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Changing Careers: Opening New Doors and Feeling Good About What You Have to Offer
"I’ve been working as an attorney for nearly a decade, how can I throw it all away to begin something new, just because I’m unhappy…and how can I not."
"I’m scared and excited about starting a new career."
"Is it possible to find a new career that involves work I care about, is realistic and attainable?"
While changing from one career to another is not always an easy thing to do, continuing to work at something you don’t like or have "outgrown" can result in feelings of boredom, frustration, depression, and anxiety. Once you’ve decided to make the move, transitioning from one career to another is an endeavor that involves—and deserves--thought, time, and effort.
Basic job criteria that people want and look for when changing careers includes:
- Good pay
- Decent hours
- Job security
- Opportunities to use and expand your skills, abilities, and expertise
- To feel challenged
- To have input on decisions that affect you
- To have your opinions taken seriously
- Enough variety to feel stimulated
- Room for advancement
- Respect from co-workers and superiors
- Friendly, cooperative workplace relationships
- Pride in the work you do and the workplace with which you’re associated
When you decide you want to change careers (or need to, due to such out-of-your-control circumstances as downsizing or relocation), mental health professionals are equipped to help you in your efforts. You don’t have to be anxiety-ridden, depressed, or completely "stressed out" to benefit from the insight, care and objectivity therapy can provide. A therapist can help you define your goals, evaluate your options, strategize your efforts, and work on any personal issues that might be getting in the way of confidently and successfully accomplishing your career change.
You may be feeling apprehensive about whether or not your current skills can be applicable in a new field. A therapist can also prove to be extremely beneficial in helping you assess and analyze your unique personal and work-related skills, offering energized focus and self-confidence to your career search.
Gaining the fullest possible appreciation of your unique skills can offer invaluable help with identifying the perfect new career for you. Consider the following suggestions:
- Make a list of your skills. Instead of referring to a job-label (e.g., “I am a salesperson,” or “I am a teacher”), define yourself instead by elaborating on your special skills (e.g., “I am a person who has a strong track record of meeting challenging goals,” or “I am especially skilled at creative and analytical problem solving”). As you identify what you’re especially skilled at, ask yourself, “What do my friends and co-workers tell me, what special skills do they typically attribute to me?”
- Look at the list of skills you’ve created for yourself and highlight those that you enjoy, are especially proud of, and that energize you. Just because you have certain skills doesn’t necessarily mean you enjoy using them or that you want to continue to give them top-priority.
- Think of what line of work excites you. Perhaps it’s work you have already done to some degree in the course of your present job, or it could be something that you have in the past or currently enjoy doing in your free time, or maybe you know someone who is already involved in that line of work. Consider whether the personal skills you’ve identified as the ones you most value would incline you to be good at this new line of work and whether or not you think this new work could sustain your long-term dedication.
- Ask yourself if you primarily like to apply your skills when working with people (one-on-one? small groups? large groups?), or with things (e.g., machines, construction), or with ideas (e.g., research, conceptual development).
- Consider things you’ve done in the past that you’ve especially enjoyed doing, including hobbies, fields of study, and recreation. Ask yourself what you especially liked about these things, what you still like, and which of your special skills can or do become engaged when you’re involved in those activities.
- Analyze the problems or challenges your skills have helped solve for an employer. For example, thanks to your special skills, did the quality of service increase, or did new concepts get formulated, or did profits increase, or ?? Consider the contributions your special skills have made and how and if you want to continue directing your energies in these directions.
- Ask yourself, “Among all the people I’ve met, know, or have heard about, whose job would I like to have?” Research the skills it takes to do that job--then consider whether you already have those skills or whether gaining those skills is feasible for you (e.g., accomplished during specific training or education that you’re willing to undertake).
Changing careers may prove to be the most ultimately rewarding thing you’ve ever done. By even considering a career change, you are showing courage, creativity, and the willingness to insist on the most meaningful and productive life for yourself. Whenever making such life-altering decisions as you’re now contemplating doing, remember the valuable resource you have in seeking professional support and guidance in therapy.
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