voice

Chances are, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You may suppress these thoughts as quickly as they enter your head, as the realist inside pops up to say hello.

As many as 66% of people feel they are in the wrong career, but are too old to do anything about it.

To change career often requires retraining, studying and time out of employment. Which isn’t the easiest to accomplish when you have bills to pay or children to raise.

On the flip side of this internal argument many of us have with ourselves. You have but one life to live, and one opportunity to do what you really want to do. Let’s say you’re 40 years old, you’re likely looking at another 25 years in employment.

Could it be, that 23 years in a position you enjoy will outweigh a couple of years retraining or studying?

The likelihood is, yes, it would be.

So, what is the next road block your inner realist is popping up?

Money, perhaps?

Money is the big one. As much as we wish that it doesn’t, it does make the world go around. You may need to make sacrifices in your life to pull your career change off.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

We couldn’t try to solve everyone’s monetary questions in this blog post. Some may have a partner that can support you. Some may have family money. For the rest of the career-changing population, all this may require is a few hours to sit down and put your life into a spreadsheet.

There are some great resources online that can help with money issues –

• How to finance your career change
• How to afford a career change

The other niggling voice

We’re a world of busy bees and are extremely time poor!

How on earth could we begin to entertain the idea of doing even more than we already are??

Just like the money, this is something that when you put your head to it, you’ll work out how to structure your time to allow for studying or retraining.

For one, we are unknowingly spending upwards of 4 and a half hours per day on our phones. If we even cut out 1 or 2 scrolling splurges from our days, we will inevitable free up around 30-45 minutes. Which is plenty of time to do some proactive studying!

Alternatively, some of us may have 1-hour lunch breaks. Rather than spending this lunch hour online shopping or procrastinating what the rest of the day has in store for us. Could this be used to study?

Similarly, to our monetary problems, we can’t begin to resolve everyone’s time usage. That is down to you, to work out. But let us inspire you, that you can most certainly make it work!

Overall, we need to stop the negative self-talk. Stop it dead in its tracks. We have everything we need inside of us to make any change we desire work!

Making the Decision

What is the final nail in the coffin for you? That one step too far that is pushing you to change career?

1. Your personal well-being is suffering

• You’re finding yourself drained almost everyday
• You get ill regularly
• Generally low energy levels

2. Your mental well-being is also suffering

• Your confidence levels have depleted
• You feel full of dread on Sunday evenings
• Those around have noticed a marked difference in your behaviour or attitude
• Disconnected from yourself or desires? To cope with your job

3. Jealous of others

• You may see friends in jobs they enjoy
• Even if they are lesser paid you dream of being in their shoes

4. It’s all about the money

• You’ve centred everything to do with your career around money alone
• You only go to work for the pay

5. You dream of a new career

• Lastly, it’s an obvious one if you spend most of your day with your head in the clouds, wishing for an opportunity to change career

Your reasons may stack up, and if they are, it’s likely time to consider changing careers.

There is an abundance of famous success stories, where they have changed careers later in life and made it work for them.

• Stephen King – Who was a janitor, to make ends meet, went on to be one of the most esteemed fiction writers in the world
• Harrison Ford – Trained himself as a carpenter, which he did for 15 years to make ends meet and to support his family. Before landing some of his big blockbuster roles
• Pope Francis – The pope was once a nightclub bouncer by night and a janitor by day
• Ellen DeGeneras – Ellen worked many roles before becoming the megastar she is today, one of which being a paralegal

Proving, everyone and anyone can change career, at any time. These are only a few examples, but it is known that approximately 30% of the population will make a career change at some point in their lives.

If you need a boost as to how to achieve this, here’s a great video for you to check out.

Time to Take the Leap

Nothing will get you there other than sheer determination and action.

In a years’ time, you may wish you had started today.

We think before truly jumping into action, you need to gather all the enabling factors. All the juicy goodness that will inspire you and make you feel nothing but excitement for the journey you are about to embark on.

