An average worker in the United States has been found to change jobs 11.9 times during their career, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The applicable timeline to those job changes is approximately 32 years which represents the most common career length across all industries. This data does not seem too concerning unless it is cross-referenced with other countries. Namely, people outside of the U.S. do not change their job nearly as often.
Although Americans work a lot more hours than most other folks across the globe, this is not the only reason why career changes are so frequent. In reality, making poor decisions related to career development is the number one reason why people do not stick with the same job for too long.
To combat this issue, Vlad Rigenco, who is a seasoned real estate expert in the Toronto area, advises people to consider the following tips.
1. Choose Wisely
In order to avoid a career change, it is crucial to choose the field of employment wisely. The problem with doing so often arises from the fact that people have to make this decision when they are still teenagers. After all, most individuals who pursue college or start working right after high school do so at 18 or 19 years old.
Fortunately, the clear lack of experience can be compensated by in-depth research. That means that everybody should spend dozens of hours figuring out what they would like to do and how their careers need to develop for chosen ventures. It is also important to communicate with professionals who are already working in the fields that someone is considering. After all, first-hand feedback is almost always going to provide much more accurate data than online research.
2. Strive for Versatility Early On
Career development does not end once a person selects an area that they want to specialize in. This is actually just the beginning. Upon starting the job, it is crucial to pursue versatility early on. That means that the person should aim to work in a few different areas and avoid over-focusing on a single function. For instance, Vlad Rigenco advises business professionals to try everything from point-in-time property sales to long-term rental projects. That way, they will learn how to handle incompatible duties and spread their careers across a few different segments.
3.Ask to Be Challenged
Even after tackling multiple types of responsibilities and becoming versatile, one can never stop challenging themselves. The reason why is that effortless projects rarely require extreme engagement and tend to lead to monotony. In other words, getting bored with an unchallenging job is just a matter of time. An easy way to sidestep such problems is to get involved with difficult projects and ask to be included in more activities.
4. When It May Be Time to Change Careers
If someone’s career reaches a point where no differentiation or effort can resuscitate it, the impending change is inevitable. The best way to approach that scenario is to move on and start planning for the next stage. Spending too much time trying to save an existing career that is clearly failing will just become a sunk cost that has no future benefit.
5. Focus on Areas of Passion
Even though it is important to let go of the former career, one should not ignore all of their existing experience and skills. For instance, someone who spent five years working in accounting should not overlook other fields of business where their accounting knowledge could be useful.
In addition, this will be a time to re-think their areas of passion and find something that the person is undoubtedly interested in. Unlike the aforementioned research conducted before choosing a career, however, the person here will at least know what they are good at since they have professional experience.
6. Analyze the Long-Term Opportunities
One of the most common fears of people who are looking for a new career is that they will choose incorrectly and end up in the same situation again. This is completely understandable as nobody will want to undergo such a strenuous process multiple times.
The first step towards ensuring that history does not repeat itself is to carefully analyze long-term opportunities. So, choosing a new career should be based on what the five or ten-year employment outlook is. If the new area of expertise shows no promises of constant learning and growth, one may become bored with the new job soon.
The same applies to careers that do not seem too promising in terms of job retention, salary increases, and leadership opportunities. Simply put, the new career needs to be characterized by practically everything that the prior one lacked.