Are you fed up with juggling the same job every day? Do you dread going to work? Have you lost motivation for the job you previously did with passion? The fact is that there is nothing wrong with you, but with you. What you need is a career change.
George Apiro, the head of guidance and counseling at the Ministry of Education, however, says career change requires a number of strategies and decisions to take. “Career change doesn’t enable you to utilize your potential to another where you can utilize it fully,” he says. “This career should be able to respond to your inner most attitude, interest and social inclinations.”
Moving from one career to another is not a one-night decision. You need to carry out a lot of research in the new area you want to tread, and looking at who you are to re-discover yourself and interests. It involves looking at what you generally like and do not like, experts say.
According to Obed Niwagaba, a consultant at Development Planning Consultants, a career change may require re-training. “When you discover that you have potential for a particular calling and you want to change to it, you have to develop potential fully by training in that area,” he says.
Do you want to change your career but don’t know what to do? Don’t be discouraged. Niwagaba advises that apart from doing proper research, one must always have ‘plan B’ in case things don’t work out as hoped.
Explore new opportunities within your area of competence and expertise. A career guidance counsel can help you navigate the right field basing on your talents and interests. Besides, one can utilize the skills and experiences they have already gained. Apiro says there is always linkage to what one wants to do and what one has been doing.
“People, who change careers, do not move far away from the general category of what they have been doing. For instance a teacher of accounts can move to commerce, but accounting still remains a key area in his life. Though he may leave teaching, he might work in a bank as a cashier while practicing his accounting”.
However, sometimes people move from a broad career category to a completely new area, says Apiro. “This is often due to a blunder made at school. May be your career choice was interfered with by the interests of your peers, friends and teachers or family members.” To make a good career change in such a case, one needs to make choices considering his or her interests and capabilities.
Why people change careers.
Many people change careers when they find that their jobs have become routine. Some people want to find challenging opportunities. “Human beings are always looking for a challenge. That is when they are motivated to work harder.”
Niwagaba says that sometimes people change careers due to circumstances. “Forinstance, my original career was teaching. I had no intention of changing, but circumstances dictated that I change swiftly,” he says.
“I was a grade 2 teacher and the Ministry of Education announced that it was going to phase out grade 2 teachers. I decided to join secondary education to advance. As I was teaching, I had to study ordinary and advanced levels. Fortunately, I passed well and joined Makerere University where I studied SWASA. Thereafter, I had to change from being a teacher to an administrator.
Do a careful self-evaluation before you change your career as you might find yourself jumping from a pan into the fire. You should also avoid changing career due to your emotions. Apiro argues that when one changes their career due to emotions, they may end up being frustrated and hence, regret the career move. However, all hope should not be lost, in case things go wrong, you can revert to your former career.
