How Can You Take Your Career in a New Direction?

If you’re considering a new career path right now, you’re not alone. People are always thinking about making a change, but even more are considering how new technology could end up impacting them in the near future. It’s not particularly unusual to make a career change, whether big or small. Many people work in at least two distinct careers during their working life, switching to something different for a number of reasons.

Whether you’re unhappy in your current career or you’re just looking for new opportunities, there are multiple ways you could choose to do something different. Take a look at some of the moves you could make if you’re looking for your next big thing or just hoping to spice up your work a little.

Look for Opportunities to Advance

Before looking for a new employer or changing careers completely, you might want to identify opportunities to advance in your existing career. It’s not the right move for everyone, especially if you’re not looking to take on any more responsibility, but it could work for you if you’d like a more senior role or want to earn more money. There could be chances to snag a promotion with your current employer, or maybe you can show a new employer that you’re ready to take on a more advanced role. It’s not always easy, but you can find ways to prove yourself.

Add to Your Existing Skills

Adding to your existing skill set might be the path you want to take in switching up your career. There are skills you could build that complement those you already have and are marketable either to employers or directly to clients/customers. Many medical professionals, such as dentists, are choosing to take aesthetics courses to expand their skills and services into the beauty world. Some creatives are choosing to develop multiple creative skills so that they can offer a range of abilities, including writing, graphic design, and even coding. Learning new skills can help to keep your role up to date too.

Switch Departments

Sometimes making a move within your company can be a great way to change your career while still staying in a somewhat familiar environment. A new department could allow you to learn the ropes somewhere new, while also bringing your existing skills and knowledge. For example, if you choose to switch from sales to marketing, it could be useful to have an understanding of how the sales team works when creating marketing campaigns. Moving from HR into accounting can give you the chance to start a new career while also bringing your knowledge of how issues like payroll could affect the company’s finances.

Change Industries

If a move within a company isn’t right for you, maybe you want to consider a new industry or sector. Perhaps you currently work for a for-profit business and want to move into working for a charity or nonprofit. You could be working in education but you want to start a new job in the film industry. You can take your existing skills and role to a new industry, where you can both utilise what you know and learn new things. In some industries, this could open up more opportunities for you or just give you a much-needed change.

Consider Retraining

Retraining to start a new career can be a frightening prospect. It’s something that could take years or might require time out of work to learn what you need to know. But it’s also a great way to switch to a new career and find something you really enjoy doing. There are lots of ways to retrain, from doing a degree to completing a short course or even finding an apprenticeship. You can work on retraining while you continue to work too, depending on what it is you want to do.

Start Your Own Business

Another way to take control of your career could be to start your own business or be self-employed. There are pros and cons to doing this, from the freedom and flexibility it gives you to the potential instability. If you have a skill that’s marketable or you have an idea for a product you want to sell, starting a new business could work out for you. But before you do it, it’s important to do plenty of research and perhaps spend some time running your business on the side before going full-time.

You can find a new direction for your career in multiple ways. It doesn’t have to be a complete career switch if there are other paths that interest you.