Choosing the Right Career

This blog is part of a series of blogs by Sarah Berry focused on providing help with a career change

You may be a new career starter or someone who is simply looking to change career.  With any career move, it is important to remember that a career is a continuous journey and that it may take you a while before you find a career that really suits you.  Years ago when jobs were safer, people tended to choose a profession at an early age and to remain in the same career for all of their working life.  Nowadays, in our fast changing world many people change direction more often.  It is quite normal now for people to have around 3 -5 career changes in their lifetime.  Career adjustments are no longer unusual occurrences, they are, in fact, quite common and normal events.

If you are looking to make a career shift or career change it is vital that you explore your options. The simplest and easiest way to do this is to fill in a career choice profile.  A psychometric career profile is a well-known career tool that will help you to choose a career or profession that would suit you.  The profile will also highlight what is unique and special about you.  Filling in a career profile will help to give you concrete answers and take the mystery out of choosing the right career for you.

Moving into your Chosen Career

Listed below are various career options which will help you to secure a job within your chosen profession.

Option 1: This option involves offering your services on a volunteer basis in order to gain real job experience.  You could either give up some of your weekends, nights or holidays in order to carry out this type of work.  A lot of small and large business welcome people who are willing to do volunteer work.  It may even result in you being offered a permanent role at the end of your volunteer stint.

Option 2: This option involves relocating to a different city, country or location and doing the same job that you have performed in the past.  You gain a new focus and experiences because you are able to see what it feels like to do the same work in a brand new setting.

Option 3: This option involves changing job role without the necessity to retrain.  Although many people think that definite lines exist between certain professions they sometimes don’t.  You can often find simple bridge fields that allow you to move easily from one profession to another in order to gain valuable experience.  This option includes working on projects in which several people from different professions work together.  Please refer to ‘How to Plan your Career’, by Sarah Berry for more details.

Option 4: This option involves breaking your profession down into several tasks and then offering these tasks to several companies either as a contractor or on a freelance basis.  This option gives you the opportunity to focus on your work and your lifestyle together.

Choosing your ideal career option will involve looking at your personal, social and financial circumstances.  Be sensible and stagger your career change according to your own timescale.  You can always do things in stages, if it is not possible to make the career change that you are looking for in one single move. Look at all of your career options and work out what is best for you.  If you need any guidance it may be worth filling in a career profile to see if your career ideas match what suits your personality.