For many of my clients, the Covid Pandemic has sparked a realisation of how they earn a living. People’s values and needs have shifted. For many, the boundaries between going to work and being at home have become blurred.
Making the decision to change direction however, can feel paralysing, overwhelming and virtually impossible in these challenging times. You may also feel really anxious about how other people react to your ideas.
So, where do you start?
Do a Career Audit – list all the job roles you’ve had over the last 10 to 15 years and score them from 0 to 10 (high) in relation to job satisfaction. Identify all the top scores and consider what it was you enjoyed so much? What did the all the high scoring roles have in common? Evaluate all the information to help you determine what brings you joy at work and what things you should avoid.
Do a Skills Audit – reflect over your previous job roles and identify your core transferable skills and professional competencies for each. Remember, this is not a time to be modest, so do this with a positive and confident mindset. Write them all down and then analyse which ones you do best and enjoy the most. Rank them in order of importance to you – these are your strengths.
Do a personal Audit – speak to friends, colleagues and family and ask them what 3 words they would use to describe you? What do they like about you and why? Do you get lots of different responses or are there some key words or phrases being repeated? What resonates most with you? These are your qualities.
Start Researching – bring all your interests, skills, strengths and qualities together and start to consider which industries, organisations or job roles they might fit with more closely. Research the trends and changes in the market on LinkedIn, Trade or Professional social media pages, industry news.
Identify gaps – once you start to narrow down your ideas consider options for personal growth, re-training, learning a new skill or expanding your knowledge.
Make connections – even in these socially challenging times, there are still plenty of ways to connect with people to talk about career opportunities. There are plenty of people out there willing to share their knowledge and expertise. Being open and asking questions is really important.
If you’re considering changing career, contact me for a free Career Conversation.
