Milestones don’t always mark the progress we’ve made on a single journey. Sometimes they mark the places where we make a new departure in our lives. And turning a new decade of age is one of the most common times for people to take stock of what they have and where they are, as well as where they’d like to go from here.
So if you’re nearing, or just turned, the big three-oh, it’s perfectly reasonable for you to be thinking of making a significant transition in your life. Around this age you’ve typically had enough experience to give you a better handle on what it is you really want from your career, and you have enough stability and experience to seriously make it happen.
Whether you want to make a minor change of course, or completely turn things around, here are 5 of the most important steps you’ll need to take on your newest journey!
- Decide on a new career path
Step one in making any kind of change in your life is deciding on what you want the end results to be.
You should start by asking yourself whether you simply dislike your current career, or if your interests really lie in a completely new direction, like a new industry. It could be that you truly do enjoy your line of work, but you dislike the company you work for.
If that’s the case, you should explore similar positions with better employers, or even different departments within your current company. If you really do want to get into a new field, figure out what that field will be.
If you’re not sure what field or industry is right for you, a couple great things you can do are:
- Write out your strengths and interests and find matching positions
- Discuss your career goals with an employment professional or employment consultant
- Complete a career aptitude test, which are available at Restart in our Resource and Information Centre
- Research jobs you’re interested in, and find out what they’re actually like
- Examine your hobbies and free time pursuits for potential occupations
With a destination in mind, it’s time to build your map!
- Determine if you need to go back to school
By now, you have a wealth of skills in your arsenal that help you excel. Many of those you either came by through experience, or previous study. But not all of them will be the ones you need to succeed in your new career path.
Now that you’re a bit older, you may have trepidation about going back to school. That’s something the nearly 6.6 million adult learners in the US in 2018 probably felt too. But they still made up an encouraging 35% of the entire student population! So let’s face it, bettering yourself isn’t just for kids.
Start by listing out what skills you need for your dream job, as well as any specific credentials professionals in that field may have, such as degrees, certificates, or licenses. Check off what skills you already have, and think big picture about what is transferable — if you worked in sales, for instance, you probably have the communication skills needed for a new job, so don’t focus on getting a whole diploma specializing in language studies.
It’s important to budget your money and time, as school can be a costly endeavour in both terms. Many free courses exist online that can supplement your skillset without breaking the bank. Consider studying only what you need to in order to break into your new field so you can learn hands on while developing your career whenever possible.
If you have been laid off or affected by COVID you may be eligible for Second Career, a training program offered by the Ontario Government to assist people with retraining.
- Obtain the soft skills you need
Not everything you need to know can be taught in school. As you do your research into the new career you want to have, you will get a clearer picture of not only the credentials you need, but the soft skills and practice-based skills you can only come by working on yourself.
As an example, if you want to be an illustrator, while school can teach you the basics and introduce you to the tools and software you might need, it won’t be a substitute for sitting down and trying your hand at it.
Soft skills are the most transferable skills, but can take a lot of time to internalize. They include things like personality traits and habits that successful professionals need to succeed. Look at your lifestyle and persona, and identify what changes you can make to more easily become the person you want to be. To get there, you can find self-help instructors, practice being that person, and introduce small changes to your schedule with the goal of developing new positive habits.
- Gain as much experience as you can
It’s the classic catch-22: you need experience to get a job, but you can’t get experience without getting a job. Fortunately, this riddle is easily solved by a little outside-the-box thought.
Your experience doesn’t have to be doing a certain type of work in order to prepare you for that work. There are opportunities to gain experience all around us, such as:
- Volunteering
- Interning
- Freelancing for friends and family
- Apprenticing
In many cases, you can start by doing the work for free until you’ve built up the experience to justify a salary. Especially if you plan on working while you study or otherwise prepare for your new career, consider getting a part-time job or placement doing something in a related field.
You should also look at your current experience and see if there are actually some analogs to the experience you need. A shift in perspective can really put things in perspective!
- Revisit your resume
When job seeking, you should always be revisiting your resume to keep it current. But now that you’re revamping your career goals, it’s more important than ever to revamp how you present yourself in writing.
Start by restructuring your work and educational history to showcase the occupations most relevant to your desired position. Next, reword your description of those jobs to be in line with the job descriptions recruiters include in job postings for the job you want.
You don’t have to throw everything out, but it is crucial to prune what is now likely an extensive work history into a resume that’s laser focused on the career you want.
For help with your resume, or any career change needs, talk to ReStart to get started! We also offer complete support with Second Career, a program that enables you to get new skills – those needed for jobs in demand now – and financial support if you’re unemployed. We can help you apply for up to $28,000 for training and associated living expenses so that you can prepare for your dream job. Reach out to learn more!