Deciding to make a change to what you are doing is a big decision, and it is one that you should not take lightly. Making the commitment to change and leave your old career behind is commendable and probably a little bit scary too. Change and growth are positive, and once you have made the decision, what should you be doing to put everything into action? What should you be thinking about to ensure that you change careers as smoothly and as seamlessly as possible?
Deciding to Change Careers
Making the decision to change what you do for a living may be something that you have been thinking about for a while, or it may be something that has entered your thought process recently. When you make a decision, you have to weigh up the pros and the cons of starting a new career. For example, will the new career you are interested in give you a better work-life balance? Or, will it give you the opportunity to earn more money? There are lots of elements that you need to consider and carefully think about before deciding to change your career. However, once you have weighed everything up, you can then begin to focus on what you want to do and why.
Establishing What You Want to Do
Do you want to establish a new career in a new industry or marketplace? Or would you like to stay in the industry you are in but change what you are doing? If you do not establish what you want to do, then doubt will begin to creep in. Once doubt sets in, you will have trouble making a decision, and, of course, this is not what you want. So, think carefully about what direction you want to take your career in and why.
If you are unsure about what you want to do, or if you are struggling to be decisive, then utilize a list of pros and cons. Writing down and physically seeing the advantages and disadvantages of a career will allow you to see clearly which direction you want to go in and perhaps which direction you want to avoid at all costs.
Why You Need to Focus on Your Education
When you are making a switch to a new career, it is important that you focus your attention and your time on your education. An advanced education or an education that specializes in a subject or area of interest is essential for a new career. You will be facing competition for new career opportunities. To stand out from this competition, you need to advance your education, and you need to increase your knowledge and awareness of a new industry, new role, and new marketplace.
When you return to studying, and when you pursue a master’s, you have the opportunity to advance and enhance your knowledge. Without the correct knowledge and awareness in place, then you will struggle to land the career that you want. You will be matched and pitted against other similar candidates when you are job hunting. So, ensuring that you have the advantage or the upper hand is crucial.
How an Advanced Education Benefits You
As an individual, you can always be better. You can always improve what you are doing, when, and why. When you focus on advancing and enhancing your education, you do just that. You improve what you are doing and what you are offering through education and learning. When you change careers, you cannot expect to just walk into a new role. You need to know what the role entails, and you need to know about the industry you are entering. A solid education can and will help you with this, as it will allow you to see and explore in-depth what a new career truly entails.
You cannot simply expect to walk into a new career. You have to put in the work, and you have to get up to speed with what your new industry or new marketplace is about. When you focus on your education, you focus on filling in the gaps, and you also focus on building on your strengths and developing your weaknesses. When you have more knowledge, together with increased awareness, you have the ability to make a change and make a difference. Without this, you would struggle to establish a new career, and you would most certainly struggle to make an impact in a new role.
Continuing Education as an Adult Learner
Getting back into education as an older learner or adult learner can leave you feeling full of apprehension and nerves. However, there is nothing to be apprehensive or nervous about, and you will establish this yourself when you begin to study. Yes, there will be challenges, obstacles, and possibly even setbacks along the way, but these can be overcome if you take everything at your own pace.
Adapting to change will be easier than you think. When you realize just how advancing your education will benefit you, then you will change, and you will grow. Getting back into studying may be challenging, but if you begin to mentally prepare yourself for what lies ahead, you will have more reassurance and peace of mind.
Deciding Where to Study
After mentally committing to studying and learning, you then need to physically decide where you want to study, and of course, what. If you are after flexibility, then you need to study online with a university. When you are looking for the right university, you need to look at the true specialists, the ones who are dedicated to your development and learning. SBU Online provides flexible opportunities to earn a master’s online from your home or place of work, and ultimately, a greater deal of flexibility is what you need, especially when you are changing careers later in life or you are balancing studying with other commitments.
Studying Online and Making It Work for You
When you study online, you save time and hassle. A major advantage of online studying is that you do not have to commute or lose time traveling to a physical campus. A campus may only be 15 minutes away, but those 15 minutes could be spent with your children or other family members.
To make online studying work for you, you must establish a quiet space to study in. When you are trying to study from home, you realize how many distractions there are. Distractions will slow you down, so focus on creating a study space. A study space should be a quiet area within your home, which is clearly sectioned off and separated from other areas of your home. An area needs to be separated to ensure that you can focus all of your attention and efforts on your studies and your education.
Splitting Your Time to Make Space for Your Studies
Committing to advancing your education does mean that you will have to manage your time even better than you do already. Time management is crucial when you are studying online from home because it is so easy to get distracted and carried away with other things.
When you are making time, and when you are splitting up your time, you must ensure that you do not try to do too much at once. When you are studying from home and balancing work, together with family life, it can be difficult to establish what needs your time, why, and when. When you are struggling to establish where time needs to be spent, you end up doing too much and spreading yourself too thin. Create a schedule and timetable, and then review it regularly. Maintaining a healthy and manageable balance will ensure that you do not burn out or find the process too stressful.
Setting Achievable and Realistic Goals and Targets
When you are studying and when you are trying to establish a new career, you need to set goals and targets. Having realistic and achievable targets to work towards will be beneficial to you and will ensure that you achieve your new career goals and aspirations in a timely manner. Utilizing both short-term and long-term goals will ensure that you achieve what you want but in a manageable and sustainable way. If you do not choose to set goals, then you could struggle to stay on course with your studies and education. If you fall behind in your studies, you could struggle to handle the physical and emotional pressure.
Building a Support System
When you are going through big changes and developments in your life, it is good to know that you have people there for you. Building a support system that is made up of friends and family is crucial to your success. When you are juggling as much as you will be, you will need those listening ears, and you will need that moral support and guidance. Without a strong support system in place, you will struggle to achieve your goals, hopes, and aspirations.