How to Change Careers? Tips from the Educational Platform’s Founder.

Even 20 years ago the tendency “one life – one career” was the most predominant. But the world is changing dramatically and so do we. In this article the founder and CEO of Refocus, Roman Kumar Vyas, will share some tips based on their students’ experience – 40 % of them were reskillers and have managed to acquire completely different professions.

The online study by Monster has determined that no less than 89% percent of the professionals with more than 15 years’ experience would like to change their current occupation. So, changing a profession after several years in one company is not uncommon as it might seem, though still very difficult and challenging.

Furthermore, it is not only the case of people who are completely unhappy with their current position. In contrast, a study of Philippine Christian universities has proven that people who were satisfied with their jobs are actually more likely to become successful in other occupations and earn more. It means that even if you are more or less pleased with your job, seeking more perspectives and challenges in another company or for example freelance might be an effective strategy to follow.

So, if you are thinking of changing your career after several years of experience in another sphere, here are some pieces of advice for you.

Set Up a Clear and Measurable Goal

You should not be afraid of the question “Where do you see yourself in five years?”. On the contrary, the formulated answer to it will help you not to despair even at the most difficult points of your career path.

The right goal is supposed to be specific, measurable, achievable, adequate, and should also have a certain time-bound. This methodology was created by George Doran, Arthur Miller, and James Cunningham in 1981 and has been used worldwide ever since.

The formulation “I want to lead a department” is not suitable, but “By 2026 I want to lead a team of 50+ people, working in an advertising agency in an international company” is just right. However, you should not be either too optimistic or too pessimistic – you probably would not reach the previous level of position in a couple of months but certainly will after some reasonable period that you can predict and plan beforehand.

The case of Kate Semyonova, the Head of SMM at Refocus, is good proof of this statement. She came to the company at the position of junior copywriter and managed to become the Head of the department only in a year. That is what she says about goal attainment.

            I decided to become a specialist in some area after I closed my business. At that point, I liked many things so I needed to focus on something particular. I read the book “Goal! Get Everything You Want — Faster Than You Thought Possible ” by Brian Tracy. At the end of each chapter, there is a set of questions that help the readers to understand their motivation, values, desires, and the future they want to get. One of the techniques was writing 10 goals in the morning every day, prioritizing 3 of them. And that is what I have been doing from now on. It helps me to keep the focus on what I want to reach. Usually, people forget about what they planned and using this tactic I always keep them in mind and do only what is needed to achieve them. When I started my work, the goal was to become the Head of a department. And here I am!

Save Up a Safety Cushion in Advance

When you change your occupation, your income is likely to drop, and the position might be one or two levels lower. This situation can be minimized if you prepare for it beforehand.

Set a rule for yourself: try to save10-20% of your salary every month. So, you will provide yourself with a financial cushion for the time when your income can decrease. If you decide to change your occupation dramatically, you should be financially secure in order to study a lot and practice at least for some time, not thinking about the current level of income.

Seek a Support

 Not everyone from your close circle will understand your solution to change everything, that is why you might lack support. Here establishing contacts with students, teachers from your course, and those who are into your future profession is vitally important.

Secondly, another factor why people do not reach their goals during educational courses is loss of motivation. For example, a study of Coursera in 2019 showed that only 46% of students have actually finished the course they paid for. The explanation of this is understandable: at first, acquiring new knowledge is easy because you get motivation and inspiration just from the learning process.

But at some point, many realize that there is an overwhelming amount of hard study ahead and become frightened of it. In this case, many would give up their studies, having lost self-belief. That is why it is critically important to be close to people who will support you and won’t let you fall into despair or thoughts like “oh, I wish I still worked where I used to”.

In Refocus, this function is performed by a community chat on Slack and live broadcasts with teachers.

Develop Stress Resistance

The first step in a new profession is a leap into the unknown, so they are usually very stressful. This feeling can haunt you during the whole first year on the job, especially if you do not have a senior colleague to advise you on. The only is not reacting to the situation using a “fight or flight” response and boosting your stress resistance.

Evolution didn’t expect our lives to be so stressful, and we still synthesize hormones that can help us outrun a predator when it’s just a quarterly report. Harvard Health Publishing advice dealing with stress by helping our brain synthesize hormones that will “fight” with stress hormones. We can get them during meditation and relaxation techniques, physical activity, and social interactions. So, if possible, try to find time for such small but important things.

Personally, I apply relaxation techniques everyday and they do help me to feel much less stressed. My morning routine includes mediation, breathing practices, and affirmation and is based on the book “Get Some Headspace: 10 Minutes Can Make All the Difference” by Andy Puddicombe. After realizing a positive impact on myself, I provide all my team with free courses on meditation and that has helped us to achieve our goals more efficiently.

Boost Your Confidence

Never forget about your strengths and be too critical of yourself. Make a list of your best qualities, be honest with yourself, and avoid false modesty – you have already reached much, haven’t you?

It is not necessary to come up with any outstanding qualities in yourself, the most basic ones are just enough: “I keep my desktop in order”, “I finish what I started”, “I have a good memory”, and so on. Review this list every week and add new items if possible. Even if the area is completely new you still have your professional and life experience – and they distinguish you in the most positive meaning.

Psychologists from Harvard University suggest a set of powerful techniques connected to confidence in the workplace, that help people during interaction with their colleagues and get the job- confident behavior. They include training of warm and sincere greetings, not using self-deprecating vocabulary, preparing possible comments, introduction, and explanation in advance, and presenting yourself as a person who is ready to take initiative even if you are afraid.

There are many useful books related to the topic, for example:

• O. Kleon “Steal Like an Artist. 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative”
• N.Taleb “The Black Swan. To Impact of the Highly Improbable”
• G.Faulkner “Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo”
• R.Holiday “THE OBSTACLE IS THE WAY”

Better Done Than Perfect

When starting to do something new for us, we always want to do it in the best way possible. Acquiring another profession is full of such situations, however, not all of them are perfectly solvable, especially if you are lacking experience. Doing something the way you can seem boring and unprofessional but the task is never “do it in the best and coolest way”.

Obviously, adequately completing all the tasks is much more productive than having finished only one even the most perfect way.

Being a marker myself, I often find the brightest evidence to this statement. Every creative specialist always wants to come up with a unique difficult metaphor. Sometimes it is the case, but quite often the best solution is a white banner with red letters: “Discounts up to 50%”.

Furthermore, successful businesses often start following this rule. Vincent Rosso, the developer of the BlaBlaCar, an international marketplace of carpooling, says that he wanted to make the platform as good as they could but finally, they decided to “release it as it is” to improve later, gradually making it more and more perfect.

Forget about the “Luck”

The first thing to remember is that luck does not come to those who do nothing. The more you work, study, make useful connections, the higher the chance of being in the right place at the right time. So, if you are planning to change your career, do not hesitate to discuss it with your friends: they might need your skill themselves or have such acquaintances.

Systemic networking can become the key factor in having a desirable promotion.  It is all about establishing mutually beneficial relationships with people: if we are speaking about job changing, you can be useful for them with your skill, and they can have a positive influence on your career or give you valuable advice.

Set yourself a goal and visit the place where you can find the right people: conferences, clubs, business centers, and so on.

And as Beth Ramsey once said: “All the time and effort put into networking can be all for naught if there is no follow-through. The same goes for sales. And leadership. And well, everything”.

Instead of a Conclusion

There are no skills, education, age, or gender that can prevent you from acquiring any profession. Mathematicians become excellent creatives, and humanists become top programmers. You never know what your destiny is. And if you never try you never know.