So, how do you gather this? Where do you look?

1. Close to home – speak to the people in your life who lift you up and motivate you, who will support your decisions, let them shimmy you along in this decision

2. YouTube – allow yourself to fall into a YouTube hole of motivational videos and people sharing similar stories

3. Join support groups – Such as Successful Career Change or The Career Changers, you’ll feel great to hear stories of others going through the same situation

4. Refresh your Social Media – there has been many opposing studies as to the impacts of social media on your mental health. Clean your social media out of anyone who doesn’t make you feel good or inspired. Find people who match your passions and energy

5. Write down how you feel – getting your thoughts and feelings down onto paper can help clarify what you want and how you’ll get there

How to Start

We’ve already discussed much of what needs to go into a change of career. But let’s break it down step by step and work out how to successfully change career.

1. Understanding

This may seem obvious, but the first step is to acknowledge and understand if this is truly what you want, and even if at this stage you aren’t sure what it is you want to do. You know your job brings you little to no satisfaction and something must change

2. Research

Not to mention writing yourself a series of lists. Now is the moment to work out, well… what it is you really can see yourself doing

Consider what you enjoy doing out of work, what are your hobbies and interests? They may be obscure, but you may be able to find something of a similar nature

3. Pay

You’ll need to ensure you are happy with the average pay of the job you are aspiring to. Be well informed and align your expectations

4. Transferrable skills

The amount of studying or training you will need for your new job. Do you have transferrable skills that will assist you? List down your skills and see where you may fall short

5. Experience

If it is possible for you to shadow someone you know who does the job, or to gain insider knowledge of the field. You may also benefit from volunteering in the position to be certain it is for you. Any knowledge of the job you can gather will be incredibly beneficial

6. Build you skills

Take online courses or enrol into a school. Even reading books in your desired field or listening to podcasts will greatly boost your desirability as a candidate

7. Be patient

These things don’t happen overnight. You also don’t want to rush into a decision if you aren’t sure. Take your time, stay informed and make the right decisions for you

What to say to Naysayers

Sadly, you may find yourself faced with adversity. People who see in only black and white may not understand why you are putting yourself through the stress of a career change.

You’ll have enough to deal with trying to talk your own negative chatter down. To deal with it from others will be an added challenge.

By this point, you should be well clued up as to how you’ll deal with this emotionally, financially and timely. Stay clear and concise and do not let any exterior negativity into your life!

Go ahead, keep your eyes on the prize and show anyone who is against the idea wrong.

Be Bold, Be Confident

Own your decision, hopefully everyone around you will enable your decision and help you move forward into your exciting new venture.

The worst thing you can do is to sit on this for weeks or months. It’s okay to regret action but it’s not okay to regret inaction. You will only regret the things that you did not do.

Some things don’t work out how you first envision and that’s okay. Successful people will tell you, that you must try and fail to become successful. Behind every success story is 200 failed attempts.

You have all the tools at your disposal to go forth, conquer and change career. You know what skills you need, what skills you already have, and the money and time investment needed.

It’s all working for you at this point, what is now needed is your action.

Our recruitment consultants are available to help you with any questions you may have, whether it is regarding this topic or any of our jobs on offer. We’re here to support you.

Perhaps the job you’re looking at falls into the commercial line of work? If so, we may be able to assist you. The jobs we recruit for, but not limited to are:

• Admin, Office Support and HR
• Customer Service & Call Centre
• Finance & Accountancy
• Managerial & Executive
• Sales & Account Management
• IT & Digital
• Legal
• Marketing & Creative
• Engineering & Technical
• Supply Chain, Buying & Procurement

Check out our jobs page to see our current vacancies https://turnerfoxrecruitment.co.uk/jobs/.

You may reach us on 01623 656 303 or recruit@turnerfox.co.uk

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Good luck in any career endeavours you take on, we’ve got your back!