Everyone gets tired of their chosen career path sometimes. There are those who will try to stick it out because it’s all they know, and then there will be others who will attempt to go for a full change. Neither decision is an easy one to make: if you stay, are you condemning yourself to a dull, unfulfilled career? If you go, are you making a mistake starting again?

Your choices are up in the air, but if you’re tired of your current job – or even your current career – you may be tempted to strip it all back to basics and start over again. It’s foreign waters to navigate, with a lot of worry about getting it right. The thing is, you’ve got the self-awareness to know that you’re doing the right thing, and you’ve got tenacity and willingness to make a change – even though it’s a risk. You’re already on the right track to changing your career and doing something about the feeling of being stuck. Many people go into a job and feel like they have made the wrong decision, and that’s okay. The beauty of this is that you get to choose what’s right for you; you just need to have the guts to admit it. We’re not going to tell you that it will be a simple process to start over in a whole new industry. 

You may find that you have to research schools like the University of Southern California and decide whether stepping back and revisiting a new degree is an excellent idea to get you on your way. The point is that you have finally identified what it is that you truly want from your life, and you want to go ahead and make it happen. The biggest question that is asked – HOW? How do you go from one career to another smoothly? Well, we’ve got some things that you can do to start laying the groundwork for a new job in your chosen field. Let’s take a look!

Learn!

Moving into an entirely new industry requires you to learn everything that you can about your chosen career. For some, you’ll need to head back to school for a new degree and that’s okay; if you can take the time to do that, you should do it! If it’s not feasible for you, then you need to think about a crash course in everything that you need to know about your new industry and all that it entails. Go online, choose night schools, read as many magazines and blogs geared toward the industry as you can. Get to know the people in your network and see if you have any untapped resources in your chosen industry – sometimes it’s about who you know.

Volunteer!

Are you in a position to take on an unpaid internship? Volunteering could be everything that you need to get that foot in the door of a new career. You also get a chance to get a taste of what your new industry will be like to work in. This is so important before you change your entire life with a new career: what if the one you’re thinking about isn’t as great as you think? This is the whole point of an internship or volunteering. If you find out that you love the industry that you want to move into, then that’s just a bonus!

Network!

Did you know that around 80% of jobs are filled through referrals? People who know your skills and how you act in the workplace are going to be your referrers; the ones who will tell others all about you and what you can do. They can help you to forge new connections with hiring managers that you wouldn’t normally get a chance to speak to due to gatekeepers in the way. Sure, your resume is green – it’s new, it hasn’t had enough experience for most industries – but people will sit up and take notice, all because you have the network to spread the word about you.

Skill Up!

You may not have the direct skills that you need for your new industry, but nothing is saying that you can’t learn, right? The things that you learned in your last career weren’t a waste. These are your “soft skills,” and they are transferable no matter what you do. These are your talents, your exceptional abilities, your skills to rely on. And you should talk about them as much as possible on your resume so that you can highlight what you can do, rather than the things that you can’t yet.

Honesty!

You’re new. There is no point in trying to cover that up. Hiring managers and other HR recruiters are going to notice that you don’t have as much experience as other candidates. Rather than brushing over this fact, own it. Talk about your previous career and what you learned from it. Talk about what pushed you to be bold enough to make a change. Talk about what happened to change your mind about your old career and let them know. You’ve decided to change careers, so share your why. Once you do that, no one can imagine you’re fickle about the job that you’ve left and are trying to start again. Talk about your passion and what makes you think it’s a better fit for you.

Humble!

You could have been at the top of the career ladder in your old career, but that isn’t where you’re going to start here, so it’s time to humble yourself. Pull yourself down a few pegs and realise that when you start again in a new industry, you start again from the bottom. Embrace that in your application and be prepared to do some grunt work at the beginning.

You are starting again, and launching that new career is going to be the best thing that you do this year. This is going to lead you toward that greatness that you’ve craved.