Sometimes you may face a pivotal decision in your life when it comes to your career. If you’re feeling unhappy in your job, this can often happen circa your late twenties or early thirties. You may feel trapped, unmotivated, unhappy or just realize you want to get more out of your job that what you’re getting right now. Perhaps your experience has taken you as far as you can go in your position or maybe you have been inspired by a completely different career path. Below is a  breakdown of how to make those first steps into changing career paths.

Why Do I Feel Like This?
The job you take when you first graduate from university or school may not be the industry you now want to be in. You may have spent five or six years in a role and have discovered you have other talents that you could utilize in a different area. Or perhaps through the experience you have gained, you realize you could offer your skill set to a more exciting industry. Perhaps your circumstances have changed, and you want to go freelance or become self-employed. Or you could want to work with children instead of computers or in a creative industry instead of corporate. There are many reasons why you may feel like changing career paths, and none should be dismissed as fantasy. We work for so many hours of our lives that creating harmony in both our professional and personal lives is essential for our mental health.

How Can You Take Action?

First off get some fresh perspective. Work out what makes you tick and what thrills and motivates you. Don’t feel like just because you’ve chosen a certain career you have to carry it through for the rest of your working life. There are lawyers who leave the rat race to become yoga instructors. And likewise, there are PA’s who retrain as lawyers. Working life is very different to what it used to be. There are many more possibilities and opportunities. It may be that you are interested in working in the digital market. If so you can gain new skills through companies that will help you retrain. For example, team treehouse offers self-learning online courses in web development and design. You can read a team treehouse review here. Or perhaps you want to retrain as a teacher. If you have a bachelor’s degree, you can then work towards gaining a doctoral degree and a teaching credential. This will enable you to teach in both secondary and post-secondary schools. Other options to consider? You may be interested in creative design agencies or luxury travel. Or perhaps you want to retrain as a florist, fitness instructor or a nutritional therapist. Transferable skills, online courses, relevant training and in-house experience will all stand you in good stead. There are many possibilities and opportunities to take action towards changing career paths.

What Next?

If you need to retrain for your chosen career, expect to have to take on either a part-time role or evening work if you don’t have the funds to subsidize time off. But with patience and determination, it is always possible to switch careers. Consider looking for a mentor in your chosen industry that can advise and guide you along the way. Don’t be scared to ask for any hands-on experience you can get. And always be willing to learn and grow. Be realistic about how much time it may take to retrain but never be scared of taking risks. As Elizabeth Appell said, ‘and the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.’