7 Key Steps for a Successful Career Change

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Career Change|7 Key Steps for a Successful Career ChangeNo matter the branch of career you work in, there may come a time in your working life that you decide you’re not as satisfied with your job as you used to be.

When that happens, it’s a good idea to take a closer look at the different aspects of this revelation and try to find out whether a career change is a good option for you moving forward.

Here, we discuss why people may want to change their career paths, what benefits it has, and how you, too, can successfully change your career path using these seven key steps.

Why People Change Careers

There may be many reasons why someone would want to change their career. These include:

  • Wanting a new challenge and career advancement opportunities
  • Experiencing burnout and too much stress
  • Having a better work-life balance
  • Desiring better pay

Benefits of a Career Change

After weighing your options and deciding that a career change is the best possibility for you, you will see that changing your work path has several benefits.

According to a Joblist survey, people who changed their career paths were happier, more satisfied, more stimulated/fulfilled, and tended to be less stressed in their lives.

How to Change Your Career Path

1. Assess your current job satisfaction

If you’re unsure whether it’s just a bad day at work or whether it’s time to change your whole work path, take a closer look at your current position in your industry.

Make a note of everything you like and dislike about your job, and notice any recurring themes that please or displease you.

Is your issue with the people you work with, your boss, or the overall way your current company or industry works?

2. Take an inventory of your skills, interests, and goals

This step is arguably the most important. Getting to know yourself and your abilities and interests is essential to ensure you’re making the right decision to change your whole career or industry.

The best way to do this is to make a personal inventory with psychological tests such as the Strong Interest Inventory Assessment that helps you understand what you like and dislike and incorporate your best skills in finding the right career path and activities.

Doing something you’re good at, and enjoy, is often the missing component that derives people into burnout and eventually career path change.

3. Decide if you want to change your industry or occupation

Sometimes, the answer to all your work-related problems can be found if instead of changing your whole career path, you simply change your occupation in the field.

For instance, a programmer that switches to marketing in the tourism and leisure industry is only changing their occupation, but if a retail worker employed in the makeup industry becomes a project manager for a tourism and leisure industry, they’ve changed their career.

4. Check out job options and brainstorm careers

After you’ve decided on changing your career, start brainstorming what type of career will suit you best. Evaluate your skills and values and note what you like and dislike about each career option.

If you’re finding it hard to come up with options that suit you and your core values and skills the best, try seeking help from family, friends, and other professionals in the field. Networking can go a long way.

You can try career counseling as well to help you figure out your skill sets and advantages you can bring to a certain career path.

5. Narrow the list down

You’ve found a list of potential new careers that will be a great fit with your work and lifestyle. Next, try to narrow down the options by listing all the different aspects of each field and career, both positive and negative.

Research each category thoroughly, and if possible, ask industry professionals about the pros and cons of the field.

After that, you should be left with a shortlist of a few neat options you can consider for your future change.

6. Take classes and upgrade your skills

When a career change is concerned, it’s important to know what you don’t know! Changing your job may require minimum alterations, but swapping careers will require you to seek new knowledge and skills you haven’t yet used before.

Don’t be afraid of not knowing; that’s how everyone starts. Take classes related to your new field and upgrade the skills you’re going to need.

7. Try your target field as a volunteer or freelancer

Before jumping into the field as a full-time employee, you need to make sure the new career and field is everything you expected.

A great way to test the waters before you commit to the change is to find volunteer or freelance work in the same market or industry. Try to carefully analyze what you experience during those few weeks or days, and note anything and everything that may make you change your mind about the decision. Be transparent with yourself.

Four Things to Consider with Your Investment Manager

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Investment Manager|Four Things to Consider with Your Investment ManagerEveryone is different in terms of how hands-on they want to be with their money management. Some are content to turn over their funds to a reliable investment manager (read more about investment management here). In contrast, others want to be more involved in the day-to-day decisions regarding their money. But wherever you are on that spectrum, here are four topics you should talk over with your investment manager.

Your Timeframe

It’s pretty evident that your preference for long vs shorter-term investments will depend on your age. However, even if you are relatively young, you may have needs that you are planning for, such as higher education or starting your own business. Or maybe you are in such a good place that you can plan on retiring early! Whatever your situation, a discussion about when you need to realize the returns on your investments needs to be on the agenda when you meet with an investment manager or financial advisor.

Risk Tolerance

The amount of risk you are willing to accept is a hugely personal decision, though it should be, in part, dictated by some life circumstances. If you are older and looking to retire soon, you will probably want your investments to be at lower risk. You don’t want to lose everything just as you are hitting your golden years. But if you are younger and just starting your retirement savings investments, you might have a higher tolerance for volatile but potentially high yield investments. Or you may just be cautious by nature or a daredevil. Either way or any way in between, it is an important conversation to have.

