How To Make Your Career Change HAPPEN

It's all very well to buy the Careershifters Guide, come to the workshops and read all the expert advice articles and success stories, but the bottom line is noone else is going to change your career for you nor tell you what that new career should be. Your career change is your responsibility and here's how YOU can make it happen...

Are you feeling “stuck”? Has your job search ground to a halt? Are you feeling frustrated that nothing seems to be happening? These are common problems for career shifters. Often, working out what you want to do, and even how to get there, is the easy bit – with the help of a guide like Careershifters, or by working with a career coach, you get to the point where you are clear about the kind of role you are looking for, and the industry that you want to work in. You’ve maybe also identified a range of strategies and tactics to help you get there. And then – nothing. 

• Be focused. Make sure that you are really, really clear about your career goals. What exactly do you want to do? Who specifically do you want to work for? There’s no room for fuzzy thinking here – you need to have a laser-like focus on precisely what you’re looking for.
• Treat your job search as a job in itself. If you only spend a few minutes here and there working on your career change, not much is going to happen. Career change is a big step, and one that requires effort and commitment. Make an active decision to re-commit to finding that perfect job. Schedule time in your diary for your job search, and stick to it.
• Be strategic about how you use your time. If you are looking to make a dramatic career change, you’re most likely to find the right opportunity through less conventional career search methods. Responding to advertisements and using recruitment consultants are going to be less useful approaches for you, because you won’t immediately be seen by recruiters as the “perfect fit”. Don’t despair! Remember that around three-quarters of jobs are never advertised. Focus your tactics on accessing this “hidden” job market. That means, above all, networking.    
• Network, network, network! This is far and away the most effective method of making your career change happen. Unfortunately, most people shy away from networking as a job search strategy because they think it is “pushy”, “artificial” or won’t bring results quickly enough. But if you approach networking properly, none of these perceptions is true. Effective networking isn’t about entering a room full of strangers and handing out as many business cards as you can. It’s about building up contacts, developing relationships, and trying to give back in return. Start by making a list of every single person you know. Who do they know who in turn might be able to give you some advice? Remember that most people are flattered to be asked for advice and will be willing to help you if they can.
• Think “outside the box”.  How can you get your “foot in the door”? Don’t dismiss options such as volunteering, unpaid internships or work shadowing. These are often extremely effective ways of landing a permanent position, because you are demonstrating your commitment and creating opportunities to forge new contacts and relationships. Clients will often say “But I can’t afford to do that”. Perhaps you can’t afford not to! How much do you really want your new career? How will you feel if, 3 years down the line, you’re still stuck where you currently are? Making a big change happen takes commitment, resilience and, often, short-term financial sacrifice. But might these not be a small price to pay for a career that you love?  
• Tackle procrastination. This is many career-changers’ biggest enemy! We tend to put things off, either because we don’t want to do them (it’s hard to make that “cold call”), or because we don’t know how to do them (“changing career” is a big project!). Start by breaking the project down into manageable tasks – ask yourself “What is the next single action I need to take?”. That might be an email, a phone call, signing up for a workshop. Then just do it! Don’t be afraid to bribe and reward yourself! Tell yourself tat once you’ve sent 5 emails or made 3 speculative phonecalls, you can have a glass of wine/surf the internet for half-an-hour/ring your best friend. Do whatever it takes to make sure you are actually taking action, not just thinking about it. 
• Commit to a “single daily action”. Undertake to do one thing every single day that will take you closer to your career goal. That might be more research, or sending an email to someone who can offer useful advice, or going to a relevant networking event. By doing something every day, you will build up a “critical mass” of activity that will eventually bring you results.
• Take responsibility. If things aren’t happening as fast as you’d like, it’s no one’s fault but your own. I know from experience that the clients who will succeed in making the changes they want are the ones who really understand that they, and they alone, have to take responsibility for making those changes happen. The worst thing you can do for your career change prospects is to adopt a “victim mentality”. There’s a world of opportunity out there for you – but you need to be prepared to go out there and grab it!