How to change career

Most of us gaze in wonder at those bold souls who leap from career to career, but it’s not as difficult as it appears

As the career changers we speak to have invariably found, your dream job can be very different to the one you start out in. Working lives are getting longer, so while being a kung fu instructor might not be your cup of tea, if you’re bored, unhappy or harbouring a secret ambition, read what the experts have to say.
1. Is it just a rut? Put things into perspective, says Catherine Roan, the managing director of Careershifters.org. The right job might be the one you’re in. “People come to a workshop and say, ‘Gosh, I’ve actually got a really good job’. It’s easy to get frustrated with politics or parts you don’t like.” You might need to address aspects of your work and not your whole career.

2. Find your change. “Be clear on your psychological preferences. Do you like working with numbers, ideas, people?” says Martyn Sakol, a director at ER Consultants, a business consultancy. Think about your interests and hobbies. “What makes you lose track of time? It might be something that you don’t associate with work life,” says Dr Rob Yeung, a business psychologist at Talentspace, a leadership consultancy.
3. Can you do it? Ask yourself whether you are realistically good enough to do it professionally. “The main hurdle that people stumble at is lack of capability,” Sakol says. “[Their fantasy] is often more escapism and denial. I could say, ‘I’m going to be an astronaut’. Who am I kidding?”

4. Investigate all areas. Someone who does the job is in the best position to tell you what it’s really like. “People are very happy to talk about their jobs. Ask if you can shadow someone for a day,” Roan says. Inspect pros and cons in detail: hours, salary, organisational culture. “One mistake is to focus on what you’ll be doing and not how you’ll be doing it,” Yeung says.
5. Imagine pragmatically. Sakol: “Ask yourself the magic wand question (‘what do I want to do?’). Then think about what steps you need to take to get there.” Roan agrees. She says: “How long is it going to take you to train to be a yoga teacher? What will it cost? Make arrangements that will give you the best chance of success.” A career development loan can be a useful buffer.
6. Stepping stones. Doing a course or volunteering part-time is better than diving straight in. Roan suggests finding a transition role. “If you want to go from PR to fundraising, become a PR for a charity first.” The average change takes two or three years, she says.
7. Seek experience. Seize every chance to improve your skills and test whether you enjoy it. “Find opportunities within the job you’re in,” Sakol says. “If you want to be a performer, take every chance to do presentations, for example.”
8. Options galore. A full-blown new career is not the only way to make a change. “Consider being freelance, having a portfolio [multiple] career, or going part time,” Roan says.
9. Create buy-in. Don’t be put off by negative reactions. “Friends and family know you in a certain way and may pigeonhole you without meaning to. They may feel threatened or worry that you’re throwing it all away,” Yeung says. “Show them you have thought it through and that it’s not just a pipe dream,” Roan says.
10. Never too late. “It’s scary to change career, but it’s much scarier to think, ‘I’ve been in a job that I hate for 40 years’,” says Roan, who worked for a PR agency before setting up her own website.