How to Change Careers with the Help of Lifelong Learning

Stuart always believed he had found his calling. But he’s now 20 years into his financial planning career, and it’s just dawned on him.

He’s utterly bored.

Bored with the work. And bored with the industry.

He’s at a standstill.

In recent months, family circumstances have led Stuart to become involved in the social impact sector. He suddenly realises his involvement has extended beyond just a commitment of his time. He now feels what can only be described as a sense of meaning through his volunteer work.

Stuart hasn’t found meaning in his financial planning career in a long time. Maybe ever.

Stuart never thought that there could be more than ideal career path for him. But, he keeps imagining what it might be like to have a more meaningful career. One that he might be excited to get out of bed for every day.

But, no matter how much he daydreams, a transition like this continues to feel far-fetched to Stuart.

Can you relate?

Have you felt like it’s impossible to make a career move as drastic as this?

The fallacy of “the one”

Finding your calling in life is something we’ve been taught to aspire to – something that only the “lucky ones” seem to have. The trouble with this mindset is it implies there is only one thing we each are meant to do. This is unrealistic and also very limiting.

In contemporary times, it’s far more realistic to expect to have multiple careers throughout your life, rather than one you work at your whole life before you retire.

Lifelong learning is key to evolving your career

In fact, today, employers favour prospects who have the traits of long-term employability, rather than those who have been employed long-term in the one job. Employees who are flexible, continually updating their skills and even expanding their skill sets to other industries are more desirable than those who possess the more traditional traits of long-term company loyalty and reliability.

One of the most important traits you can have in these times, is to be a lifelong learner. That means dedicating yourself to the ongoing, voluntary and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons.

Rather than stay trapped in a career that no longer worked for him, Stuart decided to take a risk and make a change. Over six months, he developed skills that were relevant to the not-for-profit sector, invested in learning more about how the industry works and even trialed employment that allowed him to use some of his existing skills while building on the new ones.

Stuart did it. He figured out how to change careers to one that was better suited to his higher-level needs.

You can do it too.

Want more keen insights into lifelong learning and how to change careers to find fulfilment? Subscribe/follow for updates on my soon-to-be released book, So You’re Career Confused! WTF is Next?

 

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Greg Weiss is  Australia’s leading career coach. He is the author of “So You Got The Job! WTF Is Next?”. The book prescribes a proven, practical 7-step guideline for new employees so they succeed, rather than fail their probation periods and beyond. Find out more about the book at https://www.wtfisnext.wtf

He is the Founder and Director of Onboff an online training and coaching platform that helps HR specialists, coaches and recruiters to deliver exceptional onboarding and offboarding experiences for employees.

He also hosts The Keep: The Employee Experience podcast and runs CareerSupport365.

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