image linked to page find out why christian life coaching is all about discovering Godly answers to life's toughest questions

Changing Careers

Changing careers mid-stream is always a challenge!

But, more and more people are doing it every year.

A quick illustration from my grandfather's career story...

Once he got out of the military, my grandfather got a job with a large communications company and stayed there until retirement

...worked his way up the ranks through diligence, loyalty and good-old-fashioned elbow grease... without changing careers.

He was rewarded with a pension plan, benefits, esteem, and ever-increasing levels of responsibility.

These days, it's getting harder and harder to find companies that take such good care of their people.

The communications mogul that was blessed with my grandfather's loyalty has since been split, merged, renamed, bought, sold, pushed and tugged into an entirely different organization.

When I was in college, a classmate of mine worked for the same company, and complained of ever-shifting procedures, loss of identity, and a sour organizational culture...

She was seriously considering changing careers.

...Not my grandfather's career experience at all.

Changing Careers in a New Era

In these times of economic turmoil, companies are running lean operations. Jobs come and go.

Security is a thing of the past, as corporations cut expenses and managers skip from one department to the next.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the average American is changing careers three times in his or her lifetime (by their definition of career change, which is a little more rigid than mine)

Not job changes...

career changes!

In this terribly dry report, the Bureau also says that the average person who was born between 1946 and 1964 has held about 10 different jobs.

The numbers are rising for upcoming generations.

Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?

Let's look at some of the reasons why people are switching jobs and changing careers so frequently...

Reasons for Changing Careers

- A Change of Focus

Our focus can change for many reasons...

...Perhaps it's a growing family that causes a mom or dad to embark upon a career as a stay-at-home parent...

...Maybe its due to a "mid-life crisis" (which is never a cliche when it actually happens to you)...

...Or a spiritual awakening that sparks a re-evaluation of priorities and passions...

...It could be that the person's current industry or field has lost its allure or ceased to be challenging and stimulating. . .

In short, every change of life-focus is as unique as the person experiencing it. Whatever the reason, a change of focus is common precursor to a person's changing careers.

- Job Loss

Times have changed. It used to be possible to get a job and work your way up in a company without a college education. For my younger readers: this was not too long ago!

There are still many people with comfortable positions who do not have the degree of education required of entry-level employees.

That is all fine and well... these are experienced people who do an excellent job and are valued by their company.

No problems at all... Until the economy slumps or the company is bought out, merged with another, or closes its doors completely.

Suddenly there are valuable, experienced people adrift in a poor job market that is beginning to require more and more education!

Sometimes the bottom falls out of an entire industry or niche, leaving many highly qualified and educated people with nowhere to go.

(Or nowhere that offers the same rate of pay, business potential or career opportunity.)

At this point, some people realize that starting from the bottom in the same industry is not what they want to do with the rest of their lives.

That's the signal for...

you guessed it...

A career change!

Tips for Changing Careers

Do something you are passionate about...

Have you heard of the "golden handcuffs?" These are jobs that pay your bills but leave you feeling like a spent shell of a person... purposeless and trapped, because you won't be able to make this much money anywhere else!

If at all possible....

...shed the golden handcuffs.

Life is short.

I've spoken with many elderly nursing-home residents who look back on their prime as if it was yesterday. The years "flew" by.

As I grow older (and I'm still a young man by many estimations) the weeks, months and years are starting to speed by faster than ever before.

Life is too short to do something that does not energize you. There is too huge a variety of people and passions to start listing examples...

Look within yourself. What charges you up?

Times are changing as the world grows smaller and communications capabilities expand. Chances are, you can find a market for your passion.

Trying to identify your marketable passion?

(This is something I can help with!)

Learn your strengths and weaknesses...

This is a good time to learn about... yourself.

"What?" (you say) "I've been living with myself my whole life... I should know me by now!?"

Maybe you do know yourself well.

Maybe you've studied every angle of your personality profile.

