Changing Careers and Developing Skills

Changing Careers and Developing Skills Changing Careers and Developing Skills 24 Sep 2014 They say a change is as good as a rest, but there’s no time for resting when it comes to changing careers. If you didn’t know exactly what you wanted to do from a young age, or perhaps feel that your talents could be better lent to different activities, then it sounds like you need a change of direction. This can be achieved in a variety of ways, but the best are re-evaluating your current skills to reflect the current opportunities available, or learning new skills to be better suited to a change of industry or role. The former point resonates particularly with Karen Kerr, Principal Consultant in Financial Services with Eden Scott. “I see a lot of CVs where I think that their collective skills mean they would be greatly suited to more than just the role they have put themselves forward for. You just need to be flexible and open to suggestion,” Karen explained. With this in mind, here are some of the best ways to change career, using your existing skills, or developing new ones in the process.   Think outside the box What skills have you developed over the years, that mean you could transition into another type of role? What do you normally search for in a job search that could be limiting your horizon? Read through your CV, and make a list of all the keywords you mention in terms of skills and experience. Then, search widely through a variety of industries you would consider working in, and investigate which roles your keywords appear in. There could be roles in existence today that didn’t a few years ago due to industry developments, or roles that simply hadn’t been considered before that may well be appealing now. Of course, if you have extensive experience in one field, then it may at the outset be difficult to transition without making it very clear how relevant your experience is for the role. A recruitment consultant will be able to advise you on your possibilities for a career change, and how best to package your application to highlight its relevancy.   Grow your offering If you’re interested in changing careers, you should ensure your current skills are relevant and full of value, and that you have added what value you can through picking up additional ones. Today, there is a multitude of options when it comes to learning online, which can be useful not only to develop new knowledge while working, but also so that it goes at your own pace and at the right level for your current level of understanding. For a wide variety of courses, Coursera, Skilledup or Skillshare are all wonderful resources that offer courses from organisations as prestigious as MIT and Harvard. There is a vast range on offer, from business and finance to information technology and various sciences. When it comes to tech skills, Treehouse has a very wide offering of tutorial based courses that are very easy to follow, and ensure a competent base knowledge. Coding, web design and Adobe suite skills are fast becoming necessary to know, at least in a basic sense, for many different roles, and given the relative ease of online courses are certainly a great investment in personal development. Languages are also incredibly useful to know â€" if you have a basic knowledge of a language but feel that strengthening it would increase your chances of a career shift, Duolingo is just one of many online and app based language courses. A further great online resource is Eventbrite, which is an online listing of events in various cities throughout the UK. This can be incredibly useful for attending lectures and seminars to brush up on knowledge, as well as network with possible contacts in your future role.   If you dream of doing something different in your career, or think you have skills that could be transferrable, speak to one of our recruitment consultants today who will be able to give you guidance and information to help you on your way.