You're considering a career change. How do you know if it's the right move?

Follow your core values. Why are you doing what you do? Know your motivations. Can you grow your career where you are now, or do you need to change your horizon? Challenge your assumptions that change requires getting a new job. Growth may not necessarily come with a fancier title or a big raise. Finally, remember, you are the agent of change in your career. Don't let your environment dictate who you are.

The best advise I have ever been given on career change decisions is to honestly answer this question: Are you running to something or from something? If running to something GO If running from something DIG DEEP and determine why.

Think with your head, do with your hands, go with your gut and follow your heart. Always put yourself first and recognise what drives you each and every day.

The decision to change careers is highly personal and depends on your individual circumstances, goals, and aspirations. It's essential to thoroughly evaluate some factors and seek advice from career counselors, mentors, and trusted individuals to make an informed decision. You can reflect on your passion and motivation for pursuing a new career. A strong sense of purpose and enthusiasm for the new field can fuel your success and help you overcome obstacles along the way.

Understanding the trigger is important. It could be for personal or professional reasons. Keep these professional points in mind - 1. Are you meaningfully contributing to the growth of your organization? If 'yes', then you have some reason to stay put. If the answer is 'no', look for a change before you are forced to. 2. Is the organization allowing you opportunities for new learning? If yes, you have a reason to stay put or else, look for a shift. 3. Is your contribution appreciated by your peers & seniors? If 'yes', you have a reason to stay put. Or else, improve or look out before its too late. 4. Does the appreciation translate into rewards? If not, look for greener pastures! Remember, shifting cannot be without a logical reason.

In the current era, as professions are increasingly interconnected, career changes are becoming more common. If you're considering a career shift, it's essential to weigh all available options carefully. Conduct thorough research, consult with experts in the field you're interested in, and take advantage of online resources to stay updated. This approach can help ensure a smoother transition into a new career.

Making a career change is a huge decisions and should never be taken lightly. I have found that once an individuals starts to test the water they have already decided it’s time to move on. Even if they haven’t totally made the decision there’s something that’s pushing them to make the move. Your internal instincts (your gut feelings) carry you throughout your life. It’s the light inside of each of us that keeps us on the right track. As an added step always trust your instincts. For me mine have never lead me down a path I could not handle. There are no easy steps but make the decision based on what’s best for the person in the mirror.

Once you found out what really interests you, consult experts. Look for people in your company or outside, don’t be afraid to reach out to people on LinkedIn and ask them concrete questions. It’s very important to consider one thing: just because you reached a certain level in your current career, it doesn’t mean you need to pick up on the same level, when switching your role. A “downgrade” might be a lot more fulfilling than you think. And with time you get back to where you are and even further - with passion.

Making a career change is a major life shift and a decision that should not be taken lightly. Before doing so, It's important to be self-aware of your strengths, weaknesses, and other personality traits that could lead to success or failure. Research market trends on the new field. And speak to people you respect in that field about their actual experiences.

Talk to as many people as you can! You will be amazed at the number of people who are willing to help and will point you towards other people. Listen to them! You never know what you might learn.

If possible, plan your transition so that you don't burn bridges where you're currently at. Provide ample notice to your employer -- even better if you're in a position to use them as a reference for where you're interviewing. You never know where you or someone you've worked with in the past ends up, you could totally cross paths again. Just something to keep in mind!

10 steps to plan your transition: 1. Self-Assessment 2. Research 3. Skill Gap Analysis 4. Networking 5. Test the Waters 6. Update Your Resume and Online Presence 7. Prepare for Challenges 8. Seek Support 9. Take Action 10. Transition

Planning your transition is quite important as it entails assessing what additional skills you have to gain or learning experiences you have to immerse yourself in, in order to transition into a different career path. This may include studying part-time if you’re planning on transitioning into a career that requires formal certification, and it may also include asking to be involved in specific projects that will give you the skills you need to transition. Importantly, be willing to play the long game as you plan to transition, and to balance this with ensuring that you take the necessary risks required. Understand that there are no guarantees your efforts will pay off as you expect them to, be open to where the process will lead you.

