What to consider when changing careers…A guest post

There are many individuals who find themselves at a loss when it comes to their current job and are after a fresh direction in their career to feel more rewarded or maybe it’s just to get out of a rut. Changing careers at any point in your life is very important decision to make and you will need to decide whether you need to move on to pastures new, or if you just need a new challenge from your current job.

Aspects to consider
The immediate element in a job is the enjoyment factor. Anyone who wants pleasure from their position will draw this from the challenges in front of them, but if the challenge of their tasks has dried up then perhaps moving on is the right decision. However, this only becomes the primary option if your current job cannot offer any further challenges that appeal to your driven principles. Other factors to consider is whether you’re abilities and progress are being recognised by your superiors and you have risen accordingly through the ranks as a result; whether your pay reflects your lifestyle demands; do your colleagues motivate you in the right way and have you gained their respect.

Taking the next step
Let’s imagine you have made the final decision to move on to something new, where do you take it from there? The change can be as extreme as you want to make it, with the lesser alteration to your career being a new role within your current company so the corresponding changes are limited; you won’t have to move, you won’t need to make new friends and it won’t affect others in your family. The IT industry is a good example of this, with qualities being able to be transferred over from one role to another, for example, test analyst jobs have some similar aspects to them as C# jobs.

However, you may decide to make the more extreme of decision of moving on completely from your current industry onto something completely different. You will need to consider how easy this will be to implement and whether you can go straight into a new career, or will you need to partake in a course to get you to be where you need to be.

One main external element to contemplate is how your family will have to adjust. Will your partner need to get a new job if you move away, will you need new schools for your children or how far you might be from other members of your family.

That might seem like a lot to take on, but it’s a massive move in your life to make and a quick decision is likely to be a wrong decision, so take your time in deciding on how you’re going to progress with your career and whether you need to make any changes at all.

This was a sponsored guest post for TheEmployable