When I work with clients to discover their calling, I also help them learn how their choice of career can complement it. Usually, a radical change in their professional life has to happen for their new choice to succeed, which is understandably scary. Whether it’s a decline in pay, learning new skills, or moving somewhere, taking on a new career tosses people out of their comfort zone more than just about any other transition.
According to Money.com, around 70% of people who retire end up returning to work or volunteering. Additionally, then end up in some area that they had no proficiency in during their career years. However, the number of people who completely change their careers in their 30s or 40s is rarer than you think.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows roughly 138 million full-time wage and salary jobs in the US in 2015 with a medium annual income of $36,200. Of the people holding those jobs, only 6.2 million (or 4 percent of the total workforce) transferred from one occupational category to another, and surveys indicate that many of them were not by choice.
Your First Steps to change
If you want to change things, but you’re not sure how to go about doing it, spend time reflecting carefully on what you want to do, but do some research to see if it makes sense. Unfortunately, at 47, you’re not going to be a professional athlete or astronaut, but what’s stopping from you from becoming a nurse or a teacher? Here are several action items to undertake in the early stages of considering a career change.
Find Why You Need a Change
Are you looking more to leave what you’re doing because of dissatisfaction and burnout and don’t know what’s next? Or do you know exactly where you want to take things? Those are two very different things, and your path will be very different depending upon whether you’re leaving a bad situation or transitioning to an expected good position.
2. Talk to Others
I’m a big believer in talking to a job coach, but you should also try to find people who have changed their careers mid-stream. People who are currently working in the new career you’re considering are also an excellent resource if you know where you’re headed. Finding out what others may have learned the hard way could also make things easier for you and help better shape your decisions.
3. Do the Research
Many new jobs will be created in the nursing and nursing assistant fields in the next 5–10 years. If you’re looking to pivot your professional life to this area, a job is basically guaranteed, and you won’t be competing with anybody else. If you’ve decided you want to be a novelist, the competition is fierce. Find out how many developing novelists never get an agent or publisher and how few books they sell when they self-publish. Don’t let your findings hold you back from your pursuing your calling, but be sure you understand what the historical data says so you can compete.
Over the next several weeks, we will look more at transitioning from one career to another. Several situations will be discussed, such as self-employment and being your own boss. Other topics will include finding a career coach who is right for you, recognizing why you’re looking for a change, and understanding the danger of not following your calling. I hope the information will be the nudge you need to get off to a successful start in this new decade.