Tag Archives: career change

Effective Guide to Successfully Shift Careers

Posted on by

“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!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

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.

Considering a Career Change? Be a Non-Profit CEO!

Posted on by

There is a wide variety of career options within the non-profit sector.

Note: this blog contains an excellent online training opportunity with link toward the end!

Considering your career options! As many of my blog readers know, my consulting practice has two arms – diversity and career development. In terms of career development, I have written about the importance of each individual owning their career, and asking themselves those penetrating questions to explore what they really want to be doing. It is so critical that long term career aligns with one’s passions.

Back in 2011, I published a 3-part blog series about managing careers:

Part 1 (link) introduced the concept and career mapping – including look where you have been and key skills you have developed during the journey.

Part 2 (link) provided several tools for career management, including a simple spreadsheet to evaluate a job’s fit with your career desires and goals.

Part 3 (link) emphasized really understanding yourself and taking ownership of your career journey.

Aligning career and passions – a short case study. So looking back and parts 2 and 3, one of the passions that people may have is helping make the world a better place. For many people, perhaps for you, making a positive impact on the world through your profession may be more important than work location, recognition, and even pay! I once had a mentee who was very unhappy in his high paying IT job at a major company, and later found deep fulfillment as a social worker making half the salary. (This is not to say that all public sector jobs come with a pay cut … but do understand if personal fulfillment or high pay is higher personal priority.)

If making a positive impact on the world is one of your highest career priorities, perhaps a non-profit sector job is for you. They can come in a wide variety of options – advocating for under-served and oppressed minorities, protecting the environment, helping develop our children, working within the arts arena, working within health care and personal well-being …. The options are endless.

Sean Kosofsky, Mind the Gap Consulting, LLC

Enter Sean Kosofsky, non-profit sector professional extraordinaire! One of my business partners who I have known personally for many years, Sean Kosofsky is a true dynamic leader in the non-profit area. His previous job was as Executive Director of the Tyler Clementi Foundation, an organization created by the Clementi family which seeks to prevent bullying through inclusion, assertion of dignity and acceptance as a way to honor the memory of Tyler Clementi: a son, a brother and a friend. A few years ago, I interviewed Sean in this role for a blog about him and the foundation (link.)

Now Sean is a “Nonprofit Fixer.” He’s worked in nonprofits for 25 years and served as executive director for four organizations. He is a coach and consultant for boards, executive directors and activists of all stripes. His experience includes communications, victim-services, civil rights, environment, policy, bullying prevention, lobbying, management and much more.

Sean is passionate about building successful nonprofits. He especially wants to build strong boards and strong nonprofit CEOs. Sean learned how to run non-profits the hard way – by watching it be done wrong. Sean told me, “Being an Executive Director is incredibly rewarding but it is filled with unique challenges. It’s easy to be thrown into the deep end and told to sink or swim. Your bosses are volunteers who don’t even work at the nonprofit.

The training opportunity! So Sean is offering this online Executive Director Boot Camp course to fill a real gap in our sector…proper preparation for anyone interested in running a nonprofit. No fluff. No theory. No ice breakers. We get down to business with concrete tools and solid wisdom needed to succeed. Most executive directors would have killed to have this info before they started.”

You can learn more about the course and sign up at https://www.nonprofitfixer.com/leadership.