When making a career change one of the most important aspects to ensure success is being clear about what you are trying to achieve. This is where you will

get your motivational energy to drive through a career change and make it successful, comes from. Instead of pursuing a range of ideas, spend time on narrowing down your options and getting focused. Set yourself a goal to get as clear as you

can about precisely what your goal is and what your focus will be on. Be as specific as you can. Choose one career, one avenue, one type of role/sector/field and hone in on it as much as you can.

Focus on using your strengthsChoose the career you want to change to by asking yourself what you wish you were doing right now and identifying your strengths by possibly using a tool such as

StrengthsFinder - http://www.strengthsfinder.com/home.aspx

Once you know what you want to be doing and you know what you’re strengths are, make a list of the careers that incorporate both your passions and your talents and choose the career that jumps out at you from the list.

Think about ways to be smartMake sure that you act smart and start your career

change the way you mean to go on. Lay out good habits and make sure that you are taking care of yourself so you don’t get exhausted as you move through this shift and career change. Simple things such as getting a good nights sleep can impact your ability to perform and make progress so stay on top of your sleeping hours to allow yourself time to rest and recuperate. It’s also important to eat well—cut down on the amount of processed foods you eat and increase your intake of fruit, vegetables and whole grains.

Getting regular exercise will also increase your well-being and alertness, even if it’s just a short lunchtime walk 3 times a week.

Make sure your network and connections are up to speedOne way to make a career change progress forwards with real momentum is by networking and connecting to colleagues and friends who can help you with this significant shift. When looking at your network make sure that you establish a plan of action and strategy

before you reach out to them. Be clear about what you want to ask them, what you want from them, what you’d like to learn from them and also how you can be helpful to them. Nowadays there are a range of ways to maintain, build and grow your network. You may want to attend networking events and there is also online mediums such as LinkedIn to think about. If you aren’t confident in making the most of LinkedIn for your career change you may find the following useful reading.

ISSUE 26 DIGITAL EDITIONOCTOBER 2011 Advice 34 35

Staying Motivated During Your Career Change

Clarity, specificity and precision

are keys to maintaining

your motivation during career

change, as Simon North

explains... ➽Contents News Advice Comment Case Study

All the latest careernews

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Find your

career passion

Manage the career plateau

effectively

FromFinance

to Fitness

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Keeping Motivation

➽

About The AuthorSimon North is the co-founder of Position Ignition - www.positionignition.com - one of the UK’s leading career consultancies which specialises in career change, executive job search and career challenges, mid life career transitions and new career directions.

125 LinkedIn Job Search Tips (http://www.positionignition.com/100-linkedin-job-search-tips/)

Establish a good routineThe most effective way of keeping yourself motivated during a career change is to have a clear routine for each day. Whatever routine you establish for yourself needs to be as well thought through and balanced as if you were preparing for a marathon. Split the day up into hourly instalments and decide what order you’re going to tackle tasks in and how much time you’re going to assign to each task, be it one hour, two hours or three hours. Different job search tasks to incorporate into your schedule could, for example, include searching a particular organization’s website for current job vacancies suited to your aspirations or going out for a coffee with an old contact who now works within the field

you’re interested in. Clear a space at home for you to work on your job search, as a clutter-free environment will make it easier to stay motivated and stick to your timetable.

Don’t let yourself get distractedIt’s so easy to pick up newspapers, to login to online recruitment boards and to get driven along by the seduction of a job that looks just right for us. When some people call the recruitment game for a candidate a lottery, it’s because the candidate puts themselves in a position where they’re not in control. When you’re

distracted, you lose control. Stay focused on the career you’ve chosen by setting up Google Alerts for keywords relating only to that career. Visit specialist job boards instead of general ones and use the keyword search engine on the site instead of aimlessly browsing vacancies unrelated to your chosen new profession. For more information and tips on how to structure your career change look at this

85 Mid Life Career Change Tips - http://www.positionignition.com/85-mid-life-career-change-tips/ - book.

ISSUE 26DIGITAL EDITIONOCTOBER 2011 Advice News36 37

Contents News Advice Comment Case Study Contents News Advice Comment Case Study

Freelancers Get GoingA survey of over 2,000 freelancers and contractors carried out by PCG shows that 75% of those polled had been in contract for at least eleven months out of the last twelve and in a remarkable show of confidence 84% of those surveyed believed that business opportunities would stay the same or increase in the months to come.

Freelancers also showed their flexibility and adaptability by taking their abilities into the private sector when the public sector came under pressure. Since 2010 13% of respondents had moved to the private sector.

The survey also showed more than a degree of optimism on day rates with over 50% not expecting the rates to go south and looking back at the last twelve months 84% had seen their rates

stay the same (51%) or be increased (33%).

John Brazier, MD of PCG commented: “We are not at all surprised freelancers are in demand, they are the natural accelerants of the economy as UK Plc gets back on its feet. However our members report it’s been a tough road particularly

those who saw local public sector work dry up and had

to revise their business plans, but our members have demonstrated their adaptability by securing contracts in the private

sector. Mr Brazier

continued: “We still live in uncertain times and government must wind up the rhetoric and start cutting red tape and regulations to enable the freelance workforce to deliver its full potential.”www.pcg.org.uk

When the going gets tough, the tough get going…that is the message freelancers are sending out in

the midst of the economic downturn.Career support during change

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Find your

career passion

Your career change

motivation

FromFinance

to Fitness

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