How to Pursue a Career Change (and Ace the Interview!)

Over the past few years there has been a huge shift in people making a career change. For many people, COVID and work from home policies brought career satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) into sharp relief. As company policies continue to shift towards returning to the office and a variety of industries face worker shortages and insufficient resources, many people are continuing to reevaluate whether their current role is a good fit for them.

In this post, I’ll go over how to position yourself for a new job, especially when you might be changing your career path. I’ll also discuss job ideas to explore for people who are very unsure of their next step. I hope by the end you feel more confident about how to transform your professional life into something that works for you. 

My Experience with Career Change

I faced the desire for a career change myself a few years ago. While I have always loved working at University of Washington, the company culture in the specific group I was a part of was very toxic. Side note, the group I’m referring to wasn’t in the Sociology department, which I truly absolutely adore. Before starting in that specific group, I was told I had to let my boss know if I was only going to work 60 hours a week, as if that was underperforming. We were a small group, but even so, I only got to meet with my boss a couple of times a year. Otherwise, my job was very isolated. 

Even more egregiously, I was told I’d be paid for a project I worked on only to find out after hundreds of hours of work that I was not actually being paid for it. Needless to say, I started looking for a new role only months into starting this position. Luckily, I spent years working in a Career Center and advising people on resumes, cover letters, and career trajectories, so I felt confident about pivoting to a different position. 

Aside from my career change experience, I’ve talked with many friends and family members who are reevaluating their career goals.

Evaluating Whether Your Career Is Right for You

Your first step before applying for new jobs is to take a deep breath and reflect on what you want. I’ll give another personal example to highlight the importance of this step. My partner owns his own business as a sailboat rigger. However, before that, he worked in molecular genetics for Pfizer. He hated working in a windowless lab all day and didn’t like the small town he lived in. 

Consequently, he started applying for other jobs in molecular genetics in Seattle. However, as he was writing cover letters, he realized he couldn’t even convince himself he wanted the jobs he was applying for. This caused him to evaluate what we did want to do. He reflected on how much he loved wood shop in high school. This led him to apply to boat building school, which turned into a career in sailboat rigging that he loves.

The purpose of me telling you this story is that it’s easy to get stuck in a dissatisfying career path. We might think that everyone hates their job. Or we might think that moving to a new company will solve our problems, when really the issue is the job itself. So it’s a good idea to take a little time and reflect on your ideal job.

Identifying Where You Are Dissatisfied and How To Respond

To do that, take the following steps:

1. Write down what you like and don’t like about your current job.
2. If what you don’t like largely centers around the job tasks themselves, consider whether you might want to change careers.
   • To come up with ideas, write down what you love doing in your free time or tasks you have enjoyed in previous jobs.
   • Reflect on what you are good at. If you struggle with this, try asking a close friend or family member.
   • Look for the intersection between what you love doing and what you’re good at. Are any of those things areas you can monetize? If not, reflect on what you love about doing those things. For example, if you love hosting and socializing, perhaps you need a job that involves organization and working with people. You could consider a job as a project manager, administrative assistant, event coordinator, etc. I give more ideas below.
3. You may find that you like your job tasks. However, you don’t like the work environment. In that case, you may need to change employers rather than careers. Visualize your ideal workplace. How many people are on your team? What does the office look like? Or maybe it’s a remote job! What are the company values and benefits? Or maybe it’s a business of your own.
4. Reflect on your long-term future goals. Do you want to start a family, travel the world, or start a business?
5. Assess your values. For example, is it important to you to have a positive impact on the world? Does your current career support your values and goals?

Bringing It All Together

Once you have an idea of what you would like in a job and/or company, you can have a better sense of whether you need to change careers, companies, or both.

Ideally, your career path will be at the intersection of tasks you like to do and are good at. Moreover, it will be in a field and workplace that supports your values and goals. Finally, the work environment will be one you enjoy rather than dread. Of course, for most of us there will be no 100% perfect job. We’ll have to make some compromises.

