Santa Clara University

Career Change Process

• Expand Your Options

• Find the Themes in your List

• Explore Themes and Condense Your List

• Make a Transition Plan

• Find a Job in Your New Career Field

• Expand Your Options

  Objective: Create a list of careers that might interest you.  By not limiting yourself with practical considerations at this stage, you can ensure that a path is not closed prematurely.  And, yes, the list can be quite long.
  
  

  Activities:

  • Go through formal self-assessment at the Career Center.
    
  • Read books such as the ever-popular What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles.  The career section of your local library or book store will have shelves of these books.  Pick one or two whose style appeals to you. 
  • Talk to friends and family and ask them what they think you're good at.
  • Do some reflection and think about:
    What did you want to be when you were eight years old?  Fifteen? Twenty-five?
    What activities do you enjoy or would like to learn?
    If you were to take a class, what would you study and why?
  • If you're artistically inclined, create a collage describing your ideal job or write a narrative about your work highlights and lowlights. 

  If you’ve had an “aha” moment going through these activities, go through the following steps more quickly, but it’s still a good idea to go through them to validate your choice and to make sure you haven’t overlooked some serious flaw in your plan.
  

• Find the Themes in your List

  Objective: Find one to three themes, or career areas, in your list that are of most interest. 

  Activities: 

  • Eliminate the impractical outliers.  This may be the time to cross “rock star” off your list, although you might keep the music industry in mind as a work environment if it really is of interest to you.
  • Look for industry clusters, for example, health care-related jobs, green careers, entertainment careers, or working with children.
  • Look for commonalities in job content, for example, teaching/consulting careers or management/leadership positions or jobs that involve working with your hands.
  • Sometimes this is easier when you talk it through with an impartial listener, so you may wish to make an appointment at the Career Center at this step.

  
  

• Explore Themes and Condense Your List

  Objective: Get enough information on the career areas or themes to shorten your list to a very few jobs that are both interesting and feasible.  Usually this step winds up with one to four fairly specific jobs.  Be warned – this is the most time-consuming step in the process!
  

  
  
  Activities:
  

  • Do your initial research on the Web.  Research educational requirements, job functions, salary ranges, etc. for specific jobs within your themes. You may find these career exploration sites helpful.
    
  • Explore graduate school options if additional formal education might be required.  Also check out your local community colleges or adult education opportunities if only a few courses or a certificate could qualify you for your next career.
  • Once you’ve acquired some basic knowledge, do some informational interviews with people actually doing those jobs.  Leverage your alumni contacts by using inCircle and attending alumni chapter events. 
  • If the changes you are exploring are fairly major, you will need a new resume to show while you are doing your informational interviews.  Check out some resume tips or make an appointment with the Career Center to get professional help with this step.  
  • Cross items off the list as you gather more information, eliminating those that are now of less interest or are unfeasible.  If “rock star” didn’t get eliminated in the prior step, you might want to eliminate it now.
    

  
  

• Make a Transition Plan

  Objective: Create a plan for reaching your goal, including a rough time line and any financial considerations (e.g., tuition for additional training or an advanced degree).  If you still have two or more jobs on your list, make a plan for each one.  The comparison might be enlightening.

  Activities:

  • If you have family members or others to consider, this is the time to get them involved.  Your plan should accommodate any impact on them as well as you and get buy-in from everyone involved.
  • If additional education or training is needed, make sure you allow time for the application process, any entrance exams, etc.
  • Consider whether the career change can be made in one step or multiple steps via one or more transitional jobs.  For example, if your end goal is to be an HR Director, you might need to start in an entry-level job in HR while you work on a certificate or even an MBA.  Alternatively, you may decide to stay in your current job with better pay so you can afford the graduate school program.

  
  

• Find a Job in Your New Career Field

  Objective:  Depending on your direction, your next step may be a transitional job that will lead you to your goal once you’ve gained some experience or it may be the job you really want.  In either case, the job search process is the same.

  Activities:

  • If you haven’t done this earlier, make an appointment to get professional help with your resume so you can target your new job and or industry and really sell your skills to the reader.
    
  • For career changers, networking is even more important than for a standard job search, but all the usual job search resources and techniques now apply.