Antes de fazer a transição de carreira, entenda o porquê de você estar buscando esta mudança. Tem a ver com insatisfação na carreira em si? Ou é um sentimento momentâneo com relação à sua empresa ou seu chefe? Uma transição de carreira precisa ser feita com base nos motivos certos e por isso é importante ter um plano de vida que ampare as suas decisões. Seus planos de carreira precisam estar dentro do seu plano de vida e não o seu plano de vida ser parte do seu plano de carreira.

It's always a great idea to plan your transition while you are in your existing career. Let me give you an example of an Indian actor. He was a photographer taking up various assignments. He was even appointed as an official photographer by the Indian Boxing Championship. Since childhood he wanted to become an actor. He even got trained under an acting coach for 2 years from 1981-1983 during his school days. He kept doing theatres. This all was happening while he was running his bakery business. Finally he entered the film industry at the age of 41 in the year 2000. His name is Boman Irani. We all know how amazing he is as an actor. Hence, you need to plan very well in advance to transition your career by upskilling yourself constantly

Your network plays a crucial role in a career change. Leveraging the collective knowledge and experiences of your connections can provide valuable insights, introductions to potential opportunities, and support during transitions. Cultivating a strong network allows you to tap into various resources, gain diverse perspectives, and ultimately enhance your chances of success in navigating career changes. Recognizing the value of seeking support not only demonstrates humility but also reveals your understanding of the power of collective knowledge. Embracing guidance from a coach, mentor, or friend provides a fresh perspective, helping you navigate challenges more effectively .

Nada se faz sozinho! Sem construir uma rede de apoio dificilmente você terá acesso as oportunidades, observe bem sobre isso e comece a identificar os potenciais contatos que precisa realizar para alcançar seus objetivos. Lembre-se que networking não é sobre troca, mas sobre doação. A premissa é: O que eu posso agregar? Qual valor eu posso gerar para aquela pessoa? Se você conseguir entregar valor, é muito provável que receberá valor de volta.

Not only is expanding your network important, but having people who support you, and whom you do the same to, is crucial. Starting something new and transitioning into a new field can be challenging and daunting. Having people who help, encourage, and inspire us makes such a big difference during this time. Going through change is easier when you’re not alone. Despite this, it remains your personal journey, and you need to be brave to step out of your comfort zone, challenge your fears, try something new, not be afraid to fail, and be kind to yourself so you don't stop in the middle of it.

I can’t stress this enough. Networ’king’ is king! Establish relationships with interesting people. Join in-person events if possible. Always have your LinkedIn barcode available to scan for quick connections. Join webinars, comment on posts, share some insights on a topic close to you. LinkedIN is the place where you can do all of this and build, grow & maintain your network.

I exchange areas in my professional career several times: I can mention 1 - I worked in a Bank. 2 - Then I moved to cars repairing. 3 - Then I worked a Recruitment Dept. 4 - After I went to the Motorcycles, Cars and Truck Dealers. 5 - I had my own motorcycle service shop. 6 - I worked in a Motorcycle Facility. 7 - And last, but not least, I joined the IT area, where I worked with: 7a - Production environments support. 7b - IT Governance (ITIL, ISO and COBIT). 7c - Agile Project Management. 7d - PMO (Now). So.... to change areas, you only need to put one foot out of the door..... (no pun with VH song....LOL) Good moves.

I like to use the 33-33-33 rule. When having a career change, 33% of the job scope should be your expertise, something you master in and even able to coach others. The next 33% of the scope can be mundane, something you can do with your eyes closed. The last 33% is something brand new, stepping out of comfort zone and experimental. This way, you are still running at optimal capacity but you can experience new things too.

It is funny, if not insulting, to see LinkedIn asking these questions. LinkedIn is sitting on the big data where all such hypotheses can be tested with full statistical quantifications of the odds and correlations. Yet LinkedIn is happier to seek opinions from us. Each of us has their experience and accordingly hold this or that belief dear to their hearts. All anecdotal compared to the big data of everyone's careers. LinkedIn sits on the real data and should publish such analytics instead of favoring discussions and opinions to feed parroting large language models. Ridiculous.