As you’re following these prompts, consider what is most important to you. For some of us, we might value work/life balance over salary or the perfect job tasks. Or we might value salary over a 100% remote job. Hopefully this exercise will give you a sense of what to focus on in your search. Moreover, these important qualities should guide the questions you ask hiring managers and current employees about job opportunities.

Career Change Transferrable Skills Ideas

In the steps above, I noted you should consider the tasks you love to do and can monetize. In particular, it’s helpful if these are tasks you are currently implementing in your career. If you aren’t sure of how your skills might transfer to other kinds of careers, you can check out some of my ideas below. Keep in mind, this list isn’t exhaustive. 

If you love socializing and are good at reading people you might consider a job in sales, real estate, project management, human resources, event management, teaching, coaching, or mental health/crisis management to capitalize on your communication skills.

If you are artistic, you might enjoy using your skills to craft beautiful marketing campaigns, analytical dashboards, or goods or printables you sell online. For this, you might look for a career as a social media marketer, graphic designer, BI analyst or developer, or entrepreneur. 

Those with problem-solving skills who are analytical and love solving puzzles might enjoy a career that involves coding, analysis, logistics, or accounting.

Storytellers and readers may enjoy a career in research and writing. Additionally, these skills often translate well to giving great presentations and synthesizing information for diverse audiences. These skills are often needed in leadership positions, public relations, and education.

Those who enjoy working with their hands may love a job in the trades. Electricians, contractors, plumbers, etc. are in high demand. Some engineering jobs involve hands-on modeling. Likewise, hair styling, makeup artistry, art, and design can all involve hands-on work. 

Individuals who love physical activity may appreciate high-energy jobs like firefighting, personal training, physical education, or coaching. Outdoorsy jobs can also be a great fit like park ranger, geologist, biologist, and surveyor.

If you’re still baffled, try searching for “jobs that use [X] skills,” filling in skills that you enjoy/are good at.

Career Change Tips

If you’ve decided you’re a career changer, you may struggle to figure out what to do after you’ve found jobs you’re interested in. I recommend the following steps.

Assess the Skills You Need to Make for a Career Change

One, take a look at job postings for your dream job. What non-technical and technical skills do they ask for? What parts of the job description do you feel comfortable with and what parts might you want to build your skills?

Next, make a list of your transferable skills from your current job or even things like your volunteer work. In particular, any soft skills you have are likely to transfer across a wide variety of careers. For example, teachers need leadership, public speaking, planning, organization, and people skills. If a teacher is thinking of changing careers, they can highlight many of those skills and their years of experience in those areas.

Make a Plan for Gaining Necessary Skills

Hopefully you now have a sense of the gaps in your skills. There are a few things you can do to respond to those gaps. First, you might talk with someone who is in the position you would like to apply for. Get their sense of how fast you can learn those skills. 

As an example, my current job uses SQL. I had almost no experience with SQL when I started the position. However, it only took me a couple weeks to get very good at SQL because I had background in other scripting languages. 

For skills that are fast and easy to learn, you might just emphasize in your cover letter that you are excited to learn these new skills and are a fast learner. However, if the job posting requires a background in those skills and/or if they are a little more difficult to learn, you may want to invest in training in those skills.

The good news is that there are lots of online learning options that are free or low-cost for everything from coding to design to leadership skills. You can check out places like LinkedIn Learning, Code Academy, Udemy, and YouTube for workshops. You can also check out your local library or community college for local classes.

Build Your Network

Finally, take the time to chat with a person in the role you want. I mentioned asking that person about relevant skills for the job above. However, also inquire about what they like and don’t like about the job. Discuss what they do on a daily basis. And make sure to ask them about any elements of the work environment that are also important to you. For example, if work life balance is important, ask about that. Or if you want to work with close, collaborative teams, ask if they feel like they get to do so. You want to make sure you’re not jumping into a career change that you end up won’t enjoying. 

They might also be able to help you try out your desired career. Some people and professions may let you shadow them for a day or two. Alternatively, you could try out a part-time contract position for the role. Some people have also turned their career aspirations into a side hustle by doing gig work, starting a blog, or even starting their own business in their area of interest. 

