For whatever reason, you have decided to leave your old career behind and pursue a new opportunity. Perhaps you don’t see any future in it, perhaps you are moving and want to take advantage of the opportunity offered, or perhaps you simply hate your old career. Whatever the reason you’re wanting to look for new career opportunities is, have you considered what you should be looking for in that new career?
Here, we’re going to look at some of the priorities that often tend to be the driving force behind a new choice or career, as well as the reasons that it’s worth keeping all of them in mind.
The Financial Incentive
Of course, we all want to be happy and fulfilled, and having enough money to take care of our basic needs is always going to be a part of that. When you consider any careers, make sure that you not only take a look at the average salaries, but also the entry-level salaries and how long it takes you the average worker to get up to the mid-point of the scale. Financial incentives can be measured in more than salary alone, of course, so take into account all benefits and bonuses when possible.
Job Security
You might have developed a keen interest in a job that exists right now, and the market might have room to help you with an easy transition. But you need to make sure that the career you’re getting into is going to continue to have space for you five years or even ten years from now. There are some jobs now that might not exist, or at least might be a lot rarer in the future. It’s a good idea to see what people in those industries have to say about the future job prospects in them.
Your Passions
The ability to work in a field that you are passionate about is something that most of us want at our career’s start, but we often follow the trajectory of the job we get, rather than what we really want. If you’re here, then you likely have a passion for fitness and health, so working with your passions might well mean you become a personal trainer, a nutritionist, or someone else who works with people to improve their physical health. Consider your passions, which of them are marketable, and what skills you bring to the table or can learn to work with them.
Home and Family Life
A lot of us spend our early careers sacrificing our work-life balance strictly in the direction of favoring work. When you have the professional skills to switch careers, you also have the liberty to push that balance back in your own favor. Nowadays, with the advent of working from home, it becomes easier to get work that improves the time you can spend with your kids or in your home, as to work in ways that better suit your lifestyle, rather than just your career.
How Much Progression Does It Offer?
When you’re looking at a career, you should not be looking at just the job that you’re going to be doing initially. You want to think about what you will be doing in a decade or two decades from now. The way that we move from job to job has changed a lot from the traditional route of staying in a company and working your way up over the years like used to be the norm. However, it’s still important to be able to identify a progression path in any career you are considering.
How Much Are You Willing to Go Through?
There are some jobs that you might be able to enter right now with the skills and experience that you currently have. The greater your change in career, however, the more likely it will be that you need additional training and exercise. There are sites that give great breakdowns on what qualifications it takes, in general, to enter a career. You have to know how much time you will spend working your way up to the career that you want, and be able to dedicate the time to any education or training you might need along the way, or look to different options if you cannot.
Which of the above motivations most drives your career is up to you. However, you will want to try and find some balance between all of them. If one of these critical aspects is missing from your career, it will turn from a noteworthy absence to an essential need in no time, you can rest assured of that.
