Tag Archives for " career "

Can you afford to change career?

By Felicity Dwyer | Career change , freelance

If you’re thinking of making a major career change, chances are you’re considering the impact on your finances. This was certainly the case for me when I decided to work for myself back in 2003.

I’m not a financial risk taker. But this didn’t stop me from making the calculated decision to take the plunge and start my own business, at a certain point in my life.

The reality is that a career change may result in a financial hit in the short term, although this is not inevitable. And there is evidence that people are more successful when they do a job that plays to their strengths. So if you’re not in the right role or field of work, making a change may increase your long-term earning potential. Or you may think a lower income is a price worth paying to work in a sector that feels more worthwhile, or a role that offers you more freedom.

I believe there are two key questions you need to ask yourself. The first one is focused on the short term, the second on the longer term.

Q1. What do I need to earn?

This is really about clarifying the minimum income you need to pay for essentials. If your career change involves re-training, or starting again at a lower level in a new field or industry, then you may need to accept a temporary drop in income. If you are not as clear as you could be on your current financial situation, take time to audit all your monthly and annual expenditure.

This process is likely to uncover areas where you could cut your costs. For example are you paying too much for household expenses? And if you stopped commuting, how would this affect your outgoings?

For help with assessing and reviewing your budgets, it’s worth looking at the Moneysavingexpert.com website.  A good starting point is the Do a Money Makeover page which includes links to a downloadable budget planner and lots of advice on reducing your expenditure. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help#personal

Q2. What do I want to earn?

This is a question as it’s about your future ambitions and lifestyle.

I’m a believer in the maxim “do what you love and the money will follow”, as long as you temper this with a pinch of realism. If you love your job you are more likely to be good at it, and to progress up the career ladder, and the same goes for running a business. But if a certain level of income is important to you, then this will affect your career choices. Starting your own business or company can offer a high degree of freedom, and the potential to generate wealth, if you can come up with a commercially viable idea and are prepared to do the work and take the risk. But the reality is the majority of small enterprises bring in a more modest income. Many people are happy if they can establish a sustainable lifestyle business.

We all have different attitudes to risk. Speaking personally, I stayed in employment longer that I might have done because I wanted to achieve a certain level of financial stability before working for myself. This was the right decision for me, especially as I was single at time so had no-one to fall back on. But others might have chosen to take the leap sooner.

When you start on the process of thinking about your longer-term financial goals and security, it’s worth getting some advice from a qualified independent financial adviser. A good adviser will listen to what is important to you and make recommendations accordingly. The moneysavingexpert website outlines things to consider before seeking advice.

And if you would like some help with thinking through a career change decision, consider working with a career coach. Taking some time to reflect on your choices can help you work out what is right for you. It can allow you a confidential space to “try out” your ideas for different career choices in a neutral, non-judgemental environment.

Career Change Toolkit

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Networking for career success

By Felicity Dwyer | Career change , Career development , Networking , Small Business

Meeting people face to face is one of the best ways to extend your network of professional relationships, and to find career and business opportunities. This is true even in this online era, and you will find online and offline networking complement each other powerfully.

Where to go to expand your network

There are lots of places where you can meet professional contacts. Try formal networking groups, informal events which combine socialising with opportunities to meet new people, conferences in areas of professional interest, training courses and seminars.

Set targets to help build networking confidence

If you are new to networking, it can be a bit daunting at first, to put it mildly. When I was first asked to attend events and conferences on behalf of my organisation, I didn’t find it particularly easy.  To help, I would set myself targets such as having two conversations with people I hadn’t met before, or making sure that I found and spoke to at least one person whom I’d identified in advance as being a good contact.  Then once I’d achieved my target I would tend to head for the door, usually quite exhilarated and glad I’d done it, but also somewhat relieved that it was over.

It gets easier with practice

Fast forward 15 years or so, and I feel quite differently about going to networking events. I get excited about the idea of meeting new people, look forward to the connections, insights and opportunities that might come up, and am happy to go up to people and initiate a conversation.  In fact I enjoy it so much that I now lead a networking group. So what changed?  Essentially a combination of practice, of reflection afterwards, and of coming up with strategies to make the process easier, more enjoyable and also more effective in terms of following up.

Stay in touch

Because meeting people is just the starting point, and the way you stay in touch and build connections and relationships is what will develop your network into something of real value. If you join a network with the attitude of “how can I help other people”, you will find it far more effective than if you only focus on what you want. So it’s good idea to get into the networking habit, even if you are not actively looking for a new job or career. It will allow you to approach the whole thing in a more relaxed way, gain confidence and connections, and then when you do need some help, you will have plenty of people to ask.

Networking tips video

Here are five of my top networking tips for small businesses and career changes.  I hope you enjoy this short video, and would love to hear your networking tips in the comments box below.

Since writing this article I was asked to contribute to a piece on networking for lawyers – this is an interesting article with great tips from a range of expert contributors: http://www.lawabsolute.com/recruitment-news/article/networking-dos-and-donts-for-aspiring-lawyers

How much time do you spend doing work you love?

By Felicity Dwyer | Career change , Motivation

Doing anything worthwhile takes hard work, there is no way around that. But what a difference there is between the soul-sapping grind of work, when you are in the wrong career or job, and the heart-lifting joy of work that plays to your strengths and skills and feels worthwhile. It may not even feel like work, hence the famous words from Chinese sage Confucius: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

In my own working life, I enjoy coaching and training so much that it doesn’t feel like work now. It also gives me an opportunity to do what I’m good at. But of course developing the skills and gaining the experience to make it feel easy has taken time and energy. And I like the fact that this is a line of work where there is always more to learn and master, so it never gets dull. But in order to have a business doing what I love, I also need to do things that I don’t enjoy such as keeping accounts, cross-referencing, proofreading.  To some extent these tasks can be outsourced, but the reality is that most of them are done by me, as part of what needs to be done to keep myself in business.

The 80/20 rule offers us a useful rule of thumb. Is more than 20 % of your time, one day out of five if you work full time, spent on work that you really dislike, or which you are not good at? If the answer is yes, then perhaps it is time to consider a change. This may be to a different career, a different organisation, or a different role.  And if you’re not sure what to do next in your working life, you might find career coaching helpful.

by Felicity Dwyer