Effective Guide to Successfully Shift Careers

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“I welcome this guest blog provided by online writer Laura Lane. She’s a new writer and contributor at contentcampfire.com, writing about career and skills development.”

Interested in shifting into a new career? As it turns out, you’re probably not alone. MetLife’s 20th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study 2022 reported a constant decline in job satisfaction for the past 20 years. In fact, 47.4 million employees left their jobs in 2021, and only 66% of employees are actually satisfied with their current roles. This trend has been increasingly noticeable, especially after the pandemic hit the world.

Your career choice is a massive part of your life, so job satisfaction is essential. However, shifting into a new career isn’t something to take light-heartedly. There are plenty of factors to consider and steps you need to take. But don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. We’ll talk about the benefits of a career change as well as some practical tips for a successful career change journey.

The Reason Behind a Career Change

There are plenty of viable reasons why people look into changing careers. Joblist’s Midlife Career Crisis survey found that the top five reasons for a career change include:

● Better Pay – 47%
● Too Stressful – 39%
● Better Work-Life Balance – 37%
● Wanted a New Challenge – 25%
● No Longer Passionate About Field – 23%

Benefits of a Career Change


In the same Joblist survey mentioned earlier, it was reported that most people who shifted careers were happier because of the change. Along with happiness, some other mentioned benefits include:

● Happier: 77%
● More satisfied: 75%
● More fulfilled: 69%
● Less stressed: 65%

On top of these, people who shifted careers also started making more money. Respondents stated that they earned $10,800 more annually compared to their previous roles.

Steps Towards a Successful Career Change

Making your move towards a new career can be overwhelming and challenging. However, it’s all worthwhile once you’re in a position that makes you happier and more satisfied. Here are some tips to help ensure your journey’s success:

Evaluate your current job satisfaction. Start a journal about your everyday reactions and feelings towards your current job and how they affect your overall job satisfaction. Note recurring themes and events and how you feel about them. Which aspects of your current position do you like and dislike? From your own notes, you’ll be able to understand better what job satisfaction means to you. Then, you’ll be more prepared to finalize your decision and prepare for the next steps.

Self-assess your skills, strengths, and values. When you’re thinking of shifting roles, it’s essential to know your strengths and what you enjoy doing. Review your work history, and identify your successful projects and preferred activities. Through this, you can determine whether or not your current job matches your core values and skills. If not, you’ll be able to filter out the potential careers that do match them.

Check out potential job matches. Since you have narrowed down your ideal job types, it’s time to conduct extensive research on them. Compare different fields and roles that interest you. You may even lead an informational interview with people currently in your potential area of choice. This way, you can dig deeper and learn more about the roles or specializations you are considering.

Rebrand yourself. After completing these preliminary steps, it’s time to focus on your image, at least before you start applying for jobs. Put yourself under a light personal rebranding. Use resources such as resumes, cover letters, and social profiles to build your individual brand and appeal to potential employers. Look into ways to create a hybrid resume for career change, and ensure that everything aligns with your new desired goals.

Develop new skills and track your progress. Find ways to hone new skills in your present job that could pave the way for a change. Look for courses and resources that will help you better understand your new potential career. To keep yourself motivated in this process, it’s also a good idea to track your progress.

Note down your milestones as you take those little steps towards a total career change. Acknowledging the small victories along the way will greatly help you feel a better sense of accomplishment. Good luck with the switch!

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I have also developed a tool to help you evaluate your current job vs potential new positions you may be pursuing.  Link to the blog that contains the tool.

Once again – Corporations are Called to Lead on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

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Businesses understand that diversity managed well can drive increased profitability

Our fragmented US government can’t really lead for diversity, equity, inclusion and fairness for our society; in fact, a huge swath of political leaders are promoting just the opposite – hate, division, white supremacy, anti-trans actions, denial of racism and sexism, and more.

Our houses of faith really are not providing leadership in this area either. There are far too many so-called churches focused on judging others not like themselves, and propagating the false gospel that the prosperity of white people is God’s blessing upon those following the true path of God (and God’s anointed leader the former president)

So who can fill the gap and promote doing the right things for all people? Who can lead around driving fairness and equity for all in our country? It’s got to be US businesses! US businesses for the most part understand the compelling business case for diversity, equity and inclusion. They understand that a well managed diverse workforce will deliver better results and provide more opportunities and prosperity for all. And most companies employ and serve a wide range of diverse people who all deserve to be affirmed and valued.

But at the same time while more and more companies are getting on the “diversity bandwagon,” there is still the element of corporate greed that works against fairness. Too often companies make financial political contributions to lawmakers who are passing laws to benefit their profitability. But frequently, those same law makers are making laws that harm the very same diverse people the companies employ and serve

So let’s look at some examples:

• Companies that support politicians who oppose common sense gun laws are complicit and must share the blame for the recent mass murders of Black Americans at the grocery store in Buffalo and children at the elementary school in Texas.

• Companies that support politicians who are trying to outlaw the teaching of the honest and realistic history of racism in our country are harming their Black and Brown employees even if they claim to be providing advancement opportunities and skills development for them.

• Companies that support politicians who are passing anti-gay and anti-trans laws are complicit in harming their LGBTQ+ employees and their families, as well as their LGBTQ+ customers. (See my recent blog about Florida and the Disney conundrum.)

About 1,000 registered Black voters waited in line on May 3, 1966 in Birmingham, Ala., to cast ballots in the Democratic primary, the first major southern election after the 1965 Federal Voting Rights Act took effect. Are we now going to go backwards to create roadblocks to voting? Credit…Associated Press

• Companies who support politicians passing voting restrictions targeted primarily at Black voters so that they can hold onto their power, are harming Black communities and democracy as a whole.

• Companies that support politicians who are attempting to totally deprive a woman of choice in regards to her pregnancy in all situations is endangering the health and livelihood of their female employees.

And we should not only focus on companies not supporting politicians who harm diverse communities, but companies should consider supporting politicians who are working to advance equity and fairness for all Americans.

Bottom line, a robust and central part of any organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion commitments has to be influencing public policy in such a way that supports the rights and betterment of all diverse people. And since our other national institutions are failing to provide this leadership, it just may have to be business that steps up pt take the lead in this area.

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Also see my other recent corporate social responsibility blog – “Large Corporations – Acting Like Entitled Bullies with us Entrepreneurs” where I expose the hypocritical behavior of some large companies that claim they are supporting small business and entrepreneurs.