Making connections with people in the industry you’re interested in is also a great networking opportunity. However, don’t ask that person to submit your name for job opportunities on your first meeting together unless you already know them well or they’ve said they’ll do so. Instead, you want to develop the relationship a little bit so that they don’t feel taken advantage of.

Summary of Career Change Steps

To sum up, after you decide to make a career change, you should assess where you have relevant experience and where you have skill gaps. You can help close those skill gaps by pursuing training. You can also chat with someone with professional experience to determine whether you can learn those skills on the job. 

Moreover, you should take the time to also ask someone with professional experience about their insights into the job. While their insights may not all be relevant for you, they will help you go into the profession more clear-eyed. They can also help you network once you’ve established a relationship.

Finally, you might consider ways to try out your desired career without fully committing. For example, you could start a side hustle in your chosen profession, look for part-time contract work, or ask your network if you could shadow them for a day or two.

How to Frame a Career Change for a Hiring Manager

The job market is super competitive. So how do you stand out to a potential employer when you might be one of the less obviously qualified people in their applicant pool? One way is by tapping that network. Indeed, most people (regardless of career change or not) find their jobs through their network. Having the right person to vouch for you can go a long way to getting your foot int the door.

Writing a Career Change Cover Letter

Generally, your network has the most significant impact on your job search. However, you can also stand our through other means as well. In particular, your cover letter is an important area to introduce yourself and contextualize your career change. A good cover letter should start with a compelling introduction to yourself and your experience that sets the stage for why you’d be a great fit for that particular company. Upwork has some handy examples answers for how to start off your cover letter.

In your cover letter, you’ll also want to discuss your transferrable skills and your previous experience. If possible, often the best way to frame your past experience in your resume and cover letter is by quantifying your accomplishments. For example, you might discuss the increase in customers or decrease in costs that your efforts led to. Especially if your current position or previous role is different from the roles you’re applying to, quantifying your accomplishments can help your prospective employer understand the value of your work.

Finally, you want to explain why you’re looking for a new career. You don’t need to give your whole life story. However, emphasize your passion for the career and/or employer you’re applying to. Show you’ve done your research on the career and prospective employer. You may also want to briefly discuss how your previous work experience led to the epiphany that this industry/employer was right for you. Doing so can further solidify the connection between your previous job and this new job.

For some helpful examples, you can check out the Upwork article I linked above and another nice example from Indeed.com. And for more guidance on writing a great resume and cover letter, you can check out my post on the topic.

Preparing for a Career Change Interview

If you have made it to the next step of the hiring process and been selected for an interview, congratulations! The interview process is always stressful. It can feel even more stressful when you know you’ll need to discuss your career change and answer tough questions.

As your mom always said, a first impression is important. I’ve interviewed a number of people for a wide variety of roles. In my experience, one of the most important things is to be calm, collected, and well-prepared. Even if you don’t know the answer to a question, it’s better to calmly acknowledge that or ask for time to reflect than to frantically throw together an incoherent answer.

Likewise, practice your answers to common interview questions. There are websites with specific examples of interview questions for different careers. It’s much easier to come up with a good answer to job interview questions if you have time to reflect. Make sure to write down examples from your professional experience you could call upon to support your answers.

And, of course, be prepared to answer open-ended questions about your career change. Practice the main points you want to hit about your last job and why you’ve decided to make a switch. While you want to be authentic, you also generally want to avoid being overly negative towards your past employer. Doing so can make your prospective employer nervous about how you might talk about them!

Finally, it is pretty shocking how few job seekers put together good questions for the end of the interview. “Do you have any questions” is arguably the most common interview question. Consequently, preparing for it should be a given. Moreover, asking questions is a great opportunity to show that you care about the position and company and have done your research.

Final Thoughts

Changing careers is often a stressful process. However, it’s also extremely rewarding. We spend so much of our time working that it’s important to find a position you enjoy and that supports your values and goals. I hope you’ve found this post useful for thinking about how to assess jobs that are the right fit, how to pursue a new career, and how to stand out as a new career candidate.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider liking, subscribing, or sharing with others. It’s always a big help! And if you’re interested in related content, check out my posts on writing a great resume, setting boundaries at work and at home, the best side hustle ideas, and how to ask for a promotion.