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January 2022

Making the right career change

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This is the time of year when many people are thinking about a career change. But it is very easy to make the wrong career choice and at this stage of your life mistakes can be time-consuming and costly. Good, professional careers advice is strongly advised to avoid falling into the trap of drifting into an unsuitable career path.

Potentially the career pitfalls are destructive. A lot of boxes need to be ticked in order to make the best career change for you. Let’s look first at practicalities. If you are making a career change, then it is assumed that you have already had a career in the past, so you need to look carefully at why you want to change career.

Is it that you have become disinterested in the career that you were doing? Is there a ceiling you can’t break through? Have you fallen out of love with the organisation? Careers advice based on psychology will help you untangle these issues.

Or is more to do with your personal circumstances? Do you want to spend more time with family? Do you have another career in mind or a hobby or project you want to indulge? Maybe you want to travel and see more of the world or maybe you feel you want to give something back to the world and offer yourself more selflessly. Getting serious career advice from a firm of occupational psychologists will do much more than help you pick through these considerations.

There are a lot of other factors to consider and that is where psychometric tests come in. If you are going to make a career change at this stage, you might as well do the job properly. Time is running out to re-address this issue in another couple of years, so you should aim to get it right this time.

Getting good career advice can help you identify several very important aspects other than practicalities. Have you considered how much your own personality impacts your career choice? Or your values and beliefs – maybe they’ve changed over the years? Or your interests. How motivated are you to succeed? How driven are you. Do you know that these personal factors can actually be measured and quantified using psychometric tests?

You must be careful here because only fully qualified occupational psychologists are able to interpret the results of these psychometric tests and give proper career advice based on the results. So, doing an online career test with a computer-generated report will not suffice. The real psychometric tests take up to five hours to complete so don’t take the short cut.

Once you have completed the questionnaires, the occupational psychologist will analyse the results and draw some preliminary conclusions about what careers advice would be most appropriate for you. Then you can sit down together, discuss those career options and formulate a career plan for the rest of your life.

Good luck.

is it a good time to change career after Covid?

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You may feel, with the uncertainty that continues with the Covid pandemic, that now is not the best time to look for a new career, or even a new job.

There is some evidence that suggests it’s a tough economy out there, full of fear and doubt. Inflation is rising rapidly. House prices have increased dramatically. Maybe now is not the time for a career change.

However, don’t feel like you have to put your life on hold. There is still a lot of positivity to be found. So, if you want to change career, now could well be the time to make it happen.   

Lots of businesses are still hiring as normal. In fact, some professions are in very short supply. Also, businesses that may have frozen recruitment during the shutdown period, and even as we come out of it, still need to fill those vacancies now that the economy tries to get back into gear. There are always some winners and some losers.

So, what to do if you want a career change post-Covid?

Prepare and Research

It’s always good to start your job search by preparing as much as possible. Ensure that you know what career is right for you and why. If you are not sure, then see a career analyst and make sure. Research the organisation – will you fit in? Know what you are talking about and impress recruiters with your knowledge and views.

Be Proactive

If companies in your chosen industry don’t seem to be recruiting, or if you’ve found the business you want to work for and they don’t have any vacancies, then don’t be afraid to reach out to them. Get the name of the manager in charge of recruitment, or the department you want to work for, and contact them directly. You can impress them with your determination.

Invest in Yourself

Get your CV up to date, brush up on your interview skills, and perhaps look into training courses that may enhance your standing with possible employers.  If you’re thinking about following a new career, perhaps it’s time to talk to a careers advisor to find out more about yourself and the industry that you want to be in.

Why do people get careers advice?

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There are many reasons people seek careers advice at different stages in their career.

15 and 16 year olds may need help with A level and degree choices. Even if they have an idea of what career would suit them best, the question remains: How to get there. What degree would be most useful for my future career? What A levels are needed to get into that degree? How to choose my career?

For older teenagers the question becomes even more pressing: What career path should I take? For those who have already left school and want to go straight to work, they need to urgently ask what career should I do?

Those in their twenties may have just left university and still don’t know what career is right for them. Or they may have thought they knew what career is best, but on entering that career path, they find it is not what they expected. They might start to wonder is this the right career for me after all.

Then there are those considering a career change at 30. When you reach 30, you have reached a level of maturity where you can look at the bigger picture of your career and life. Perhaps you now have a young family to consider? If so, that’s the most important thing in your life now. There’s a pressing need to provide for them and a deep desire to spend more time with them.

A career change at 40 or 50+? For such age groups the driving forces can are different once again. Perhaps your values have changed, and you no longer desire the same things that you did as a younger adult. Perhaps you now have a level of security and want to indulge other interests. Maybe you just want a better work/life balance?

A large proportion of those seeking a career change will fall into one of these categories. Perhaps 90%. Yet still there is another 10% whose motivations are very varied. For some, a change in career has been forced upon them. For those competing in sports, retirement can be forced upon you in your thirties. An injury or other medical condition may prevent you from continuing in your chosen career.

There are myriads of reasons why people think about changing career. The question for most is: What career path should I take at this stage? The answer for many is: see a career analyst to help you decide on the right career for you.

New Year, New Career

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The New Year is upon us. Christmas is over and it’s time to refocus on what you want to achieve in your career this year. Christmas bonuses, for what they were, are in the bank. Over the Christmas break you’ve had time to think. Now is the time to make the decision on what to do this coming year and for the future.

So, you are ready for something new this year. But what is the right career path for you at this juncture?

Should you stay in your present career and try to improve your situation? Talk to your boss and try to get a raise? A promotion? A change in your hours?

Or is it time for a complete change of career? A new career and a new you for the New Year? But then new questions pop up. What career path should I take? How to choose my career? What career is right for me?

Sometimes the New Year has a special significance at a certain age. You will be asking more specific questions: Can I change career at 30? Can I get a new career at 40? Am I too old at 50 to change career? Of course, the answer to all of these is positive. You’re never too old to do what you want with your own life. Life is short and you only get one shot at it.

Ask yourself:

Does my present career still interest me?

Is the environment I am working in the best one for my personality?

Does the organisation I am working for reflect my values and beliefs?

Am I making the best use of my abilities?

If the answer to any of these questions is NO. Then you need to start thinking about what career IS right for you. Life is full of opportunities. However, it is sometimes difficult to know which is the best route for you.

The simplest way to answer these questions is to see a specialist careers advisor. A career analyst can help you answer these questions using psychometric tests. With the results of these tests, they can guide you to the ideal career path for YOU. NOW.