What Is Career Change?

What Is Career Change?

Recent studies suggest that today’s Gen Y and Gen X workers will change career direction several times over their working life. This contrasts with the patterns of the baby boomer generation whose career paths have frequently been tied to just one or two organizations. One explanation for this phenomenon is the erosion of job security in today’s fast paced world. The response of many Gen Xs and Ys is the realization that organizations are unlikely to be able to offer lifetime job security and the responsibility for managing their career now lies with them.

However, when we talk about Gen X and Gen Y undergoing several career changes, we don’t always mean a totally different line of work. Career change can be as simple as assuming a different role within the same organization. When a teacher moves out of the classroom and becomes a school principal this involves a career change from a technical area to a primarily managerial role. The skills, values and personal attributes necessary to make a good teacher do not necessarily mean that the same person will be a good administrator. Accordingly this change in roles can be likened more to a ‘career change’ than a simple ‘career progression’.

On the other hand, the pace of change in today’s world suggests that many of those in Generation X and Generation Y will adopt a completely new line of work such as our teacher giving up the classroom, going back to study and taking on a role as an events coordinator for a company in the entertainment industry.

For some, their change in career direction will be an easy matter. They will simply ‘fall’ into a new role or know intuitively what their new line of work will be. For others, however, who know that they need a career change but are not sure of what their new career direction should be, professional help from a career practitioner can ease the anxiety that accompanies unhappiness in one’s working life.

Education is no longer a free commodity and taking the time to seek career help before embarking on further study can be a wise investment. Deciding what further study to undertake is an important part of the career planning process. A career advisor can help you determine which areas of study might be of most interest to you and the various options for pursuing courses in those fields.