How to learn a new profession: tips + ways

How to learn a completely new profession? Indeed, in the life of every person there comes a moment when he thinks or makes a final decision about changing his profession. This may be due to the fact that work is no longer enjoyable. As well as the desired income or obsolete.

With the development of digital technologies, many professions are becoming a thing of the past. But there are new promising areas of activity. How to choose a new profession to your liking, how much money it may require and what you need to consider, read in this article.

How to choose a new profession?

The choice of a new profession must be approached with all seriousness. Do not be easily carried away by what friends and acquaintances advise you. It's not a fact that what your loved ones like will suit you. Everyone has their own preferences, life goals and priorities, aspirations and abilities.

What to consider when choosing:

• Your strengths and weaknesses. This applies to acquired knowledge, skills, experience, personal qualities. As well as health conditions.
• Your type and orientation of personality. Extroverts like to communicate with people, work in a team. Introverts, on the contrary, find it easier to work with reports at a computer, ideally remotely, at home.
• Professions and activities that you enjoy. For those who like to draw, the work of a web designer, designer of promotional products, interior designer is suitable. For those who love painstaking work with documents, the work of an accountant, programmer, financial analyst, etc. is recommended.
• The presence of related specialties. There are professions that in many ways intersect with your current activities. Retraining for a related specialty is much easier and cheaper.

If you don’t like the job and you don’t enjoy doing it, then sooner or later, despite the high wages, you will want to change it. Therefore, immediately think about what exactly you have always dreamed of doing, but for some reason have not yet reached your goal.

Many do not want to change their specialty because of the fear of change, the unknown. But sometimes you need to take risks (weighing the pros and cons).

Why do people want to change their profession?

Statistics based on surveys of people employed in various fields of activity show that the majority would like to change their specialty at the present time. Why do people want to retrain as a specialist of a different profile? There are data that have been compiled on the basis of various surveys.

How do people respond to the question “What are you unhappy with in your current job?"

1. Wages – more than 70%.
2. Lack of career growth – 48%.
3. Monotony and monotony of processes – 39%.
4. Lack of vocational training and advanced training – 34%.
5. Complete lack of support from management – 30%.
6. Lack of creative work, interesting new projects – 27%.
7. A heavy load, due to which there is not enough time for personal life – 23%.
8. Disunity in the team, lack of teamwork and corporate spirit – 17%.
9. Linked to the office and a hard work regime – 16%.
10. Nervous stress, constant tension and discomfort when doing work. (There is even a special term – procrastination, which refers to the constant postponement of tasks and assignments due to the fact that a person does not like to fulfill his duties).
11. The fact that the product is not focused on social tasks. The company does not create goods or services of social significance – 15%.

If a person is satisfied with the salary, he, in most cases, remains at work, even if he does not like it. Some may develop depression because of this, psychological problems appear due to conflicts with management or colleagues. In such cases, of course, it is worth trying to build relationships, find positive aspects in your work, and not immediately rush to find a new place or a new specialty.

But if the profession no longer brings either pleasure or income and there are no special prospects, then changing the type of activity is the best solution.

What can give a person a change of profession

If you take a balanced approach to retraining and choose a new profession, taking into account the set priorities, you can get the following positive results from the new job:

• Possibility of realization of creative abilities, participation in non-standard and various projects.
• Intellectual development.
• Constant personal growth.
• Income increase.
• Increasing comfort in teamwork, relationships with new colleagues and management.
• Building relationships with family. Due to too high employment or nervous stress, problems in relationships with loved ones may appear. And mastering a profession with a different work schedule can improve the situation.

How to change a profession – the main stages

This section contains advice from people who have successfully changed their profession and are satisfied with their choice. This is a process that consists of several stages. After reading the information below, you will understand exactly how you can learn a completely new profession.

Decide what you don't like about your current job

In order to change your profession and improve the quality of your life, you need to decide what exactly does not suit you right now. You need to analyze what makes you upset. What depresses you, what causes positive emotions, and what negative ones. Ideally, you should make a list of pros and cons. So it will be easier to understand what you need to focus on when searching for and choosing a new specialty.

If you are not satisfied with only wages, you can change jobs. Or find a competing company that better appreciates professionals like you. It is not always necessary to radically change the profession to increase income.

