Changing careers can be both exciting and terrifying, whether you’ve chosen to move careers because your personal interests have developed and changed or whether you are struggling to find work within your current industry due to a downturn in the economy, it all leads to a potentially huge life change, particularly if you are coming into an industry as a beginner. If you have been considering changing your career but are worried about losing your confidence during the process here is some fantastic advice to keep you on track.

Stop Worrying About What Other People Think

When trying something new for the first time, it’s quite common for people to become acutely aware of those around them and if they are being judged for coming into something as a newcomer. However, no one has ever come into a hobby, sport, activity as an expert and everyone has had to start somewhere, usually right at the bottom like everyone else! This is important to keep in mind when joining a club or hobby to get you started in a new interest and those that are quick to judge just indicate the sort of people you don’t want to become involved with. It can take some practice to get your head around and stand tall and be proud of not shying away from something you have no experience in, but you’ll soon find yourself worrying less, enjoying yourself more and in time, excelling your new activity.

Seek Education to Get A Leg Up

Once upon a time, it was common place for someone to walk into a skilled job off the street, ask for the lowest position and quickly get an opportunity to move up the ranks to a more substantial position with no in-depth training or further education. Unfortunately, these days, employers seem to be expecting more and more from the job candidates, from university degrees and master’s certificates to industry experience and several glowing references from heads of competing companies. Of course, this isn’t possible, and companies are aware and will hire those who show they have the determination to surpass their starting skills quickly. To put yourself in a better position when applying to a new industry, explore your educational options before hand, whether it’s following a series of detailed tutorials on YouTube and instructional websites like SkillShare or taking an evening course in the topic and complimenting subjects to gather the basic knowledge required.

Reach Out to Others

There aren’t that many songs about going it alone as there are that sing about being “All in this together” and “You’ve got a friend in me” and for good reason, only certain personality types can go it alone and even then, everyone can stand to have a buddy on their side. Find others that are new to the industry that are trying to find their feet too, reach out to professionals and ask them how they made it to their current role, it’s important not to overly bother, but there’s nothing wrong with a friendly email stating your interest and their influence. Expect to receive a couple of non-responses or even no response at all in some situations, industry leads are busy people, however, keep trying to network in the right conversations across social media channels, particularly Twitter and LinkedIn and someone will soon take notice.

Take a Chance

Being too scared to take a step in any direction just causes you to stay where you are, there’s no harm in making mistakes and certainly no harm in finding yourself on the wrong track a few times and having to try a new path. The most important thing is you keep going, progress can only be made when you take chances, jump at opportunities and always keep trying. When you stop, when you give up, no progress can be made, you stagnate, and time can pass you by as you simply tick the boxes day in and day out.

Life isn’t for just existing, being a feature or another statistic, it’s yours to grab and to rock in any way you want, you will always be the master of your actions and sometimes you just need to give yourself a kick. Whether you are changing careers because of a want or an interest or if you need to move industries as the economy changes and jobs become sparse, make sure that you put yourself forward and always apply yourself to the utmost of your ability, then you can never hold anything against yourself for not trying your best.