Have you been declared “non-essential” during the pandemic? Maybe you’re in a role that is or has been eliminated or just ready to try something new? Where do you begin?

First, a career assessment is a great place to start. My Next Move is a free one that can be completed online or we can help you with an in-depth assessment that examines your personality and desired skills and abilities.

Another great resource for making a career change is the internet. You can search for “in-demand” careers online. ONET is another great tool for researching careers along with salaries and provides career exploration tools.

Regardless of what career you currently have, if you are itching to make a change, examine the following as you begin:

What is missing from what I do now that I want to be able to do on a regular basis? What skills do I need to use on a regular basis to bring satisfaction?

What is it that I do now that I want to continue to be able to do? What skills that I want to continue to use are transferrable to other careers?

What type of environment do I enjoy working in?

What careers match the skills and abilities I want to use and are also in line with my work values? MatchFIT provides a framework for you to learn and understand what your workplace cultural preferences are, how to interpret and apply these preferences to your job search, and how to highlight and build on them for your own personal and professional development.

Research shows that better person-organization fit leads to employees who are more satisfied, engaged, successful, and achieve greater results for their organizations.

Finally, why not do a trial run before jumping into a new career? Job shadowing is a great way to try out a new career (or two) before you make a change. Read 4 Tips for an Awesome Job Shadow or Informational Interview before your first one. 4 Great Benefits of Job Shadowing for Grown-Ups offers more benefits of job shadowing for career changers.