If the work itself seems boring to you, there is no professional or creative development, then you need to think about repurposing.

Choose the areas of activity that suit you

Based on the previous stage, at which a list of the pros and cons of the old profession was compiled, you need to determine your main priorities – increasing income, realizing creative potential, personal growth, career advancement, etc. Based on the main goals, you need to make a list of professions that are suitable for personal life goals.

Assess your options correctly

It always takes time to learn a new profession. Some specialties can be mastered in 1-2 months (salesperson, manicurist, SMM specialist, etc.), others will require more than one year of training (lawyer, accountant, marketer).

You need to understand how much time you have to change your profession and how much financial resources you are willing to invest in your retraining. Some continue to work and gradually begin to master a new specialty (for example, through correspondence studies at a higher educational institution or attending courses).

How you can learn a completely new profession – Study the job market

Before changing a specialty, it is necessary to understand that such a profession is in demand in the market. You need to look at vacancies on major job search portals, evaluate the amount of salaries offered, the number of vacancies. When studying the labor market, you need to look at the requirements for applicants (education, skill level, practical experience). The requirements for employees of the chosen specialty will then be the main criteria for choosing the educational program of the training company.

If you see that your chosen profession is not relevant or is paid too low, think about it, is it right for you? Maybe it’s worth shifting the vector a little and finding a profession option that will meet your priorities and, at the same time, be in demand and promising.

Choose a profession in an industry that you have previously crossed paths with

There are options to start working in those areas with which you have already dealt. For example, working as a lawyer in a construction company, you already understand the specifics and features of the construction industry, but you don’t quite like the routine work with documents and laws. You can try to find yourself in this niche. For example, change your profile to a customer service manager in a company specializing in the sale of building materials, works or services.

Or you work in the personnel department, selecting specialists for the advertising and marketing department. When selecting personnel to promote goods or services, you understand the specifics of the work, the main functionality. If you are tired of working with papers and reports, you can learn a new creative profession and engage in advertising.

Advantages of choosing a profession in an already familiar industry:

• When training, it will take less time to understand the specifics of the niche.
• You can seek advice or recommendations from those with whom you previously crossed paths in your old job (clients, suppliers, contractors).
• There is some understanding of the nuances and pitfalls associated with this activity.

Choose a profession in a new industry

It often happens that people start working in a completely new industry for themselves. For example, a person worked as an accountant or an economist, and then decided to change jobs to more creative and not dependent on one employer. And he began to try his hand at copywriting, web design or Internet promotion.

If, for some reason, the old job no longer suits you (for example, it is gradually losing its significance due to the development of digital technologies or lack of demand), you can and should pay attention to new areas of activity. If there are no special preferences, but there is simply an understanding that something needs to be changed, then you need to pay attention to those professions that will be relevant for 15-20 years (for example, in the field of IT, online advertising, online sales, etc.). ).

How you can learn a completely new profession – Seek recommendations from friends and acquaintances

When you are considering a career change, consider who you can get advice, counseling, or other help from. Among relatives, friends or acquaintances, there may be a person who already works in this field or close to it.

For example, if you decide to become a branded clothing seller, and your friend works as a furniture sales manager, then his advice and tips on choosing training courses will be very useful. Because he understands the specifics of direct sales.

How to choose courses for retraining

One of the most important moments for a career change. On the Internet, you can find many offers from consulting and educational companies that offer training, retraining or advanced training in offline and online formats.

Distance learning is suitable for so many professions. But there are specialties that can only be learned from an experienced professional personally.

What you need to pay attention to when choosing an educational school:

• Business reputation of the educational institution. With the advent of the Internet, many began to open their own business schools, educational courses and trainings, while not having sufficient knowledge and qualifications. Online communication programs make it possible to conduct classes from anywhere in the world. And you can develop and print certificates of completion of courses in any design with any text. Therefore, you need to study the information about the company that offers training. You need to view student reviews, the time the company was created, and other data.
• Who will lead the course. The teacher must have the necessary level of qualification, practical experience. Serious educational companies for each teacher on the site post information about his education, experience, achievements, activities. It is very important to have practical experience in what a person will teach others. Knowledge of the theory helps to develop, but is not sufficient for mastering a new profession.
• What is included in the educational program. This is a mandatory item that should be on the website of a business school or consulting firm. Thus, you can choose exactly the course that fits the goals and objectives of retraining.
• The duration of the educational program. This point needs to be considered from different angles. The first one is whether you have time to complete the selected educational course within the period indicated on the website of the educational institution. The second – is it possible to really learn the proposed profession in such a time? That is, if you are offered to become an accountant or a marketer by completing 2 months of online courses, this is a waste of time and money. It is necessary to analyze how much time is really needed to master the chosen profession. To do this, you can consult with experts, read informational articles on the Internet on this topic.
• Cost of education. Comparing the prices of different schools.

