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By Robin Ryan – Forbes

“I’m miserable at work and have grown to hate my job. I want to do something completely different. I need HELP!” wrote Beth a 54-year-old lawyer. She was in need of career counseling to find a new direction. When I asked her, “What do you want to do for the rest of your life?” she said, “Not this. I hate contracts and I never want to see one again.”

In today’s workplace, there are millions of people like Beth that are unhappy with their jobs. That sure makes it hard to get out of bed in the morning and go to work. If you fail into this category, don’t think it’s too late to make a career change. Plenty of other people are doing that.

What if you could write a whole new life for yourself? Would you put in the effort to change? Too many baby boomers don’t even ponder these questions. They don’t acknowledge that being happy, successful and enjoying a satisfying career are all possible. Instead, they suffer and remain depressed.

You and you alone are responsible for creating your own future. Time to give serious thought to this life-shaping question: What exactly are you going to do with the rest of your life? There has never been a better time than right now to change the course of your life and that means changing your career.

Here are some key steps to get you on the right track fast.

  • Start with honest self-assessment. Analyze your current skill set, training level, and accomplishments to date. Write down the aspects of the work you liked and what tasks or things you disliked. Look online at Indeed.com and do some job research. Explore different career options. Investigate new fields, industries, and potential careers. Look for connections on LinkedIn and use your network to find people doing jobs you are interested in. Interview individuals who work at those types of jobs, or in fields of interest to you. Look at growth opportunities, salaries, benefits, education level and then determine the job title to target.
  • Use your transferable skills. When changing careers these are the skills you take from one job to another. You have acquired abilities from previous positions, or from classroom work, through committee work, volunteer experiences or doing community service. Forbes contributor Next Avenue outlines the top seven transferable skills as:
  • Technical
  • Communication – verbal and written
  • Critical Thinking
  • Multitasking – Time management and Organizational skills
  • Teamwork – collaboration
  • Creativity
  • Leadership

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