Think, plan, act!

 After telling you the story of how I found my new job, I thought it would be good to outline some basic things you should consider if you want to switch to another job. Here it goes:)

I know the basics: learn from other people's mistakes, think before you act, and so on … wouldn't that be too good to be true? I mean if none of us would act out of instinct, and if everybody would learn from their parents' mistakes, the world would be perfect. We all know, that will never happen.

 

Investing in yourself

In my humble opinion it would be enough to learn from our own mistakes, but we usually don't do that either. Let's take the typical example of a person who hates his/her job. We tend to follow the same path (as I have told you before, it was the same with me). When you have to switch jobs, when you need to look for another job, inevitably you will choose something similar to your old one. Aim for something better! I know most of you think that takes too much time, effort, luck etc. In order not to make the same mistakes again, you have to take a 180 degree turn.

Let's say you are a waitress and you are getting tired of it. Why couldn't you be a real estate agent, a hair dresser, a flight attendant… or anything you would like to be? I know that trying something new is extremely difficult and frightening at the same time… but the key is to be committed and think about the decision as an investment. Maybe your salary will be less, and you will surely have to learn a lot of new things, but in time your efforts will be repaid. If all goes well, you should be a lot happier than before.

 

Step by step

The first step is identifying the problem, admitting to yourself that your current job is not good enough and you should find the job you think would suit you best. You could also discuss this with your friends, family in order to discover the main skills that you have. Next comes the 'looking at alternatives'. Nowadays, you can even ask for the help of career coaches. You have to search for opportunities of learning and training, before you actually want to get hired in this new profession.

You will need to do research in a way, look for the advantages and disadvantages of the new career, the environment you would be working in. You will have to ask yourself: Would I like this as a long term job? Would I be good at it? Would I like what I have to do? Would I have opportunities for development? I know it's a bit old style, but I always liked the 'pros and cons' lists. If you see the reasoning put down on paper, it seems to be more real somehow… so that's another good approach. Finally, when all aspects have been considered, you need to act!