Thinking of a Career Change?
When I found out that Kim Kardashian is studying to become a lawyer, I have to admit I did happily scoff at the idea for a moment – that’s what you call a career change!
Not that I know anything about the famous KK apart from her plastic surgery and reality shows. But now, I’m actually thinking hats off to her.
I hope she can show everyone she’s much more than a fake bottom and daft selfies. Surprise us Kim and show us that there is a decent brain in there, I’m all for a bit of girl power.
Whatever stage you’re at in your career, there’s bound to come a time when you think you need to do something different and it’s time for a career change.
Today, the retirement age continues to be pushed back and we’re all expected to work for longer and longer. Realistically, there’s probably now time for us to have at least 3 different careers for a decent amount of time.
So, what to do? Or what not to do is perhaps the more important question if you’re thinking of a career change.
What you need to consider
As ever, there are many factors to consider. Most importantly what do you enjoy? Or what can you see yourself doing for the next X number of years? What is important to you? You don’t want to start down one route to discover it’s not for you after all and then you’ve got to consider another change and doing it all again.
What’s great is that if you get your career change right, it could breathe a whole new lease of life into you and your career. There’s nothing worse than feeling bored and a bit stale with your job. Afterall most of us have to spend most of our lives at work, so the least we can do is make it something enjoyable. Cliché, yes, but oh so true!
There are then the more practical considerations of course, like how much money you need to earn. What skills do you need? After 15/20 years of being an Accountant, it might not be feasible to become a builder for example. But then again, why not? We see so many house tv shows about inexperienced professionals doing the project management role themselves. And sometimes, they actually take on the build themselves, like in Kevin McCloud’s latest programme ‘The Street’, which is all about self builds.
Programmes like this and MasterChef give us all hope we can transform our careers into something motivating that we have a passion for.
And so what if you don’t have an obvious passion? This is not uncommon and a really interesting read if you’re not sure what to do next is: What should I do with my life? /It won’t tell you, but it shows you that anything is possible.
Alongside these factors, another practical consideration is age, a big taboo subject. But if you’re thinking of a change, you might need to consider if you’ll be physically able to do your new role for as long as you like.
Another factor to consider is the longevity of your next move, what is the demand, is there a skills gap just waiting for your to fill? Is there any point retraining to become an florist because it’s your passion, but the stats show there’s been a huge decline in independent florists due to the larger companies being able to fulfil this online.
Ideally you need to do the economics behind your decision. Not just profitability and potential salary but what’s the demand like? How much competition is there? How much money do you need for your project, it could be to open your own café, or to retrain as a Plumber.
Whatever it is it needs to stack up.
Whatever it is – you also don’t want your role to become redundant due to the growth in technology and automation.
“Bottom line, any routine job that can easily be defined by a mathematical or logic equation will be at risk,” Pugliano said. “Opportunity will be [there] for those that can create new produces/services or solve/fix unexpected problems.” Source: Work and Money
A few of the jobs cited as being at risk due to automation, are listed below.
A few surprises perhaps, I wouldn’t have put broadcasters down; and Kim obviously hasn’t seen this one, as Lawyer is on there too! :0)
Travel Agent
Mortgage Brokers
Bookkeepers
Lawyer
Broadcasters
Middle Managers
Casino Cashiers
IT Support
Financial Planners
Floral Designers
Postal Workers
See the full list compiled by Work and Money of dying professions .
Related Dovetail articles:
Job Market Report – March
Spring clean your career
Thanks to sources:
Work and Money
Image copyright:
Many thanks to Ashley Graham
Kim Kardashian at the podcast Pretty Big Deal with Ashley Graham in 2018
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