You want to offer a service or product and get quick feedback on whether there is appetite for that in your immediate context. For example, if you are a business analyst and you want to transition to data engineering, is there a small data engineering project that you could step up to complete for your team without being asked to do so? That way you get to complete a project that you can talk about in any internal or external interviews, and you get free feedback from your team about the value of what you did. Then you can get a sense of how realistic it is to make that leap.

We all fall victim to our assumptions; facts and data are your best allies. Having someone to test your assumptions also helps. Experimentation is a must in any aspect of our lives; this is how we learn and determine correct measures if necessary. Being curious will help you conquer the fear of failing

Trying to give as many interviews as possible is the adult form of mock tests. We may assume many things about a role or industry and validating those during the interviews with people of better knowledge helps us to draw a picture close to reality. Always be prepared for the last 5-10 minutes of an interview where you test out the assumptions and get clarity

Frequently, my colleagues approach me with the aspiration for ‘professional growth’. Initially, I was quick to discuss the opportunities available within our organization. However, experience has taught me the importance of first understanding what ‘professional growth’ signifies to the individual. It’s a term that can hold diverse meanings, and sometimes, it may not have a clear definition at all. Clarifying what success represents to you is a definitive step towards achieving it.

Change on its own requires a lot of mental preparation. You might feel like you are failing because no one is emailing you back with interviews. Solution: OKR it! It's not just for companies. You can use OKRs to make sure you target learning certain skills in a timeframe manner. Remember to keep a journal that allows you to remain focused and lastly try to find a mentor in your desired field. They'll be able to evaluate your progress and provide helpful coaching.

Setting success metrics and regularly reviewing your progress are important practices to keep motivated and focused. Celebrate achievements, no matter how small, and view setbacks as learning opportunities. Maintain open dialogue with mentors and peers, seeking constructive feedback to guide your ongoing development.

In my experience, measuring success in a new career involves tracking achievements, challenges, and learnings while celebrating wins and learning from losses. Regularly reviewing goals, plans, and actions facilitates adjustments as needed. Seeking feedback, guidance, and support from mentors, peers, and networks ensures accountability and progress. Evaluating one's progress fosters focus, motivation, and accountability throughout the career change journey.

Establecer indicadores de éxito, celebrar logros y aprender de los fracasos son prácticas fundamentales para mantener la motivación y la dirección en un proceso de cambio de carrera. Además, la búsqueda de retroalimentación y apoyo de mentores y colegas puede proporcionar una perspectiva invaluable y ayudar a identificar áreas de mejora.

You will never know if it’s not the right move if you fail to move. So having carefully researched the organisation, negotiated the right salary and benefits, if it aligns with your purpose and is a good fit then move.

Most people make a mistake of switching jobs randomly just to achieve accelerated monetary benefits. That may be a good approach if the objective is solely money. Career, on the other hand, is a progression towards one’s objectives of intellectual growth while enhancing quality of life. Hence any move must be in the direction of, if not ultimate objective, at least towards the next milestone. Job is a medium to build career and hence should be chosen wisely else one may not achieve the career objectives set for themselves. To summarise career is an aspirational goal wherein job may, at times, be a materialistic goal.

You need to choose your “hard” For the longest time I only had sales experience. As time went on I deeply desired to be in marketing more and more but every job was asking for direct marketing experience. I had to ask myself what am I willing to risk for this career change. When I got my first digital marketing job I took a 15 K pay cut to join the team, I went from remote first to going to office 3 days a week, I went from knowing my craft to being a novice. Was it hard to do all of that ? Yes ! But it was also hard living the sales life: monthly stress of meeting quotas, size of sales , commissions , etc. I chose my hard and I have absolutely no regrets.

Never move jobs hastily. Plan a smooth handover in case you have decided to move with the assumption that you get back to same company as we never know what is in plan . World is small.

Winners never quit, is a FALSE statement! Winners quit all the time. But they quit the right stuff to become successful. Ask yourself how you might better succeed (at anything) by fulfilling that urge to quit with a proper quitting of what’s not working. Quitting is not an impulse or panic decision. It’s goal setting, boundaries and finding your routine. Now go quit something!