How to change career

How you change career will likely have a big impact on your life; consider it carefully and don’t just rush into a career change because you’ve had a few bad days at work.

Changing career is a big decision, and it can have many ramifications for your life. This is certainly not something that you want to rush into because you had a bad day at the office. You will never lose the experience that you gained in your current career, but moving into another area of employment will involve starting all over again. How to change career actually will take far less consideration than your reasons for doing so.

Your thinking about how to change career should begin with a complete assessment of your current situation. Is it really your career you hate or is it just your job? Many people make the mistake of rushing into a new career without first considering their options in their current one. Remember why you selected your current line of work in the first place and ask yourself honestly if changing job while staying on the same career path would not be more advantageous? Are you really willing to start again from the bottom of the ladder?

If you are certain that a complete change is required and you continue to wonder about how to change career then the steps you will take are similar to the ones that you would take if you were beginning a new one. Make an assessment of what your skills and education along with the skills that you would be able to develop if you were to retrain; match these with careers that you are interested in joining. When narrowing down your options you should consider every possible factor; find out everything you possibly can about the different careers. Think carefully about your finances, lifestyle, family life, and values; will these all match in with any new career. When you have narrowed down your search to one career then the next step is to make a plan and get into action; don’t just quit your current job.

When it comes to how to change career the process will go far more smoothly if you have planned well for it. It may take a few months or even years before you can make the move and this can be frustrating if you are itching to leave your current job. Hold back though, if you do this right you won’t be desperate to change jobs again in a few years.

Sources

http://www.quintcareers.com/career_change_mistakes.html

http://www.quintcareers.com/career_change.html

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/graduate_management/article3363078.ece

Career tips

A quick search of the internet will show you that there is no end of career tips out there; some of these are really wise and useful while others are just plain bizarre. There are some real gems which could help move your career to where you want it to go. Here are just a few to get you started.

A good career tip is to not become discouraged with your current career just because you don’t like the job that you are currently employed in. If your job is making you unhappy then you should examine opportunities within your current career path instead of changing path completely. The time you have spent in your job has not been wasted and all that experience and learning will benefit in another job of similar expertise.

Another great career tip is to have a plan for your professional development. If you approach your development in a haphazard way then you could end up just about anywhere; including somewhere you really don’t want to be. A career plan allows you to set out your goals and hopes and match these with all that you will need to achieve to reach this. Your main goal may be quite intimidating but if you break it down into small targets which will move you towards this final goal then you will surely be onto a winner. Try and keep your goals and targets realistic but don’t undersell yourself either; you can achieve a lot if you put your mind to it.

Stay interested and up-to-date in your chosen career. Staying in a job that bores you to death is the road to misery. If you take an interest in your job then your job will seem interesting. You should consider training to be a life-long enterprise and not something that finishes when you start your career. Subscribe to professional journals which deal with your field of expertise, and stay up to date with all the changes and developments in your area.

The most important career tip is to not become stuck in your ways and afraid of change. This is a necessary part of life and clinging to the past is going to make life unbearable. Things in your area of expertise are going to change and you would be wise not to resist this too much.

Sources

http://www.abcarticledirectory.com/Article/Do-You-Have-a-Career-Development-Plan-/521271

Career resume

A career resume is your way to secure a job interview; make sure that your career resume is saying what you want it to say about you.

You career resume is a means for you to win an interview with any employer that you would like to work for. You should view it as a marketing tool; a means for you to sell yourself. Your resume does not need to contain every bit of information about you. What you want is something simple and appealing enough to pique the interest of employers.

It is important that any career resume you sound looks professional; you don’t want to personalise it too much with pictures of cuddly toys or the emblem for your favourite football team. The language should be crisp and straight to the point, and a resume is no place for demonstrating your gift with flowery prose. It is probably best to use simple words, than risk using a long word that you use incorrectly; this is likely to irritate anyone reading your resume. Remove any unnecessary words from your sentences.

As mentioned above, your career resume should not have all the information about you. Your resume should not run to more than two pages and one page (two-sides) is probably best. The information you are providing is only to help get you the interview; when you actually go to the interview it is then that you can provide all the other information. Your resume should contain information about your previous employment, qualifications, and interests but it does not require much more for this.

