HOW TO SEEK CAREER ADVICE
TO HELP YOU SUCCEED?

Zero in on how to seek career advice. It doesn’t matter if this is your first try at determining your career field or you want to pivot from an existing field. The key is to work to find your information from the best sources.

There are several ideas presented here to help you in the process. That includes the 12 steps on how to seek career advice.

Time to begin!

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Are you wondering just how to go about making the decision on a career change? You are not alone. Up to 55% of all people with jobs are considering career changes. That holds up even during periods of economic downturn,

How should you go about it? What should you look for? Why do you want to change?

To help you in this process of determining how to seek career advice, we begin with a look at 12 steps to help you succeed.

1. Determine what you like and don’t like about your current job. Find out the reasons to change your career path.
2. Review the activities in your current role and determine which skills were used and which were the most rewarding.
3. Begin investigating careers that interest you.  Talk them over with your friends and family.
4. Narrow your search and go deeper into each to learn the details.  Web searches can help.
5. Search out those in your field of interest. Talk with your personal contacts to see who they may know.  Search through LinkedIn and sites that provide mentors in various career categories like Career Redo does.  Explore different career paths to find the one that bests fit you.
6. Learn more about the details of the field from someone experienced (a career mentor).  To learn what is a career mentor, see here.  Get a good understanding of what type of person it takes to be successful.  One easy way to do so is to talk with these mentors.
7. Investigate if there are ways  to perform those functions in a volunteer role. This allows you to see the inside of that environment.
8. Determine if there are classes to help you transition your current experiences into the new role.
9. Take advantage of current training opportunities.
10. Evaluate the possibility of switching to a new role with in your current industry.
11. Be prepared to learn.
12. Search for the work which you will enjoy. Best not to strive for the money, but for the fulfillment.

ANY QUESTIONS?

As you work through these steps, there are questions that would be good to evaluate.

• Can I identify all of my strengths?
• What values do I have that are high priority?
• Have I encountered experiences that have made me who I am?
• What roadblocks have I hit that I had to overcome?
• Do I have a personal mission?

The steps discussed above on how to seek career advice when you desire a change give a good playbook on what you should do as you consider a change in career.

In my view, it is good to get professional insight and guidance as you evaluate changing careers. There are may good career counselors that can assist you in that process. They can help you in your process to get prepared.  Most are not knowledgeable in detail about your desired career field, but could be helpful in many ways.

WHICH DIRECTION ARE YOU LEANING?

What type of person are you?  We are all made different…good thing.  Do you find that great feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment when you:

• Work in a corporate environment
• Run a small business
• Are an independent contractor
• Care for the health of others
• Help others in a socially beneficial environment
• Participate in a government role
• Join a group as entrepreneurs
• Become a solopreneur?
  

You have to decide.

A career coach/counselor may be just the person to help you work through these thoughts to refine your desired role.

Another approach is to spend time with a business person or individual who is already successful in your target occupation.

A coach and a mentor both are good ways to better ways to understand that next career is right for you.

In determining how to seek career advice my suggestion comes down to one simple thought... learn as much as you can about your career choice first before you jump in. It is too important not to have an error in understanding your goal.

When you spend time with a mentor, you can:

• Ask great questions.
• Learn how to succeed from someone who has been there.
  
• Avoid the mistakes of others.
• Learn the details that are easy to miss.
  
• Look for enjoyment as well as income. 
  
• Learn quickly, the fun way.
• Try it out with No Prior Experience.
• Appreciate the benefits and the perks.
• Attain a sense of achievement.
• Leap-frog your understanding over other approaches.
• Ensure you pick a career that you love.
  

Evaluate where you want to be.  You have to decide.

My point here is that you need all the information before you can make an intelligent decision. An emotional decision when it pertains to income can be disastrous.  So just like any important decision, get the facts.

A mentor, who has made that business a success, can be the one to give you most of the information you are looking for.  The best new career training that you can get is from an expert.  Learn from someone who has been through the battles and has prospered. That is how to seek career advice.

Many Career Choices

Photo courtesy of Find A Future