Skip to main content

Career Shift Budgeting (Part 1): Finding Your Next Career

Are you dissatisfied with your career and want to make a change?  Did you recently lose your job due to a layoff and want to pursue a new career? The first step to making such a shift is to identify potential careers to pursue. There are many resources available to assist you with this process, including working with a career development professional.  For you do-it-yourself types, here are a few of my favorite resources for finding a fulfilling career:
Once you've narrowed in on a few potential careers, you will want to explore the following: 
  • Nature of the work - What does the day in the life of a person doing this job entail?  What is the work environment (hours, stress level, travel required, level of autonomy, etc.)  Meet with professionals already working in your desired professional and get the inside scoop on what the job entails.  Explore both the pros and cons before committing to the new career.  You're investing time and money in this change so make sure it is one that you can live with for the long-term.
  • Training and other qualifications needed - Do you have transferable skills or will you need additional education or credentials? If you need training, what will be the cost?  Does your state require special licensing or qualifications (example: most states require a license to be an aesthetician). What are the costs associated with licensing or credentialing?  Some careers, such as Pharmacist and Registered Dietician require college degrees in the specialty along with an internship. You must consider this when calculating the financial aspect of your career change. 
  • Job outlook - Is there high demand for people in this role? What are the future growth prospects for jobs in this arena?  you want to avoid pursuing a career with low growth or one that could become obsolete; both situations could force you to make an other career change in the near future. 
  • Earnings and advancement - Money isn't everything but your new career must be able to support your financial needs. How much can you realistically make in the first few years of your career shift?  Research the average salary + bonus for the early years to determine if you can live off these earnings. Here are a few resources for determining earnings:
Are you considering a career shift?  If so, please use the comments box to share your ideas, questions and suggested resources with fellow readers.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Get Organized to Save Money

How "Being Organized" can save you money... Taking a small amount of time up front to get organized can save you time and money.  Here are a few simply steps you can take today to keep more money in your pocket. Set up autopilot for your bills -  Take advantage of your bank's online bill pay service to automatically send payments for your monthly recurring charges.  Set it and forget it!  Taking a few minutes to set up auto bill pay will pay off by preventing late charges and finance charges due to missed payments. Take inventory - You can avoid buying duplicate items when you know what you and have and where it is located.  Take a quick inventory  your pantry, the medicine cabinet, laundry room, and your office before shopping (online or brick-and-mortar). Stock up on consumables - You will always need shampoo, toothpaste, laundry soap, etc. so buy these items that get used up in bulk when on sale.  Of course, don't go overboard.  Buy what you

Eating Seasonal Foods - Good for your Body, Good for your Wallet!

Eating foods in season is supportive of our well being.  For example, in the summer Mother Nature provides a bounty of high-water-content foods to help us stay hydrated...water melon, cucumber, tomatoes all add refreshment to hot days. In addition to supporting your physical well being seasonal produce treats are wallets with kindness.  Local in-season produce doesn't have to travel as far as out-of-season fruits and veggies which often travel thousands of miles from other countries.  Combine the lower transportation costs with the abundance of the local in-season crops and you get lower prices.  How do you know what's in season?  Two ways: Prices in the store - when the grocery store offers strawberries at 2 baskets for $1.00 or tomatoes at $1.29 per pound you are looking at in-season foods! Visit this website - CUESA which shows you the produce in season and provides recipes for incorporating these physically and fiscally health goods into your diet What's yo

Why should I get my credit report annually?

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. If you want to order your free annual credit report online, there is only one authorized website, www.annualcreditreport.com. The Federal Trade Commission has a link on their website ( click here to access the FTC section on free credit reports ). So why should you get your credit reports annually? To detect identity theft - Your report will show you any new accounts opened in your name as well as who has been checking your credit. If an account appears on the report that you did not open or if a company (especially a retail store where you have not applied for financing) inquires into your creditworthiness, you can take action to prevent potential identity theft from taking place or at least minimize the impact. Uncover errors - The reporting agencies make mistakes, trust me!