Making a Career Change Without a Plan

Making a career change without a plan may seem like an erratic, life-emptying move. However, sometimes a midlife change is necessary to ensure your happiness going into your golden years. Uncertainty when you decide to switch gears in the middle of a job can be overcome as long as you learn to control the doubts that creep in while you reinvent your professional life.

Having some plans in place for your career change is important but recognize that even the best-made plans can go awry. If you go back to school part-time while you have a family, some nights studying may have to wait while you tend to your sick children, spouse's work schedule, summer vacations or extended family obligations.

Embrace false starts you make along the way. When you start your career change, discover what drives you the most. Do you love helping people? Do you like to cook? Do you love to help people cook? Obtain a life-fulfilling career that makes you happy. If you go back to school, take various classes to see what you like the most. When you discover your niche, move forward full force until you land the job you want more than anything else. Sometimes, a false start lasts a couple of years before you figure things out.

Improve and expand your skill set to simultaneously meet your needs and that of your future career. If you want to own a business, take some business financial classes. If you want to run a school, administration represents the way to go. Let your passion be your guide and discover skills to match. While you find your way through classes, volunteer with a company within the industry or work as a temp on the weekends. Experiencing your future field can do wonders just as much as entry-level classes.

If your midlife change occurred because it was forced on you due to downsizing or being fired, learn from your mistakes and grow as a person when you move forward. Realize there is nothing you can do to change the past but instead charge ahead with your career change as if you are the happiest person on the planet. View your bad times at your previous job as a way to start over and find the job you really want.

Make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. Find a mentor or sponsor within the industry as soon as possible. Keep eyes and ears open for ways to attain job happiness that present themselves outside of the career environment. If you wait tables and overhear someone talking about your chosen field in the middle of your career change, get in on the conversation and determine what is going on; polite dinner chit-chat may also lead to a job offer you did not have before.

Going for a career change without a plan takes courage, tenacity and a lot of soul-searching. The outcome can make you happy over the course of the rest of your life. Do not ignore the call, but remember to seek out what you want to find professional happiness along the journey.

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