Diversification

How much diversity you want to see in your portfolio is closely related to your level of risk tolerance. Putting all your eggs in a high yield basket, so to speak, can have a big pay-off but also makes you highly vulnerable. Having your assets spread out in many different places mitigates that risk, but it might be frustrating if you have a limited investment in a fund, or market, or company that takes off. You might want to learn how to buy Bitcoin or consider angel investing as alternative options. You and your investment manager should discuss the possibilities, including strategies for mixing lower and higher-risk investments and making different kinds of investments.

Your Values

You may not care where your money is, so long as it is busy making you more money. But many people see investing as a form of supporting the practices of a business or industry in a very literal way. In the 1980s, many investors divested from their portfolios in South Africa to withdraw support from the Apartheid government. Since then, there have been various divestment movements, and there are funds available to invest in that support certain societal goods, like green energy. The saying is that you should put your money where your mouth is. Think about the values that are most important to you and how those values are reflected in society. When you meet with your investment manager, go over what is important to you to develop an investment strategy that honors your ethics.

How To Dress For A Job Interview

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Dress for a Job Interview|How To Dress For A Job InterviewNo matter whether you are a man or a woman, an entry level junior or a CEO, you need to dress well for work. Period. Although nowadays the rules on office attire are generally more relaxed than they used to be, these relaxed rules aren’t an invitation to slack off when it comes to your fashion choices!

When you are interviewing for a promotion in your current company, or for a new position elsewhere, your clothing is a super important aspect of how you come across. Like it or not, your aesthetic choices will be judged by the person interviewing you, even on a subconscious level.

Don’t be afraid to be bold!

Although you should be dressing in a professional way at your job interview, professional doesn’t equal boring. You shouldn’t be dressing in a classically professional way unless that is actually your taste. Instead, make sure you incorporate your individuality in with your professional attire, by wearing your favourite colours or statement jewellery, for example.

By dressing in a bold but elegant way, not only will you come across as more confident to your interviewer, but this will also make you more memorable. Wearing statement clothes that fit your personality and also adhere to the type of company you are interviewing with will make them remember you clearly!

Tidiness is more crucial than the actual clothes you wear

When it comes to presenting as the best version of yourself, tidiness and cleanliness should take priority. Even if you can’t afford to buy a whole new outfit for the interview, or you don’t own designer labels, none of this will matter if you present in an orderly, clean way.

This means making sure your clothes are free of stains, scuffs or loose threads; additionally, you should ensure your hair and makeup (if you wear makeup!) are neatly presented too. You don’t want to come across as messy or rushed, so make sure you prioritise looking neat and tidy when getting ready for a job interview.

Impress with accessories

When you are sitting in a job interview, you are across a desk (or nowadays, perhaps across a screen) from your interviewer. They will be able to see the details of the top half of your body, meaning that if you wear statement accessories or chic details, they will be able to see it!

What accessories should you wear to a job interview? Watches are a good place to start. The Audemars Royal Oak watch models on WatchBox are the perfect example of professional watches that will impress an interviewer who is sitting up close to you.

Similarly, if you want to be really impressive both professionally and aesthetically, carrying a high quality pen in your breast pocket makes you seem prepared and stylish simultaneously! A beautiful pen speaks volumes about your attention to detail and preparedness in case you need to make any notes during the interview.

Final Thoughts

If you are preparing for a job interview, use our advice to make sure you dress to impress on the day!

6 Great Hobbies to Keep Your Stress Under Control

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Keep your stress under control|6 Great Hobbies to Keep Your Stress Under ControlStress is an incredibly dangerous thing and if left uncontrolled it can cause absolute havoc on your mental and physical health. This means that any activity that you enjoy that helps you to mitigate and control your stress is a major boon to your health and wellbeing. To that end, this article aims to suggest a number of potential hobbies that could help you to control your stress and keep it at manageable levels.

1. Archery

One of the most relaxing and meditative sports out there, archery is all about careful control and accuracy, making it one of the best sports you could possibly engage with for stress relief. The enjoyment and engagement that you can get from taking your time, controlling your mind, and hitting your target in archery is second to none, and overall, that makes the sport an incredibly relaxing and soothing experience.

2. Reading

Reading is incredibly healthy for your mind. It boosts relaxation and mental acuity, allowing your mind to engage entirely in another world and releasing you, for a time, from the stresses and pressures of the world around you. By doing so, reading allows you to engage with an incredibly relaxing and meditative process that keeps your mind as clear and entertained as you could ever want.

3. Art

Drawing, painting, sculpting, modelling, and every other form of art are incredibly involved and meditative processes that allow the artist to throw themselves entirely into the process of creating something beautiful. By doing so the artist allows themselves to relax their fixations on the trials and pressures of their daily lives and to truly relax. This process is hugely meditative and wonderfully beneficial to their stress levels, allowing them to banish huge amounts of stress while simultaneously creating a beautiful work of art.

4. Football

As with most other forms of stress-relieving hobby, playing football allows you to escape, at least temporarily, from the stresses and pressures of your everyday life and simply enjoy the sport itself. Playing with friends and family helps to double down on the relaxing effect of the sport and, it so happens, that playing football is not the only way that the sport can allow you to relax your stresses.

