30 Steps To Take When Changing Careers At 30

1. Admit to yourself that you need a change. Admitting that you need to consider other career options is the first step you need to take. If you constantly feel unmotivated and worn out, or that the money you earn no longer makes up for the boredom you feel then it’s time to think about changing things.

2. Dedicate some time. Give it the thinking time such a big decision deserves. Think about creating a ‘career change plan’ (outlined in the following steps) to help guide you through the process of making the switch.

3. Call in the SWOT team. Start by undertaking some personal reflection. Ever heard of a SWOT analysis at work? Now it’s time to do one on you. Think about and list all your strengths and weaknesses, as well as any opportunities or threats to change you may face.

4. Consider the really important stuff. Don’t forget to spend time evaluating the other aspects of your life outside of work; family time, friends, mental and physical health considerations and your financial circumstances

5. What’s the real problem? Be clear on whether it’s the job and career you don’t like, or just your place of work. You may find that it’s not your career / job that is the problem.

6. Formalise your previous experience with ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ (RPL). RPL gives you credit for any skills, knowledge or experience gained in your current and to gain any new qualifications. previous roles and can reduce the time it takes to gain any new qualifications.

7. Opportunities for improvement. Use an RPL evaluation as an opportunity to highlight any gaps in your skills and look to identify how you could fill those gaps.

8. Career advice isn’t just for school leavers - get some professional advice. Contact to a ‘career practitioner’ for their advice on options available to you.

9. Train and Gain. Research into any training and qualifications you may need to gain to help you on your way in your new career.

10. Seek experience and advice. Check the accreditation of the training provider. Look for any previous student testimonials or past student successes. Speaking to students who have decided to change their careers can help to reassure you.

11. Get networking. Work on building up your professional network with relevant industry contacts. Don’t forget use the relationships with the contacts with your existing network.

12. Work shadowing. Consider asking people if you can shadow them at their jobs, or meet them for a coffee outside of work. Ask questions about their day-to-day roles and responsibilities. Get new experience wherever you can – just because you are looking to change career at 30 doesn’t mean you are above shadowing people.

13. What do you like? Create a list of your likes and dislikes - in and out of work. This can help you to identify what you want out of a career.

14. Changing in, or changing out? Do you want to remain in your current organisation? Are you looking to change organisations completely – or is there opportunity to change careers within your organisation? Make sure you speak to your internal HR team.

15. Keep and open mind. Don’t narrow yourself to a specific career options. Keep your mind open through the process and investigate several career options

16. How you can demonstrate your passion? Could you start a blog, or create a portfolio? Or are their any volunteering opportunities where you could gain new skills?

17. Find a mentor. Changing careers can be daunting, and stressful – it’s a big life decision. Find someone who can help you through and keep you on track.

18. Be flexible. Don’t make the mistake of sticking rigidly to a plan and missing out on or considering other good opportunities because you don’t think it fits in your plan.

19. Resume upgrade. Don’t forget to give your CV an overhaul. Before you apply for any new role consider re-writing your CV from scratch.

20. Make sure your new career objective is clearly highlighted in the summary statement. Leave people in doubt of what direction you are heading in now.

21. Be relevant. Revamp your resume to include skills and experience that are most relevant to your new career Make sure they are at the very top of your CV.

22. Draw emphasis to the skills you have gained. Not the job titles you have previously held.

   23. Show them everything. Make sure you show a full breadth of skills- operations, management, leadership, creativity and communication Anything that is relevant to your new career choice.

24.Clear cover letter. Consider your covering letter carefully. Make sure you clearly communicate why you are looking to change careers and what you can bring to the organisation and role.

Don’t  forget  to  highlight  any  non  work  related  experience  25. Don’t forget to highlight any non-

work related experience on your CV. This includes part time consulting or volunteering work.

  26. Your personal commitment. Highlight any courses you have taken or qualifications you have gained. This helps to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of a topic and shows personal commitment to investing in your career and yourself.

Change  terminology  27. Speak their language. Make sure you change your CV to use terms or terminology used by that industry for example ‘lifecycle management’ to ‘pipeline management’.

28. Prepare your elevator pitch. It can be difficult to explain the reasons why you are changing careers, so consider preparing a 30 second – 1 minute intro for yourself that gets your points across clearly and concisely.

29. Don’t rush in. If any point in this process you feel like you might be going down the wrong track, then don’t rush into anything. Write a list of your concerns and evaluate them. You can always start the process again.

30. Embrace new opportunities. This is a big life decision and it’s completely natural to feel apprehensive. It’s likely that you may have several career changes over your duration of your career so take your time, weigh up the pros and cons and when you are feeling confident – go for it.

•  For  more  informa9on    If you are thinking about changing careers then speak to Capital Training Institute about the courses and qualifications they offer across a wide variety of professions including: -  Business and Project Management -  Building and Construction -  Health and Fitness -  Work Health and Safety Capital Training Institute offers flexible delivery of its courses with a mix of face to face and distance learning in various locations around Australia. Visit the website today for more information:

www.ctiaustralia.edu.au