Isabela is a freshgrad working in a giant tech company as a professional recruiter. She earns a good paycheck and her job helps her connect with many people. After two years working in the company as a recruiter, Isabela finds her job no longer satisfying and fulfilling, which makes her feel discontented with her own life. Not wanting to wait before everything tumbles down, Isabela decides to do a career change.
Can you relate to Isabela’s experience? Are you also feeling stuck in a job that is not your passion? If you are ready for a career change but do not know how or where to start, HR in Asia has some tips to help you find a new satisfying job.
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Two of the biggest challenges you will face during a career change is not knowing where to begin and the fear of leaving the security of your current job. It is just like standing in the middle of the forest, getting lost and there are 5 available paths you can take. You are scared and unsure which path that will lead to your destination. When this happens, the key is to keep moving forward.
The same principle applies to career change. You should keep discovering where you belong to, what kind of job satisfies you professionally and personally. To start moving, you can try working on the job of your choice. For example, you always dream of being a writer. Then, you can try to get a part-time job in the journalism industry. Then ask yourself this question: does this job keep me fulfilled? If no, then you should discover other options. Perhaps, you also dream of being a teacher or wildlife ranger that saves endangered animals.
During this journey, you will find the ups and downs of your choices that eventually will help discover the true passion of your professional life.
The fun part of discovering a new career is that you do not have to do it all alone. Richard Alderson, the founder of Careershifters, advised that you should think of your career change as an expedition, not a one day-trip. An expedition is something you can do in a group which will make the journey more fun, safer, and faster.
You can connect with people around you who desire changes in their day-to-day job. Or, you can find another network outside your workplace. Enrol to a networking event that can help you get career coaches and new like-minded friends. All of this would give a different effect to your life, different ideas, and different connections that help lead to forward movement, added Alderson.
A lot of individuals who desire a career change often only focus on one thing: make a great, better, more professional resume to get hired in a better company. But it is more than just that. Whilst a resume can help you get a job, it does not have enough power to get you a fulfilling job. Besides, a resume nowadays will need to pass an ATS system before it is really read by real recruiters.
Dawn Graham, career coach and TED speaker, commented that applying for a job is difficult – it is never easy to get into your dream company. But one thing people forget is that when looking for a new job, we need to go beyond filling a click-apply-send process. Finding and getting the job you want means you need to “search for people”, added Graham.
In her TED Talk, Graham emphasised that recruiters want to hire job candidates they can trust and that is why they prefer ones who come through personal referrals. That said, the simplest thing we can do is initiate career conversations with people. If you feel vulnerable to talk to a stranger, you can talk with people you already know. How to start the conversation? You need to be curious about their goals. Helping others is a great way to build relationships. And remember that “Everyone you know has a network just waiting to be discovered”.
Read also: What You Can Do with an HR Degree Besides Being an HR Officer
