With so many career options available today, wanting to make a career change is pretty common. What is less common is trying to switch job fields and having no experience in the one you want to pursue. What do you do in a situation like this? Maybe you’re watching newscasters from afar and thinking, “That looks so interesting, but how in the world could I do a job like that?” Many times, nothing is impossible without a plan. So, consider the following attributes if you’re looking to make a career change to a field you have no experience in.
Be willing to ask questions. Any career switch requires good planning, and that is even more the case when you need to discover what’s even required to make a switch to a new career field. Find a few good connections who are currently in your desired job and ask them how they got there. Keep in touch with them and continue to network with them as you get closer to applying for jobs. You can never go wrong by finding out as much as you can about a field where you have no experience.
Be willing to take classes. You may not want to pursue any more education, especially if you already have a higher education degree that required a lot of years of study. However, it may be a necessity for your new field so prepare yourself to complete any education or certification required to move forward. Even if a formal education in this new field is not necessary, it shows drive an initiative if you pursued some classes in it. Fortunately, it’s easier to do that now with many classes being offered online.
Be willing to volunteer. Perhaps one of the best ways to gain experience in a new field is by volunteering. The act of volunteering accomplishes a few things. One, it provides you practical knowledge of your desired field that you can list on your resume. Second, it allows you to participate in duties related to a new field that you couldn’t gain anywhere else. For example, if you’re interested in journalism, perhaps you volunteer to write articles for your local paper or run a program helping young people with writing skills. From this experience, you’ll better learn if you’re making the right decision to pursue this field.
Making a career change to an unknown field is an adventure. Start with discovering as much as you can and introduce yourself to people in the field. It’s likely one of these contacts will be the catalyst to you finding a new job. Try not to be intimidated if you want to make this kind of career change because everyone has to start somewhere, and this applies to world of work too.