Career change advice to help you change careers easily

Do you want a career change or are you urgently looking for a new job? My expert careers and job winning advice will help you to find and make the most of new job opportunities.

I am Peter Fisher, an experienced Career Coach and owner of this site and I will do my best to answer all your questions about career change, finding a new job, cover letter writing, 'selling yourself', or CV writing or otherwise Resume writing and interview preparation plus everything else you might need to help you get and keep the job you want.

This website is here to give you practical careers advice and strategies, and my expert knowledge to ensure you can maximize every opportunity that comes along. The 'Career Changer's Guide' is an instant download with everything you need to change career. >>>>

So, if you are feeling stuck and starting to dread going to work every day, a career change would seem to be the answer. You can dream of doing something better or more important and probably making more money too.

But are things really that much better on the other side of the hill? You need to ask yourself some crucial questions, answer them truthfully, and only then evaluate where you are now and what you can improve with a career change.

These are the questions you should be asking yourself:

Why Do I Want To Change Careers?

Try to be very clear about why you want to leave your present job so that you are able to avoid whatever is the root of your discomfort in a future job. In my experience as a career coach, the most common reasons people quote are that they:

Feel bored and frustrated, from being in the same job too long;
Have lost interest in the work and its importance;
Feel undervalued or not important to the organization;
Believe they are being underpaid for the work they do;
Dislike changes made after reorganisation and restructuring;
Are making no progress, lack any future prospects;
Feel as if they are in 'dead men's shoes';
Don't get on with their colleagues or managers;
Simply need a new challenge or fresh start.

Would you like to read about the careers that are being predicted as the Best Careers 2010?

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Do I Really Want To Change My Career?

Is it really your career that you want to change or is it something else associated with your job? Your boss for instance? What would improve your day to day satisfaction with your work? If it isn't your career as such, but just something to do with your job then a career change may not be the answer, when what you need is to continue your career, but with some changed conditions.

Perhaps you could satisfy your desire for career change by:

Changing to another job in the same sector but with a different employer;
Moving from the private to the public sector where the career remains but the principles / values may be different;
Negotiating with your employer for a fairer salary package;
Applying career management principles to seek some agreed changes with your present employer.

The notion of career change throws up all sorts of ideas about doing something completely different so what does your ideal role look like? Are you able to describe it in terms of the level of responsibility you want; the amount of influence; strategic input; work structure; internal/ external contact; reward and recognition; status; pace and pressure that make for a satisfying and challenging job role?

What about location, permanent or contract; work / life balance. How do family, school or spouse career issues affect you? What organizational culture suits you best?

When you’ve defined your ideal role with as many dimensions as possible, you’ll always have something to compare new opportunities against. This type of benchmarking helps you avoid the rushed and possibly regrettable later decision being made.

You can only decide on your career options when you’ve thought about:

Exactly what you want;
What you really enjoy doing;
What you’re good at and want to continue doing;
What’s important to you;
And how all this affects those close to you.

To give you my personal example:

My own career change involved swapping a 70 mile daily commute taking 3 hours driving time (on a good day) into Manchester city centre for working from my own home using my existing knowledge and skills plus my PC.

Although I have always loved what I do, I needed to make some changes. I was coaching my own clients as well as running 6 UK offices and managing a worldwide key account for the delivery of outplacement services to thousands of individuals becoming redundant post-merger.

Giving up the daily commute and the regular flights to give seminars in mainland Europe was not a difficult choice and I now provide similar services to clients in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Middle East, Japan and mainland Europe from the comfort of my own home. More...

What Transferable Skills Do I Have?

You should try to analyse your skills gained through every job, course or leisure activity you have been involved with. These are the transferable skills that are potentially of interest to most employers. With the following list of key skills, try to record examples from your work experience, college or other academic studies and don't forget to include aspects of your social or home life.

Functional: Analyse your skills which you use to deal with the world around you e.g. people, data, things, ideas.
Personal: Analyse your skills that you use to manage yourself.
Technical: Analyse your skills that you use and develop for aspects of your job.

How Do I Want To Use My Existing Skills?

You may not need to go for a complete career change where you do something different. Because most other roles or jobs overlap in their skills requirements, you can almost certainly use the knowledge, skills and capabilities that you already have. Network with other people to find out if there are opportunities in your own line of work: personal contacts, past colleagues, customers or suppliers or members of a professional group you belong to. Nowadays, networking is a skill in itself and one of the most productive ways to find a new career or job.

If you decide to go ahead with a career change, please make sure you go for something that you really are interested in, otherwise the same scenario will set in again and you will be back where you started from.

Do you have a Career Change story you could share with other visitors? Click here and add your story to the next page.

What Do I Need To Change My Career?

There are no secrets to winning a new job, but if you don't follow an ACTION PLAN that WORKS, you may find it much harder to get the job you want. As a Career Coach and Job Search Expert I have developed a career counseling plan that thousands of men and women just like you have used and it has been proven to work!

You need to know what job you actually want;
You need to know how to find jobs,
including the hidden and unadvertised jobs;
You need to know what skills are most in demand;
You need a first class CV or Resume;
You need customized cover letters;
You need to be well practised in your interview answers and techniques;
You need to be determined.

For your career change to be successful, you need to have a really effective CV and covering letter. If your current CV looks anything like some of the examples sent in to me, you need my professional CV writing help! Get a professional CV writer working for you and get a CV to be proud of!

Find out about my Professional CV Writing Services.

You can ring me today on 01270 881811

For more information about how to get started and multiply your job winning chances with an effective CV at the right level, starting from just £49.00, choose which level you need then go to:

Standard CV for people with less than 10 years experience.
Manager's CV for new managers with people and budget responsibilities.
Executive CV for established managers and people with more than 10 years experience.
Bespoke CV for people at the most senior level who need a specialized CV service.
Premier CV - The premier CV package also includes a 6-month career development and personal support package.

If your career change is from the Armed Forces to civilian life after your services career, then you may need help with Civilian Jobs CV Writing

If English is not your first language you need my UK English CV Writing Services to help you create an easy to read CV that reads naturally in UK English.

When you need a truly professional traditional CV, which combines all of the impact and interview-winning features you need to make that all-important impression, I will create one for you.

Check out these CV examples that I've recently written for other clients. You can get a free CV review too!

Making a career change is an important decision, this site will help you to get it right. If you have any questions use the button on the top left.

If you think that you could take your skills and work from home like I do, click this link and find out how to get started using the exact same method that I use.

"Your Career Change Coach"