Ten Rules of Career Change
By Ruth Silverman(Published in The Recruit, March 17 - 30, 2006)
Starting in this edition of The Recruit, my colleagues at Project Restart and I will be sharing our ideas and information on career resources such as books and websites. I wish to begin on a personal note, with 10 rules of career change which I originally developed out of my choice to give up a legal career to study counselling. Now, seven years later, I have seen hundreds of clients, most of whom were changing their careers involuntarily. I have found many of these rules applicable to that situation as well:
- Shore up your resources while your career is going well. Save your money and be good to your friends. This will give you flexibility and support later should you need to change your career. You won't have to drastically reduce your lifestyle in reduced circumstances if your lifestyle was never inflated to begin with.
- If you are about to change careers voluntarily, consider making a last-ditch effort to make a change within the same career by setting your own terms and conditions of employment based on your values. If your employer or a potential employer won't meet those conditions, you haven't lost anything.
- Your health and happiness are the most important. When you feel trapped in a career or in unemployment, sometimes substance abuse or even suicide can seem like an option. Remember that making virtually any other change in your life, no matter how scary, is a far better choice! You are a person with a lot to offer. You are far more than your occupational identity.
- Take advantage of support groups, career counselling and personal counselling as needed. Often mental health and/or career counselling can be obtained free of charge.
- Try out the career change in small steps before committing. At least do informational interviews with people in the field to get a picture of what the career is like. It is even better to test out the career by volunteering in the field, working in the field on the side while in another job, or taking part-time courses in the field while working.
- If your change requires further education, explore different educational options according to what makes sense for your life: government-sponsored training, part-time study while working, on-line education, scholarships, bursaries (based on financial need), student loans.
- Don't look at further education as a hoop that must be jumped through. Enjoy the learning experience.
- When you close one door and open another, you'll be amazed at how many unexpected doors open along with it. You might decide to go to school and find that this leads to part-time jobs which in turn spin into further opportunities. This concept will be discussed in detail in my next article.
- Take a "survival job" or "transitional job", if necessary, while working towards your goal. This will provide you with income while, for example, getting the education or volunteer experience you need. Just make sure the "survival job" does not demand so much of you that it makes it impossible to move towards your goal.
- Don't repeat the things you hated about your old career in your new career. For example, if your old career was so demanding that you were unable to have work-life balance, don't import that work ethic to your new career.
Ruth Silverman, MEd, CCC is a Counsellor/ Facilitator with SCCI Project Restart Ltd.