Switching careers is never a small feat not to talk of doing it successfully. Just what does it take to decide you no longer want to be a banker for instance and instead pursue a life long desire in human resources?

Difficult I can tell you.

The level of difficulty depends on the person involved.

Man naturally has so much inertia; we really would avoid leaving a decent career to go into something new all over again with all the uncertainties that come with it.

However as with most human endeavours you can switch careers successfully if you are truly determined and willing to do what it takes for a smooth transition.

While I cannot give a 100 percent fail proof plan to switching careers the below tips will help you get the transition safely done. And when you finally set up on your new career you can come back for the thanksgiving.

Be Sure of What You Really Want to Do

Before you decide to leave your current career path it’s very essential to know exactly what else you intend to move into. The importance of knowing cannot be over-emphasized as at this stage you do not need to act on hunches.

Find out All You Can About the New Path

Dig into researching your new and intended career path. What opportunities are available?

Do the SWOT

At your current status are you adequately equipped to make a successful switch? If not what skills and knowledge do you require to be able to compete very well when you make the step over.

Start the Upgrade

When you have done the basic analysis of what you have versus what is required that you may be lacking the next is to allocate some time to preparing and upgrading your professional arsenal to the required level. When you achieve this it not only makes your transition smoother you can actually start at a level maybe higher than where you currently are.

What’s Your Entry Point

Now the qualifications thing brings us to evaluating your possible entry points. Especially when you are switching between two different career and profession paths you will need to be realistic about where you can get in. The level you currently occupy as an accounting professional may not be comparable to what you will expect if you switch to something like investment banking for instance.

Chances are that given your experience and knowledge level you may realistically have to enter the investment banking world at a level lower than what you occupied as an accounting or audit professional.

So the key here is to be realistic and explore the various entry points possible for your unique situation.

Searching for Opportunities (Revamping your CV)

At this level you will have to position your profile and conduct your job search in two ways; active and passive job search. Whereas actively searching will require you to sign up to job sites, go through various industry sources of vacancies regularly for passive search you might want to create a very compelling profile/resume and sign up for Ngcareers premium job match service. The essence of the passive search is that while you may not have to search and apply to job adverts regularly your resume is visible to employers and companies on talent databases and thus when searches for candidates with similar requirements which your profile matches you can get invites or contacted by head hunters.

Strategic networking is the other third way you can start looking for opportunities.

When to Make the Leap

In these harsh economic times you simply should not wake up one morning and leave your current job because you are hopeful of making a switch. For instance resign your current job only when you have agreed terms with at least one organisation with an offer letter to prove you have something concrete.

Ngcareers.com - Let the right opportunities find you

Noted.

Nice write-up. God bless your generation @ OP