To change career or not?

The thought of a career change is daunting enough for anyone, but after becoming a parent it becomes so much harder. It is not just you who is at possible risk, but the whole family and sometimes after training for so long and being in a career you know, it’s a scary prospect.

But not one to shy away from.

If, like me, you’ve been in a set role for such a long time it’s hard to know which way to turn and how to go about re-training so you can move on.

After being in a finance career for 11 years I’m now in the process of moving out of finance altogether. It is a bit worrying at times; I’m pretty much leaving behind years of study and a whole wealth of experience for something I’ve only been part of for a year.

In the last few months I’ve set up my own store and am currently helping out a company in their promotional work, so nothing like what I’m used to, but I’m loving every minute of it.

For me working is a necessity so why not do something I enjoy? After all, I’m likely to be working for at least the next 40 years!

So if you’re considering a career change, here are a couple of pointers to get you on the right path:

– Choose your new career – OK, this one may sound simple, but ask yourself what do I really want to do? I found it difficult to put my finger on things I wanted to do, yes, I had an idea, but I didn’t really know if I’m completely honest.

– Re-train – Depending on your new career you may need to do some further training. This is probably the hardest part of a career change when you’re a parent. Firstly, if like me you are working, you have to try and arrange your training around your job and children. It can be hard work and costly, but think of it as just the start of a future career which you enjoy and love. There may be other ways to retrain too, such as work experience. Again this can be hard to juggle with work and children, but if you can do it, it’s a very rewarding way of learning on the job.

– Go for it! – You’ve chosen your career, trained in what you need to to get your new role, so what’s holding you back? Have confidence in what you’re doing, trust your instincts and go for it.

*Paula Fazekas is a busy working mum of two toddlers and the winner of our Workingmums’ blog competition.

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