If you’ve made the brave decision to change up your career completely, you may be experiencing a number ofconflicting emotions. It can be incredibly empowering to reach for your personal goals finally, but it can also be terrifying to put yourself in a place of financial uncertainty for a temporary period. Before you plunge straight into training or an apprentice scheme, it’s good to do some research and begin planning: your new career change might need to accommodate family life, a home situation or social life that you are unwilling to compromise on.
Sit down with friends or family first
If you have a big family, your change in career might affect them financially if they rely on you for support. However, sitting down with them for supportand advice is the best way to start offthe process. Telling them about your decision and how you plan to go about it might unearth some personal experience from them individually. If you’re worried about how immediate family will feel about a change of income, this is a potentially stressful, but necessary step. Discussing how best to split groceries, cover utilities and cover any last-minute necessities is all part of the process.
Talking to friends is also important. While it’s nice to have familial support first and foremost, your friends don’t have a vested interest in your career. Asking them for any opinions on your chosen career path and plan could not only generate some ideasbut also some much-neededencouragement.
It can make your daily life easierif you know that you have the support of your friends and family, however, sometimes you might not receive the supportyou’d desired, which can make it tempting to give up or put a considerable amount of pressure on you to succeed. If you don’t have the immediate circle of support you’d hoped for, it’s recommendedthat you cherry-pick those who you turn to for supportand advice.
Education
If you have a busy lifestyle, whether that’s down to work or family life, going back into educationfull-time might not be possible. Either completing a part-time degree or an online degree will help you study around your employment and family commitments. For example, if you were thinking of moving into the field of structural engineering, an online civil engineering masters degree would help you to study purely online andmaneuverit around your lifestyle.
Be prepared for some compromise
Unless you have 100% financial backing in your training and education for your new job, you will need to form some compromisein your day-to-day life. You will need an almost monk-like devotion on some days in order tocomplete your studies and make sure you pass your exams, especially if you are studying part-time on top of employment. Changing career is not something that happens overnight,as tempting as it is to believe that bigchanges can be madewith just a few job applications. It’s advisedthat you should see the steps towards any progress in your career as a combination of a number ofsteps that will finally accumulate to progress.
If you have small children, you may want todiscuss some reserved office hours for study and experience, or if that’s not possible put aside some money for a nanny. Some parents have experienced the odd occasion where ‘one-sided parenting’ and less time with their kidswas necessary, but it’s important to remember this is a temporary phase, and you will come out the other side with a new career path.
Save in advance
Assuming you don’t have the entire funds to cover your venture, you will need to start putting money aside regularly. While you will need to discuss any split funds with family members when it comes to doeveryday lifeexpenses, you shouldn’t rely on extra funds to cover you.
Saving regularly in advance also demands a goodorganized work ethic which should hold you in good stead for your future endeavors. In order tosave up as much as possible, you may want to consider the following:
- Relinquishing more pricey conveniences: While takeaways, cabs and branded instant food might be time-savers in the short term, they are bad financially in the long-run. Cooking from fresh more, walking when needed and not impulse-buying can all help to save you plenty of money.
- Switch suppliers: It’s easy to stick with the same energy supplier you’ve had for a long time, and the same goes for broadband. New customers often get the best deals, and this could benefit how much you save each month. It’s even advisedthat you buy your groceries online instead of visiting the store, which can have plenty of temptations that may land in your basket without you really Total how much you’d save by shifting your custom and add it to the total of yourmonthly savings debit.
- Force yourself to save: By setting up a regular monthly payment out of your bank accountyou will have no choice but to devote some of your finances to saving. Planning your transactions around your saving budget, rather than vice versa, is a much more effective way of achieving your goal.
- Alter your lifestyle only slightly: While it’s true that you shouldn’t stop socializing with friends or spending days out with your family, these can total to an eye-watering price over the period ofa week. Instead, try pot-luck dinners, a movie night or picnics to spend your time more affordably.
An unexpected consequence of accommodating a change of career into your lifestyle is having sometimes also to manage other people’s expectations. Thiscan initially be frustrating, but once you’ve established how and why you’re making your industry move, you can finally begin to move forward. Saving plenty of money to support yourself, and being as flexible as possible will all help to ensure you change careers happily, and with as few headaches as possible.
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