How To Get A New Career

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by: raysteevenson
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Word Count: 504
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2012 Time: 4:34 AM

Even if you chose your major in college for all of the right reasons, sometimes your professional happiness can depend on re-evaluating after a few years in the workplace. (That is, if you’ve landed within your profession of choice. If you’re still trying to break in, don’t give up too soon.) If you’ve put some time into a business that is directly related to what you earned your degree in and simply don’t like it, it might be time to come up with a Plan B. Don’t just jump in without planning, read over the following pointers first:
1. Leave your hobbies out of your decision. For the most part, people’s hobbies are things that interest them outside of work, not necessarily something that will sustain their livelihood for the next forty or so years. If you love to jog, how many careers out there that involve jogging? Your marketing degree, however, could be a value if you want to own your own fitness center one day. A hobby could lead you in a comparable career but not usually one that is directly related.
2. Volunteering is a great way to test the waters of a new field. Spend your evenings and/or weekends exploring different things to see if there’s potential for a new career for you. Do an internet search on volunteering opportunities and see what is needed at a local level. Nearly every charitable organization has a paid staff at some level in the hierarchy. Maybe marrying your marketing degree with your desire to help disaster victims could lead you to work in public relations at FEMA, for example.
3. Build your savings. While it’s never too late to find a new career path, you will be much better positioned to do so if you have some cushion to lean on if it takes a while to get established. As mentioned above, keep working (paying down debt and adding to your savings account) until you have a firm job offer if at all possible. If you do lose your first after college job before going on to “plan B”, you’ll be in a better position if you’ve paid off your credit cards, right?
4. Network, network, network. Get in front of everyone you can think of who is somehow related to the type of business that you want to get into. You know how it works from your efforts in finding your first job out of college, right? You never know who might know someone who can open a door for you.
There’s nothing wrong with changing career paths several times in your life. Your college time served as a meaningful transition between adolescence and adulthood and provided plenty of examples you can draw from when interviewing. Don’t settle for anything less than a career that you are happy to share your life with, even if it was your major. Each day provides an opportunity to evolve.