Your career resume should be easy to read. You may choose to use a template; you can find many free ones available on the internet. It is advisable to only use the standard fonts and avoid unusual ones; you want to stand out because of your content and not the fact that you submitted your resume using the comic sans font. Headings and borders are useful because they make your resume easier to use. Ideally any interview should be just able to glance at your resume and get any information they need without having to search for it.
A well written and laid out resume can really work well for you. If an employer is in a position of choosing between two people who are equally qualified for an interview then they are likely to go with the one with the more attractive resume; and ugly one is likely to go unread.
Sources
http://www.resume-resource.com/article59.html
http://www.powerful-sample-resume-formats.com/resume-writing-help.html

Career planning guide
This career planning guide will allow you give your future career some direction and make it far more likely for you to reach your goals and dreams; careful planning can guide you to success.
It is the aim of any career planning guide to make it easier for you to develop a strategy for developing your career in a direction where you would like it to go. If you don’t take charge of your career direction then you are at risk of ending up somewhere that you really don’t want to be. A successful career most often involves careful planning and tactics. It involves creating a plan that will provide a path to goals that may take decades to reach. It is important that any career plan you choose is a good one because you might be following it for a long time; mind you, you should be prepared to alter your plan in response to changing conditions and increased knowledge.

A career planning guide most often begins with suggesting that you should make a full of assessment of your capabilities and opportunities. This is excellent advice because in order to get to where you want to go you need to know where you currently are. Decide on your ultimate goals ensuring that these goals are within your capabilities and resources; be fair to yourself but also realistic about what you can achieve. If you put your mind to it most things are possible, but not everything.

Any career planning guide worth its salt will next suggest that you make plans for how you are going to reach your goals. Your overall goal might seem a bit overwhelming so the obvious thing to do is to break your goals down into smaller goals which will direct you on your path to your dream. It may take a while to reach your final destination, but achieving these small targets along the way will keep you motivated and ensure that your spirits remain high.

Any career planning guide that you might come across is only meant to give you an idea. Your own career plan should be personalized to your own wants and capabilities. You will learn things along the way and it may be necessary to occasionally amend your plan, but his is to be expected and all part of the process. The main thing is that you are continually moving towards your final goal.

Sources
http://careerplanning.about.com/
http://careerplanning.about.com/od/careerchoicechan/tp/Career-Choice.htm

Career personality test

Career personality testis a simple test that evaluates your personality in order to suggest a suitable career for you; you should avoid choosing a career based purely on the test results.

If you are concerned about your future, but you just can’t think of what direction to take then a career personality test might be just what you need. This is not meant to give you a definitive answer about what you should do with your life, but it is likely to give you some useful suggestions; it may even send you in a direction that you might not have previously considered, but now feels completely right.

A career personality test works by asking you a series of question in order to elicit your likes, personality traits, skills, as well as your hopes and dreams. There are different tests available with each one emphasising slightly different areas. Two well known tests are the Strong Interest Inventory (SII), and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The SII tends to focus more on your interests and wants while the MBTI is more focused on your personality traits. Both are useful and can provide useful results.

A career personality test is most often conducted via a computer these days. It usually involves multiple choice questions and rarely takes long to complete. These days you can even find some online, but many of these are of questionable value. Still, these too have their place and some are very useful. This type of test is not just aimed at people entering the job market for the fits time. Anybody considering a career change would be wise to take one of these tests if they are unsure about what they want to do next in their life.

There are many useful tools and resources that can assist you in your attempt to choose a career; a career personality test is just one of them. Use it wisely but don’t rely on it completely. The choice you make will be one that you will have to live with for a long time to come. You don’t want to invest a lot of time, energy, and money into a career that you aren’t fully convinced is right to you. These types of assessments are not always that accurate and sometimes they get it completely wrong. This is why any career path needs to be carefully considered in regards to your wants and abilities; you know this better than any computer test.
Sources
http://degreedirectory.org/articles/Where_Can_I_Find_a_Career_Assessment_Test.html
http://www.ehow.com/facts_4827978_career-assessment-tests.html

Career development planning

Career development planning is important if you want to ensure that your career goes in the direction that you wish it to go.


The days seem to be gone where you got a job after leaving school or university and stayed with this until the day you retired; hopefully getting a promotion along the way. In this current climate there are few jobs for life and it is now more and more becoming the employees’ responsibility to produce their own career development planning. Like many other things in life your career will likely benefit from a bit of planning; if you don’t plan then this could mean decades of aimless wandering from one job to another.

The first step in any career development planning will involve a bit of assessment. Where would you like to go in life and what are your overall goals. You need to match these goals to your current capabilities and to those that you might obtain through some further training. You want to be realistic here, but you must avoid selling yourself short – you can achieve a lot if you are willing to put the effort into it. You will need to decide here if you will be able to reach your goals in your current organization or will you need to move to a new job with more prospects.

