The average person will change careers three to five times in their lifetime. Are you ready to change yours?
Here are the 3 stages you need to go through to succeed:
1) Plan and Research: The key here is “Know Thyself”. Understand why you are changing careers and what is important to you this time around. Write these things down so you can reread the reasons later. Are you aiming for more money? Less stress? More responsibility? You need to have some idea of the job/career you are aiming for, and then begin the research process. Look into what the job actually requires and what the criteria are for interview. Find out what the career path is within the organisations you are looking at. Make a written plan for your career change process that includes a timeline of when you would expect to actually be starting your job. Remember to consider the financial impact of changing career. Do you need to save for a few months to pay for the downtime or retraining?
2) Retrain and Work for free: Once you know what job you want, it is likely you will need to retrain in some way or get some more experience before you are in paid employment in your new role. Retraining may be full or part-time study or even a correspondence course. Working for free is another way to gain the skills and experience needed. It also gives you an insight into what the job really is, as opposed to what you think it might be. This may involve volunteering for an associated charity, asking to shadow people in that role already or an apprenticeship program. If you have decided that you want to start your own business, then work at it in the evenings and weekends. By keeping the day job, you will put less pressure on yourself and working for free gives you more options while you consider your new career path. Remember you have choices at all stages of the process. You can change courses, or decide on a specialty. Keep your eyes open for opportunities that will appear as you gain more experience in your new field.
3) Commitment and Persistence: Changing your career can be hard work, especially if you are still doing your old job in order to pay for the move. But this is your commitment to yourself and your long term happiness. Your commitment to the process means following your plan even when it gets difficult. Persistence is important as you will find ways to give up otherwise. Surely two hours working on your retraining is worth more than two hours of TV? If you managed that several times a week, you will be well on your way. Reread your reasons to change from step 1. Remember why you need to make the change this time. What will happen if you don’t go through with it this time? Will you still be in the same situation in 6 months?
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I work with this drop dead gorgeous girl that i am madly in love with and we are just getting to know each other but she has a boyfriend. She revealed to me that they never go out because he always wants to play sports and she watches him play all day long. I have never had any problems talking to girls until now because I am no where as good looking as she is I mean if I got her it would be the biggest miracle ever. I want to see her happy and never sad but I feel she would be happiest with me, I don't believe in breaking up a relationship unless it is necessary but this is one time I cant stop thinking about her and breaking her and her boyfriend up so she can be mine. What do I do?
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