Maybe you have had your aptitudes thoroughly tested.

If not, let me recommend a couple of excellent resources. Before changing careers, go to the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation (JOCRF) and have your aptitudes tested.

This is a two-day ordeal with lots of one-on-one work with a psychologist-proctor.

JOCRF tests things about you that you can't change... Aspects of you and your learning style that will not change... even if you take the test again 20 years down the road!

JOCRF is a nonprofit research organization (and they certainly don't give me any money or favors for writing this)

But I'm telling you about them because their tests work. And they are always updating them with proven academic/scientific research.

Incidentally, JOCRF is one of the reasons that I am now a successful coach, instead of working my way up the fire department ranks. (Yes, I was a firefighter in a past career!)

If you don't get your aptitudes tested, at least complete this simple, free, online personality profile.

Myers-Briggs personality type tests can tell you a lot about yourself.

Caution: Unlike JOCRF aptitude assessments, which have no "wiggle-room," you can change the outcome by twisting your answers to the 72-question survey.

I have most of my clients complete their personality profiles... This is a very helpful tool if the questions are answered honestly.

Your responses should not reflect the way you want to be, or the way that God is teaching you to become :)

Respond the way you would naturally... it is important to maintain the accuracy of your profile.

Granted, it helps if someone who knows what they're talking about can guide you through the process...

...which is why it wouldn't hurt to fill out this free coaching consultation form...

Please don't start off on a new career (or walk into an interview, for that matter) without a solid grasp of your own personality, capabilities, skills and aptitudes.

Take care of yourself spiritually. . .

It's so easy to get completely consumed in building a new business, launching an entrepreneurial endeavor, searching for jobs, rewriting your resume and juggling financial changes

Passionate about your new product or service?

Serious about finding the ideal position?

Lost in a maze of "hows" and "what-ifs"?

Take it to the Lord. He asks us to seek His Kingdom first (Matt. 6:23). The rest will follow. He promises to take care of His own.

Every moment you put into your spiritual health will produce an excellent return on the investment.

Wash yourself in Truth.

Feed yourself on the Word.

Cast your cares on the only One Who can carry your burden.

Take care of your family. . .

Who is your family? This should be obvious if you are a wife, a husband, a mother or a father. If, however, you are none of those things...

...you still have family.

Especially if you claim Christ as Lord and Savior.

People who are invested in your life...

Someone you have mentored or grown close to...

Brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers in Christ...

Anyone who will feel the effects of your change in their own life.

Make sure you're not neglecting these important relationships. Fulfill your responsibilities and honor your commitments.

No career...

No amount of success....

No occupational upheaval...

...Is worth sacrificing the people closest to you, or destroying the joy that God intended for these relationships.

Adjust your "standard of living"

We treat the standard-of-living issue like some precious delicate vase in the corner. We tiptoe around it, never disturb it and never want to move it.

I've got news. Our savior Jesus Christ had less of a home than the birds and foxes. And, he commands us not to worry about what we will eat or drink or wear. . . because our Heavenly Father will take good care of us.

Used to living in a certain-sized house? Used to driving a certain quality of vehicle? Used to fine dinners out and spendy entertainment?

All of that is temporary. It can be given and taken away in the blink of an eye. (Look at our hero Job from the Old Testament)

It's time to re-define necessity.

My time doing humanitarian aid work in third-world countries was hugely eye-opening. I've seen modern-day humans surviving and thriving on one U.S. dollar per day.

One!

Obviously, I'm not recommending that to anyone living in an industrialized nation with a family to support!

...But it does give a clearer perspective of what necessity really is.

Especially while changing careers, we need to learn to live within our means.

If you are the head of a family, it is your responsibility to set the tone.

Provide the emotional stability your family needs as your standard of living may differ while changing careers.

If you are in the middle of a career change, considering a career change or if someone close to you is changing careers...

...please accept a Free Consultation with Christian-Life-Coaching.org!