How you can learn a completely new profession – training costs

To master a new specialty or retrain for related professional activities, financial expenses will be required. It is not necessary to spend money on the most expensive courses or trainings, first you need to study the market for educational and consulting services in this area.

A lot of useful information on the Internet can be found for free. Some business schools and consulting agencies post free master classes, trainings, and video tutorials online. You need to enjoy this content.

The cost of professional courses, where the masters will teach the necessary knowledge and skills, directly depends on the time needed for retraining, the prestige and complexity of the profession.

For example, for women who want to change their specialty within 1-2 months, manicure-pedicure training courses may be suitable. Or on sugaring for 20-40 hours of training. You will have to spend 5-30,000 🪙 on this (depending on the level of the training specialist).

To master the art of hairdressing, it will take several months, a workshop with a working mother in the salon and 15-50,000 🪙.

Men can be recommended courses for sales managers (this profession is always relevant), SMM specialist, SEO, targeting (targeted advertising on social networks). Such courses last 1-2 months, the cost varies greatly depending on the specialization and the depth of immersion in the specifics of the profession. As well as the qualifications of teachers.

How to learn a completely new profession – Do you pay attention to the price?

The price of education does not always correspond to the value that students receive. Schools often set high prices, justifying it by the fact that they have been working in the educational services market for a long time. Or by inviting well-known lecturers or actively “promoting” in search engines and social networks.

When choosing a course, you should pay attention to what exactly you will get as a result, read the reviews of those who have already studied at this school.

Risks and "pitfalls" in the development of a new profession

Changing from an old profession to a new one gives a person new opportunities, but it can also be associated with some risks. To minimize the risk, you need to know what difficulties a person may face when retraining.

What "pitfalls" can you meet on the way to your dream:

• Mastering a new profession may take longer than originally planned. This is due to the fact that each person learns new knowledge and practical skills at a different speed. Delays can also occur due to the discrepancy between the results obtained and what the school's advertising promised. For example, you were assured that you can become a great web designer in a couple of months, but in practice it turned out that during this time you only learned the principles of programming and learned what Html is. And in order to develop dynamic complex sites, you still need to learn a lot from experienced masters (not for free, of course).
• Difficulties in finding a job. First of all, hiring specialists study the qualifications, the level of professional knowledge and experience. An HR manager who selects employees will select a retrained applicant from another industry last. And, of course, at the interview will ask questions about why they left the old job. Or for some reason they changed their activities so abruptly. You need to prepare for such a meeting, sincerely talk about the reasons that prompted you to look for new directions. You don't have to make up stories. HRs are good psychologists and will immediately understand that you are not honest. And this will be another fat minus when making a positive decision on hiring you.

What else?

• Low salary. At the first stages, you will not earn the money that specialists in their chosen profession receive. Beginners are always paid much less. Until you prove your level of qualification and relevant personal qualities. To reach the average level of wages, it will take more than one year to work in this area.
• Collective. When applying for a new job, you may encounter difficulties in infusing into a new team. There are always "lappings" when joining a new team. But you need to be ready for this. With a radical change of profession, sometimes new interests come, the circle of friends changes. For example, programmers or advertisers (just like other specialties) have their own slang, their own humor and other nuances. At first, it is difficult for a new employee to delve into such non-work moments. But over time, everything falls into place.

How to learn a completely new profession – Summary

You can change your profession at any age. If everything suits you, you are satisfied with the team, wages and the work processes themselves, then you should not change anything. But if your work does not bring moral satisfaction, the necessary income, then it is advisable to think about retraining.

You need to determine your priorities, think about who you can consult on choosing a profession. Then find educational courses or an educational institution and get trained, choosing a school with theoretical classes and practice.