Ready to switch careers? Here's what I learned from my career change adventure 🧗‍♀️

Are you considering a career or job change? You're not alone!

In fact...

I fall into this category as well...I'm almost 32, and I am going onto my 4th career change. Some people think "yikes!" I think "yay!"

I spent my 20s (and, okay, a bit of my 30s) figuring out what career is best for me, and I'm so excited to move into the next phase! I hope you are too. Yay, growth! 🥳

Let's walk through the steps needed when you're making a career change, and how they helped me make the switch.

What will your new career be?

To decide what's next, ask yourself some questions to determine what you want out of your new career and how you can use your skills and talents in your next job.

Ask yourself...

1. What do I like/dislike?

   • "I like problem-solving, but I don't like talking with customers all day."

2. What am I good/bad at?

   • "I'm good at projects with a deadline."

3. What environment do I work best/worst in?

   • "I work well on a team with time to myself to get work done."

4. What is most/least important to me?

   • "Most = work/life balance"

   • "Least = remote, hybrid, or in-person"

I used these questions as a starting point to decide what I wanted to do next in my own career!

• You've learned things through each career that will help you in your next one!

• You have NOT wasted your time.

• You ARE a valuable asset to your future employer.

Also known as: soft skills

"Soft skills are personality traits and behaviors that will help candidates get hired and succeed in their work."

Examples:

• Problem-solving

• Verbal communication

• Written communication

• Professionalism

• Teamwork

• Enthusiasm

• Adaptability

• Leadership

Take a soft skills assessment to learn your soft skills!

How soft skills helped me:

As a teacher, I developed a lot of soft skills. When I transitioned into a sales job, I used those fine-tuned skills every day!

Check out how I used some of the same soft skills in two different careers:

Teaching

• Written communication: writing lesson plans, emailing parents/coworkers, & creating written activities for students

• Verbal communication: speaking with students and parents, instructing, presenting at staff meetings

• Problem-solving: creating lessons that help students at different levels

• Teamwork: co-teaching, collaborating with teachers of other subjects and grade levels

Sales

• Written communication: writing emails and creating sales pitches

• Verbal communication: speaking with people on the phone, in Zoom meetings, and at conferences

• Problem-solving: identifying the needs of customers and offering solutions based on the product

• Teamwork: working with my sales team to meet goals and with other teams like marketing and customer success

I don't mean hard as in difficult, I mean job-specific skills for your desired career — in other words, "upskilling".

But HOW?

1. Identify your knowledge gaps

   • Check job postings in your new field

   • Talk with people in that field

2. Make a plan!

   • Budget: free resources, or enroll in a course?

   • Time: how much can you commit?

   • Place: internet, college, library, learning group, boot camp, etc.

3. Start learning, and practice!

What it looked like for me:

First, I narrowed down my choices and decided on instructional design.

Then I thought, "How do I get there?"

1. Knowledge gaps

   • I am missing some key technology skills for instructional design. I need to learn them.

   • I'm also missing a portfolio which I need to make projects for.

2. Plan

   • I don't have enough money to get another degree, but I do have enough for an online bootcamp.

   • I'll do that for 5-10 hours per week for 6 months.

3. Here I go!

Start your career change with confidence!