Once assessment is out of the way then it is on the actual career development planning. A goal is far more easily achieved if it is broken down into tiny goals which will eventually lead you to the main one. You should set targets for yourself and be prepared for it all to take time. So long as your goal is realistic then you most definitely will reach it so long as you remain committed. Your plan should be used as a constant source of reference to judge your progress. It may also occur that you may need to adapt your plan to meet changing circumstances in your life.

Waste no time in putting your career development plan into action. It will likely take years to reach your goals but the sooner you start the better. Remember to congratulate yourself for reaching any of the targets you set for yourself along the path to your goal. It is also important to remain 100% convinced that you will reach your goal as this will prevent you from ever getting discouraged along the way; regularly remind yourself of why you want to reach this goal and what the benefits will be if you do.

Sources
http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~rouda/T4_CD.html
http://www.abcarticledirectory.com/Article/Do-You-Have-a-Career-Development-Plan-/521271

Career change advice

Career change advice is everywhere; if you are really looking for some advice, in regards to a career change, then the best thing that you will hear will be to think carefully.

You will find plenty of people willing to give you career change advice but at the end of the day this is a big decision that you will need to make alone; after consultation with your loved ones of course. This is a decision which you should not make lightly as it will likely greatly impact your life. It might have financial as well as time-commitment implications. For many people starting a new career it will mean going through a period of retraining and remember that any advancement that you made in your current career will be lost in the next one; you will be the ‘new guy’ or ‘new girl’ again.

The best career change advice that you will get should involve telling you to consider your options carefully. Why do you really want to change career? Are you doing it for somebody else? Are you doing it solely for money? Do you really need to change career, or do you just need to change your job? Consider your motives carefully here and if you are still certain then move on to making a full assessment and plan for your change.

All career change advice should involve and emphasis on assessment and planning. You don’t want to just blindly walk into a new career and end up completely hating that one in a few years. Consider your current abilities and interests along with abilities that you would realistically be able to pick up through retraining; find a career that fits these specifications. Try and take in every other factor that will come into play; e.g. amount of retraining needed, finances, time commitments, other life goals, and so on. Hopefully, all of this will narrow you down to one career path that will be a good fit for you.

Any career change advice you get, including that which you are getting here, should be taken with a pinch a salt. This is an extremely important decision that could determine much of your future. It will be you that lives with the consequences of any decision you take. Find something that is likely going to work for you and don’t rush into anything. If you are unhappy with your current job then the temptation is to just quit straight away and look for something new; hold back, plan, and take your time and you will be rewarded.

Sources http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/graduate_management/article3363078.ece http://www.quintcareers.com/career_change.html http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/career_and_jobs/graduate_management/article3363078.ece

Career assessment tests

Career assessment tests are a way for you to narrow down your search for the right career for you; this assessment is only a guide though, and you should not decide your future solely on the results of these tests.

If you are thinking about starting your career or feel like changing your career then career assessment tests might be a good way for you to get an idea about what direction you should take. This assessment is most often conducted on computer these days and it works by asking you a selection of questions in order to assess your personality and skills. After you have finished the test you will provided with the careers which most seem to match your profile. In this way you can get some useful suggestions and may even find that you are directed to a career that you never previously considered but that now suddenly makes sense.

There are different types of career assessment tests available depending on your location. Two of the most popular tests are the Strong Interest Inventory (SII), and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). These tests work in slightly different ways; the SII calculates your interest in regards to different career groups while the MBTI uses your personality as a means to predict which career would best suit you. Both of these tests are valuable and it would be hard to select one above the other.

The important thing when undergoing any career assessment tests is to remember that the results are only suggestions; you should any suggestions as a guide and not any definitive answer. Many people have been hugely successful and happy in careers that would not have been suggested by these tests. On the other hand, the information that is provided from these assessments is valuable if it provides you with more options and suggests occupations that you would like but would previously not have even considered. It is this type of outcome from these assessments that have ensured their continued success; people have used this information to successfully plan their career.

Career assessment tests can be a useful addition to your quest to plan a career. The choice you are going to make could have life-long consequences so the more information you have at your disposal then the more likely you will be able to select wisely. It would not be a good idea to pick a career solely on the basis of this type of assessment, but you should certainly consider the results.

Sources

http://www.ehow.com/facts_4827978_career-assessment-tests.html

http://degreedirectory.org/articles/Where_Can_I_Find_a_Career_Assessment_Test.html

http://www.articlesbase.com/career-management-articles/a-career-assessment-test-can-change-your-life-506322.html