Are you looking to change your career and boost your long-term financial position? Changing career is a big task but with hard work and committment, the end rewards can make it worthwhile. Outlined below are 4 areas to consider before you make your move.
1. Reflect on your current career
Before you go through the hassle of changing careers, you need to reflect on your current situation and ask yourself why you are not happy with it.
- Is there any particular aspect you don’t like, if so, could you change your role slightly so it excludes this?
- Do you like the job but are unhappy with the earnings you currently make in the role?
If you like the job, but you’re not happy with the wages; maybe you could ask for a raise, or look at changing employer to one who pays more?
There is also the possibility of obtaining further education and training for you current role so you can move up the career ladder and earn a higher salary.
If you simply want to change career completely, then its time to start researching other career options.
2. Brainstorm other career options
Will you stay in your current industry but choose a different role? Or maybe you’re interested in changing to a completely different industry?
Explore the industry you are interested in and check the following:
- What’s the job market like? No point changing to a new industry hoping to increase your income if there’s very few job prospects.
- Do you need a qualification? If so, can you attain this qualification and how long would it take?
3. Examine your current skills and the skills that are in demand
- Are your skills transferrable to other industries? If not, look to update your skills.
- Research what skills are in demand. Where is there a skills shortage?
- Look up the future skills gaps identified. Government agencies such as Solas, undertake research on skills gaps in the market. Solas will put training and apprenticeships in place to address the skills gaps identified. Check out this link to view training they currently have on offer.
4. Put an action plan in place to reach your career goal
Once you’ve identified your area of interest, put an action plan in place to reach your goal.
Look up the open days in third level institutes that you may be interested in attending. Many colleges will have open evenings for their part-time undergraduate and post graduate courses over the next two weeks.
I am aware TU Dublin, Tallaght Campus have an open evening on Monday 12th September, and their Blanchardstown Campus have an open evening on 13th September.
Other useful websites to search for courses include Springboard, Fetch courses and Qualifax.
Below is a case study of a client I worked with. Her husband was interested in a career change and he was open to returning to education. It is important to note, although I offer financial education and coaching for women, many women I deal with are married or in long-term relationships, so it is important to look at their family situation in its entirety. Any changes made will always affect the entire family so its important they work together as a team….Team work makes the dream work!
Case Study
A client I was dealing with informed me her husband had been made redundant and they were worried about their future financial position. Her husband was aged 40, he had worked in the construction industry since leaving school after third year.
He was eager to change industry completely, so we reviewed the latest reports on future skills gaps. At the time, pharmaceutical was where the skills shortage was (still is!) and he showed great interest in this industry, but was apprehensive as he felt the qualifications were beyond him.
He started off by attending college part-time and completing a certificate, he continued in his education journey to obtain a higher certificate in pharmaceutical science. This gave him the confidence to take the final step and complete one more year to obtain a degree in pharmaceutical science. He has been working in the pharmaceutical industry ever since. He started out on a low wage but after 6 months he moved from the trainee position so his wage increased, and continued to increase yearly after that. His position is permanent and comes with great perks such as health insurance for him and his family, a pension, paid sick leave and numerous other benefits. They also provide financial assistance for any further training he wishes to attend.
This family moved from a situation of low financial well-being and are progressing to a high financial well-being. They have good incomes, pension plans in place, and security in the form of savings and protection.
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