ASK the Expert
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By Amy Rossi
Q: I have been doing X career for 10 years now I want to do Y career? How do I make the change?
A: If your career move were an equation, it would look a little like this…
10x – y = z
10x = All the skills and experience gained in 10 years of your current career.
y = All the skills you have gained from x that are required for a career in Y.
z = All the remaining qualifications you are missing.
YOU NEED TO CREATE A NEW JOB SEARCH PLAN.
Most job search text books and trainings have you create a plan, based on an assumption that you will follow the same plan and career path for the rest of your life, and most teach you a basic career plan! Unfortunately, real life isn’t like math or science… and most of us don’t follow the same career plan for the rest of our lives. But our priorities change, or we decide that our initial career choice isn’t right. You probably created a job search plan for your first career, but now you have a new goal and need a new job search plan.
Think of your job search plan more like a vacation plan: it changes each year depending on variables like location, money, time, and current likes/needs. Would you use the same vacation plan every year for the rest of your life? No. Just like any other plan, we update our job search plan based on our current goals, needs, and priorities.Only after you have clearly identified your goal can you create a plan to transition into a new career.
In general, there are 4 types of career transitions that you can make. Each one has a different degree of difficulty and will determine how complicated your plan may be.
CAREER SPECIALIST: You are an ER Nurse you want to be a Nurse, but no longer want to work overnight or weekends. This scenario is pretty easy: search for positions at facilities with better hours, or talk to your current supervisor about schedule modification.