Staring at a ceiling? Here's how you can reinvent your career path
How often do you feel like you've reached a fork in the road in your professional life? You don't necessarily have to be burnt out or stressed to change your career path. Neither do you have to wait for something as drastic as being fired to reinvent your profession. If you are tired of doing the same work day-in and day-out, you need to stop to introspect and reassess your life.
Reinventing your career path is not only daunting, but it can also get confusing if you don't know what you want to do ahead or how you need to go about it. Here are five simple ways by which you can grow and diversify your professional profile.
Image: Shutterstock
Decide the magnitude of change
Do you simply want to shift departments in your company or do you want to change your vocation altogether? You may love your company but you might want to shift from the HR department to the IT division. This is a small shift. However, wanting to become a chef after you've been an engineer all your life is a much more drastic change.
Assess what's wrong
Once you have decided on the magnitude of change, you need to evaluate what's the source of dissatisfaction. When you successfully identify your source of unhappiness, you know what not to repeat when you finally switch your career path. Start by identifying your core values and personality preferences. Once you identify your goal, create an action plan tailored to your particular situation.
Determine short term and long term goals
Switching career paths once or twice in your lifetime is fine but you can't keep doing it every two to three years. Determine your personal as well as professional short and long term goals and switch careers accordingly. Your decisions should propel you towards your goals and not take you away from them. When you develop a strong sense of what you need to achieve, you can make steady progress in your career without having to switch paths every now and then.
Develop news skills
Reinventing your career path can't be done without sharpening your existing skills and acquiring new ones. For example, if you want to make the switch from being an engineer to becoming a chef, you need to take your culinary skills to a whole new level. Individuals who keep themselves updated are always more successful than their peers who don't.
Start networking
In today's fast-paced world, having a successful career is heavily dependent on meeting the right people at the right time. When you interact with professionals from diverse career backgrounds, you get an insight into what might work for you and what might not. Therefore, if you're looking to switch career paths, you cannot overlook the importance of networking in the real as well as the virtual world.
The world is constantly changing and you need to as well. When you keep yourself open to opportunities and hone your skills consistently, you make reinventing your career path easier and stress-free.
