There are plenty of us who feel that our careers have hit the buffers, having gone as far as we can and not seeing any new opportunities on the horizon.
This scenario will often make you think about coming to what is often a midlife decision, to change career and launch a fresh chapter in your life.
This detour may well have you searching homes for sale in Sarasota or wherever else you are maybe considering of moving to as part of your new and exciting career move.
A new stage of work
It is probably worth remembering that we are witnessing a new way of working and what used to be a traditional career timeline for many of us, no longer seems to apply in the modern workplace arena.
If you are one of the baby boomer generation, some studies have revealed the interesting fact that as many as 80% of you plan to do some form of paid work at least until they hit their 70th birthday, so there is plenty of time and scope for a career change to work.
There is no question that whenever you decide to actually take the plunge and move out of what has probably become a comfort zone, with the experience that you have built up, it can be a very daunting prospect, taking your career into unchartered territory.
Your priorities and needs
One of your main tasks when considering a career change is to make an honest self-appraisal of what your priorities and current needs are.
You need to work out exactly what motivates and excites you and what you are particularly passionate about, so that you can establish if you can see where you can employ any skills you already have and carry them over in some way to your new adventure.
Career experts tend to be fairly universal in their advice to show caution and bide your time when planning a new chapter in your life, rather than look for a quick-fix. That is good advice, as it often pays to take your time establishing exactly what you want out of your career change, so that when you actually make the move, you have all of the angles covered.
If you need a helping hand
It can often be the case that you know that you want to change your career direction but don’t exactly know what you are likely to be suited to and where to look for new opportunities.
There are a number of instruments or assessments available, which are a test of sorts, but much more detailed and revealing than a simple question and answer situation.
Career coaches, vocational psychologists and career counselors all make use of these assessment tools, that ask you as series of searching and pertinent questions, in such a way that they often reveal your psychological profile and highlight what sort of work fits your individual profile.
You might want to take at least a couple of these tests, so that you can see if they reveal similar traits and recommendations, and you can be sure that you are likely to prosper in a particular sphere or industry.
Employ some of these proven strategies for finding a new career path and it could well put a new spring in your step, as you once again look forward to heading to work.
Eleanor Donnelly is a careers consultant who rallies for those seeking a career change as they approach midlife. Her articles appear on lifestyle and career blogs around the web.
