Reinvention: Top 10 Tips for Career Changers

In a changing market, you may be looking to reinvent yourself and make a career change. Maybe you've been laid off or are facing lots of uncertainty. Maybe you've decided that 2023 and the Chinese Year of the Rabbit is the year that you make that move you've been thinking about. Below are 10 quick tips that may help in your transition:

1. Forget job titles Focus instead on the ingredients or components of roles you are looking for in a new career. Once you do this, you open yourself up to a wider range of jobs and careers that play to your strengths and interests, many of which you didn’t even know existed.

2. Stop over-planning and over-thinking Most people have some vague ideas about the type of change they’d like to make (even if they never share them with anyone else). But these ideas never get off the ground as they over-think things – which usually overwhelms them into doing absolutely nothing. The key is to not over-plan, but to just get on and take the next steps.

3. Get your finances in shape Unless you are already working or have a buffer of cash, find an income stream quickly. Whether it means part-time work, freelancing, contracting work or even renting the spare room out – do something. You can’t focus on change when you’re worried about paying the mortgage or the kid's school fees.

4. Build and cultivate genuine relationships Every contact you need to help you discover what you want and find the next opportunity is either in your mobile phone or LinkedIn connections – or in the mobile phone or LinkedIn of your contacts. So make sure you’re building genuine relationships, ask for help and allow people help you.

5. Build a new peer group Surround yourself with like-minded people who:

a) Have made major changes in the past themselves

b) Are already in the new career you want to transition into

c) Are confident, positive and open-minded enough to encourage you, instead of scaring you (..and stay away from doom-mongering negative types who will try to convince you about all the downsides of change and fill you with fear)

6. Trust your gut instincts Very often, you know what you want to do, but the advice (and fearmongering) from the people around you make you doubt yourself. So listen much more to yourself than to others. Your intuition will be more of a help with navigating your journey than people who have never been on that journey or have never been around people who have.

7. Play to your strengths As businesses contend with a post pandemic world a slowing economy, inflation and tighter spending all around - organizations are reinventing themselves to focus on strengths in relation to the changes, needs and problems they see in the new environment. That’s precisely what you should be doing. So what are your natural skills and unique talents? What are you interested in? What excites you? What are the key problems that you’re best placed to solve? Where can you add value? Now with that level of awareness, what are your next steps...?

8. Don’t be idealistic Focus on transitioning into work that excites you and interests you 70% of the time . Don’t listen to all the ‘experts’ who harp on about “finding your ideal job” or a “dream career that you’re totally passionate about.” No matter how much someone loves their job - they still have bad days and weeks - that's normal. So forget being an idealist, stick to the 70% rule and transition into careers you’d enjoy ‘most’ of the time.

9. Make holistic career choices Your career choice has an impact on every part of your life – your health, wealth, family, friends, hobbies and interests as well as your religious/spiritual side. So ensure that the decision you make makes you successful as a person – not just in your career and bank balance.

10. Get out and experiment more The internet is great resource and tool, but it’s made us all very lazy. The answers to all your career woes are not on the web But they are ‘out there.’ So get out and meet people, experiment, try new things, go volunteer your time, go and shadow someone in a role that interests you. The clues and opportunities will come from there, and not from the internet.

11. Embrace the uncertainty Reinventing yourself, your career, a business or an economy is never a straight-line, step-by-step process. So expect the unexpected and become comfortable being uncomfortable .

12. Invest in yourself We reap what we sow. To create the time, money and lifestyle you want, you have to invest in it first. That may involve reassessing your skills, researching, networking, attending events, completing some online training and certifications. Change won’t just happen – it requires some kind of investment from you.

13. Expect it to take longer than you think I thought this article was going to be a top 10 list but it’s overrun and become 13 points. That’s what it’s like making a career transition – it’s a little unpredictable and takes longer than you'd think it would. So just ensure that you’re mentally and financially prepared for things to take longer than expected.

The 5 Stages of Reinventing Your Career

Redundancy: 6 Quick Steps to Take after Being Laid Off

How To Thrive During Uncertain Times