Career Choices When Changing Jobs

Career changes can be difficult, especially when you've been in the same career for an extended time and you want to try something different, or if you're just getting started and need to make a change early on. It can be frightening to let go of something you know and try something new.

Something that we are seeing more right now is the use of interest inventories to look at career options that best suit our skills and personalities. University career planning offices office this to students on a regular basis, but this is available to the general public as well through some job training programs. Some counselors specialize in career counseling and help individuals look at their careers and making changes about their career or within their job.

There are a couple assessments to consider that are free to take online if you don't have access to one of the above.

Assessments:

Skills Assessment - Skills Assessment | CareerOneStop

Interest Assessment - Interest Assessment | CareerOneStop

Interest Inventory (60 questions) - O*NET Interest Profiler at My Next Move

Work Values Matcher - Work Values Matcher | Careers | CareerOneStop

These are just a few assessments to consider potential careers based on interests and skills and work values. It may be realistic to even consider returning to school to take a couple classes to get some skills that you would need for a career change you'd like to make. Many places offer adult education that is skill based. Sometimes they are offered through community colleges.

Coursera offers online classes from various universities. - Coursera | Degrees, Certificates, & Free Online Courses