How to change your job?

You have decided that it’s time to change your job. You also have an idea of who you would like to become. What’s next?

I don’t think it’s good to jump into this “New job” project without proper preparation. I did something like that in the past. I regretted this decision a bit, but on the other hand, I learned a lot from this experience. My main goal was to jump into a different industry and I didn’t consider it carefully. I ended up in marketing where I struggled for some time. I didn’t feel that I had the right personality and skills for this industry. This article will help you to avoid such mistakes. I’ll try to explain what you can do even before you start writing your new resume and polishing your LinkedIn profile.

Table of Contents

Think it through before you change your job

Think about everything: not only whether you have the right skills for the job but also consider the following aspects:

People – what kind of people do you like and what kind of person are you? Do you feel good when surrounded by extravert, easy-going, and expressive people? If so, maybe a job in a creative agency would be great for you? Think about your past – maybe at some point you found yourself surrounded by people with whom you felt great? You can even consider your time in school. Where there some classes where you always could find the best friends?
Remote work – do you like working from home or maybe commuting every day is not a problem for you? COVID pandemic opened a lot of companies for the possibility of remote work. In some professions it’s even difficult to come back to the office right now. When thinking about your new job, consider this aspect, because if you have to work from office, in some jobs and in some companies it might not be possible. On the other hand, if you would like to work from home, there are some professions that are perfect for that: one of them is technical writing.
Working hours – in some professions, there is no possibility of flexible working hours. Additionally, some jobs require you to be available for some urgent tasks always in your free time.
Lifelong learning – if you love constant learning and developing your professional skills, many jobs will be great for you. However, if you are tired of learning, or you simply don’t like it, then try to think of a career that won’t require so much learning. I know a couple of people who wanted to become programmers but didn’t consider this aspect. Programmers really have to learn a lot all the time and very often they need to sacrifice their free time to acquire new skills and knowledge. However, for many people who jump into this career without thinking, this is later a problem and they are not able to push their career forward.

Test yourself

Think or read about typical daily tasks in the new profession. Try to do these activities for a couple of hours. Do you enjoy it? Or maybe you don’t see yourself doing that for 8 hours a day?

For example, sometimes people ask me: “What I should do to become a technical writer?” or “Would I be the right person to work as a technical writer?”. I always recommend that they write some instructions for a random application. It can be, for example, a mobile app from your phone, a section of Microsoft Word, or even a website. It’s a very simple task but if you realize that you don’t enjoy it, then you probably aren’t the right person for the job.

Find a mentor

Actually, it doesn’t have to be a mentor who teaches or guides you. Sometimes it would be enough to find someone who can only answer your questions related to the profession you aim at.

It might be difficult to find this person but social media make this task a bit easier. You can reach out to someone on LinkedIn or in a Facebook group. For example:

On LinkedIn, check your connections – is there anyone in your professional network who already has this job title? Send a message to this person. It doesn’t cost you anything and the worst thing that can happen is that this person won’t reply.
In a Facebook group, you can write a post with your questions or ask directly if there is someone willing to become your mentor. You might be surprised how many people like helping and guiding others. Actually, sometimes even reading through people’s posts on a user group can be a great source of information about the job.