Another way for you to relieve stress through football is through watching it with your friends and family. Watch parties are wonderful ways for you and your loved ones to get together and engage with the most important sporting competitions such as the Euro 2020 (Euro 2021 group tables). Watching these games together with your loved ones is a brilliant way to further reduce stress.

5. Model Building

Building models is a slow and delicate process and one that you can throw yourself into entirely. The experience of watching the model come together slowly, piece by piece, is hugely enjoyable and a brilliant way to mitigate and control your stress levels.

6. Writing Poetry

Finally, writing poetry is a wonderful way to allow you to bleed the stress from your mind. Poetry is all about transferring your emotion to the page and by doing so, you can find release from it yourself.

Title Your Real Estate Career Should Enhance Your Life, Not Define It

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Real Estate Career|The Pitfalls Of Overindulging In Your Real Estate CareerVolatility and uncertainty are two words that clearly define the current state of the real estate market. Still, regardless of the changing landscape in real-estate investing, it has sparked many individuals to strike the opportunity of making the most with the Covid-19 induced economic recession. As a result, alongside the sudden surge in cryptocurrency investing, more people are looking into real estate careers as a way of guaranteeing their financial freedom in the long term during the current market downturn.

However, while we strongly commend those grasping their future by their hand, we have reason to believe that many newcomers are wrongly motivated by dreams of catching the wave of economic recovery and timing the market in their favor. And, while it’s entirely possible to set yourself for life with the right decisions in place, defining the next few years to come by your real estate career alone without recognizing the risks will set you up for failure and regret.

A Market Of Opportunity And Equally Terrifying Risks

It’s true that during trying times is when life-changing opportunities present themselves. Still, we must also look at it because the same market also carries equally terrifying risks that could do the same damage otherwise. And all it would take is one slip-up or a single moment of getting too ahead of yourself for one unnoticeable detail to leave your attention and make everything you’ve built up crumble to your knees. Plus, considering that the real estate market is more than capable of recreating this situation a hundredfold, newbies must proceed with this new career with caution.

  • Soaring Demand And Limited Housing Supply: Currently, there’s soaring demand for new homes and a minimal housing supply to top it all, making it a seller’s market and a dream for those already holding key properties to offer. However, the same situation was reflected during the housing crisis, and if the pessimists were to be proven correct, it wouldn’t be long until an event to pop the bubble. Sure, prices are high, and you’ll get multiple offers, but don’t take on too much.
  • Global Shortage Restricting New Developments: We’ve established the people want homes. They want them now, but the depleted global supply chains make it near impossible to start new housing developments because we are currently facing shortages. For example, lumber has drastically risen in price now that the US is facing a shortage of resources, making the prospect of building new homes less financially feasible.
  • Home Sales Are Unexpectedly Plunging: Lastly, despite the enticing home prices that appeal to sellers, existing home sales are down by 2.7%, and the current trend points to more decline. Therefore, you might not even be able to sell a home. The indicators show an explicit contradiction between demand and the realized home sales, making it even riskier for those new to their real estate aligned professions.

But Value Your Career And Safeguard Your Livelihood With Competence

Of course, we are by no means dissuading people from investing in a real estate career because it’s a career path that will inevitably teach you methods of guaranteeing long-term financial security. However, given the volatile and uncertain nature of the current real estate markets, you must safeguard your livelihood with competence instead of overindulging yourself with career goals and yet-to-be-realized dreams.

1. Know Your Way Around The New Marketplace

Times are changing, and the same is happening to the real estate marketplace, so you should start to know your way around it as soon as possible. From connecting with key stakeholders and making valuable strategic partnerships, you could quickly grasp the overall market sentiment in your locale and position yourself to make the most profit in the ideally safest way possible. For example, understanding trends in homeowner insurance helps you approach your clients’ interests better and more professionally.

2. Understand The Change In Homebuyer Demand

People want different things from a house, and with the new normal, homebuyers’ behavior is also shifting toward the emerging needs and challenges brought about by the global pandemic. For example, now that remote work is here to stay, and there will always be a reliable remote workforce staying at home, expect an increased preference for homes that could offer separate office space. So, when renovating or fixing up a property, always consider how you can meet the change in homebuyer demand.

3. Balance Your Risk Appetite

Last but not least, we recommend that you balance your risk appetite and acknowledge when you’ve bitten off too much than what you can handle. Far too many uncertain variables are currently at play, and if you don’t have enough liquid cash to meet an unexpected crisis, the market will liquidate your assets for you and put you back in square one or, worse, in more debt.

Don’t Stretch Yourself Too Thin.

In conclusion, you don’t want to stretch yourself too thin by focusing too much on your real estate career without recognizing the red flags all around you. Take a step back and always analyze every deal you plan on doing so you can mitigate any looming risks beforehand.