subject: 4 Essential Lessons from Successful Career Changers [print this page] 4 Essential Lessons from Successful Career Changers
If you are thinking about making a change in your career you may be wondering what it takes to do it successfully. Business author and speaker, Alexandra Levit interviewed 24 individuals from different walks of life for her book New Job, New You. She concluded that 4 factors underpinned successful career change. These were persistence, courage, self-confidence, and business savvy. Read this article to find out more about the foundations for success and what this might mean for you.
Persistence: Be prepared for the transition time
Changing your career usually takes time. Early on, you need to create a transition plan that is sustainable. For example, if you want to move to a different field, do you know what skills are required and what you need to do acquire them? A successful career change requires focus without rigidity. You need focus to keep moving forward, and a sense of direction to be able to maintain momentum especially when obstacles arise. At the same time you need to be open enough to be ready to recognize opportunities when they occur.
Courage: Be ready to take a risk
Changing your career involves risk. Even in a world of work where job security is no longer present, moving to a different field is not easy. You may need both new skills and new ways of thinking. Moving from an area where are already competent to one where you are the "newbie" also requires courage. On the other hand, this type of change provides invaluable opportunities for personal and professional development.
Self-confidence: Manage your doubts
Transition includes self-assessment and difficult questions. One of the challenges of making a significant change is that you may need to shift how you see yourself. Even if you have a clear vision of yourself in your new role, there may be others around you, such as family, friends and colleagues, who still know you as your "old self". This transition period can be a time of doubt and self-questioning. A successful change includes managing these doubts so that you can develop confidence in your new role.
Business Savvy: Understand the unique value that you bring
Whether or not you define your work as being in the field of business, taking a business perspective can help you think constructively about your career change. Even if you are not selling products or services directly to a client or customer, you need to be able to persuade others, including future employers, that you have what they need. Can you explain how your unique combination of skills and abilities bring value to them? This means undertanding their most urgent problems and being able to communicate clearly how you will help them solve these problems.
Career change requires time and effort. Persistence, courage, self-confidence and business savvy have enabled others to succeed before you, and can help you too.
