Career Change - 8 steps to execute with confidence.
The work environment has changed significantly in recent years. Remote or hybrid work is already a reality and continues to acquire new fans. According to a report by CNN Brasil from Dec-21, 42% of professionals prefer hybrid work, interspersing work days at home and days at the office. For those who perform functions with a more administrative focus, and who do not require physical presence, this modality proves to be very advantageous, bringing greater balance between personal and professional life.
Faced with this scenario and new and attractive opportunities to work in Technology, the idea of changing careers has also gained strength. A Linkedin survey carried out in 2021 points out that 49% of professionals think about changing jobs.
Below we list 8 steps for you to plan the change, and be able to carry it out with greater confidence.
1 - Evaluate the current degree of satisfaction with the activity you carry out.
There are several reasons why professionals consider a career change. Among them, we can list having more flexibility, reducing the level of stress, increasing remuneration, improving personal satisfaction, having new challenges, among others. It is worth evaluating each of these points in your current situation. If for most of them your feeling is not positive, it may indicate that opening up to new possibilities makes sense.
2 - Reflect on your interests, skills and goals.
Evaluate your professional journey, from the beginning to your current position. What were the projects or activities that you most enjoyed doing? Which ones have you received the most praise or recognition for? It also applies to volunteer work. Usually, situations like these bring us valuable hints of what we are good at and like to do. It is worth evaluating which of these jobs would make the most sense, aligned with your interests and personal goals in the medium and long term.
3 - Research on work options that make sense to you.
Aware of your skills and goals, evaluate options for activities that can go to a second level of analysis, that is, they seem to make sense, but you need to know more about them.
4 - Study 2 or 3 options in depth, and after that choose one.
When you get here, you've already made a filter and identified the activities that are worth studying. Don't measure efforts in your studies. Research them in detail, trying to answer your questions, which may be:
How is the day by day of the profession?
What are the real possibilities of work and models of action?
What is the average salary and growth opportunities?
Are the soft skills to perform them really similar to mine?
What knowledge and technical skills do I need to develop to exercise it?
Which certifications are mandatory?
Talk to people who are in the position and try to find out the strengths and weaknesses of each.
After your extensive research and evaluation, choose the activity that makes the most sense for you, and if in doubt, go with your gut to decide.
5 - Prepare yourself financially for change.
Between your current position and the one you chose, there will be a distance, which we can make tangible through investment of time and capital. Estimate the preparation time and also the cash for the transition: courses, general improvements, volunteer work, possible initial reduction in remuneration, among others.
6 - Put together an action plan.
Knowing your gaps to carry out the new activity, it's time to put together a detailed plan to overcome or mitigate each one of them. List the actions you will need to put into practice, considering the deadline and cost for each one of them.
7 - Put the plan into practice.
With the plan ready, it's time to execute it. During this process, periodically evaluate your performance and celebrate all your advances, even the small ones. This will keep you motivated to move forward.
8 - Stay open to course adjustments.
It is important to follow the plan diligently, but remaining flexible for any adjustments to the route. If that 5-star course doesn't fit the budget, the one with the best cost-benefit ratio may be the most suitable at the moment.
Conclusion.
It's easy to see that changing careers requires planning, execution and a lot of willpower. And like almost everything in our lives, we are not 100% sure that it will work out. But with planning and focus, the chances of success increase considerably.
Good luck and success!