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How to change career when you don't know where to start

Wanting a change without knowing what comes next is normal. You do not need the answer before you start. You need a way to narrow it down.

4 minute read

1. Write down what you have done and enjoyed

List your jobs, studies, volunteering and projects. Next to each, note what you were good at and what you enjoyed. Patterns show up fast.

2. Read 10 to 20 job adverts

Pick roles that sound interesting and read the adverts properly. You are not applying yet. You are learning what these jobs really ask for.

3. Spot the skills that keep coming up

Highlight the skills and experience that appear again and again. These are what employers in that field care about most.

4. Match them to your experience

For each repeated skill, find one example from your own life. Where you have an example, that is a strength. Where you do not, that is a gap.

5. Close one gap at a time

Choose the smallest step that fills a gap: a short course, a project at work, volunteering or a conversation with someone in the role.

6. Make a 90 day plan

Write down what you will do each month: what to learn, who to talk to and when to start applying. Small weekly steps beat one big push.

Example: moving from retail into HRMonth 1. Read 15 HR assistant adverts, list the skills that repeat, and write three examples from your retail work, such as training new starters.
Month 2. Take one short course on employment basics and talk to two people who work in HR.
Month 3. Tailor your CV to HR roles and apply to five, tracking each one.

In Submiti: Career Explorer helps you find roles that fit your skills, job synthesis compares adverts for you, and Your plan turns it into 90 days of steps.

Put it into practice

Use Submiti to keep your examples and apply with them, or bring your question to The Experience Room, our career community.

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