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Many millions around the world have not been in work for quite some time. Around 2 to 3 months ago, unemployment percentages across the developed and undeveloped world were decreasing. Now, many people are facing being laid off and possibly, having to find a different type of career. Whether you’re someone looking to improve your career prospects regardless of the circumstances or perhaps, someone needing to find another job, you’re probably wondering the same thing. How do you find a career that has just the same or greater prospects as your previous job? It requires you to have knowledge about niche avenues, where specific kinds of jobs and careers are made open to you. There are indeed, many ways you can get to the starting line.
Taking a course
Since you have a lot of free time on your hands, how about learning a course? It’s one thing to learn a subject but another to learn about a different profession. If you are someone who wants to do accounting, there are plenty of online course options for this. Specific companies in this field, offer their own online courses. They will design their own course, with a number of things in mind.
Finding a career that has just the same or greater prospects as your previous job requires you to have knowledge about niche avenues, where specific kinds of jobs and careers are made open to you.
Tweet ThisFirstly, they will design a course which they believe is best for their clients. Financial companies such as lenders, banks, think tanks, policy advisors, risk assessment firms, and investment firms will need fresh accountants to help them. Thus, companies operating within the industry will be designing courses for immediate employability.
You can also go onto large course websites like GreatCoursesPlus, Udemy and Skillshare have broader courses. You can combine your courses with anything you want. If you take an accounting course, couple it with an economic history course or perhaps a risk management course as well. This widens your career prospects and makes your skill list expand rapidly.
Look for your niche
Maybe you have a very specific set of skills. Good news, because the things that employers were looking for 10 years ago are not what they want now. Employers aren’t searching for employees that can do it all. Not even entrepreneurs feel this way anymore. The simple fact of the matter is, the professional world sees employees that can do ‘a bit of everything’ as worse investments than people who are specialists in their field. Hence why, if you’re a healthcare professional who works in elderly care, look for a role on a healthcare job board that is made for such opportunities. Here you will find around 1,400 job posts, specifically elderly and child care. Companies that are searching for people like you, will be using these kinds of niche websites, where they can hire the best of the best.
Volunteer in your field
Yes, even in this day and age, volunteering is highly recommended. You don’t have to drop everything you’re doing just to work for free. It should become a supplement to your professional career. Go ahead and keep working your usual 9 to 5, but on the weekends or in the evenings, in the end, weekdays, volunteer somewhere you can learn something. Let’s say you want to become a public planner and you’re working in construction. Volunteering to clean up a residential area and helping the local government authority with their infrastructure projects will give you firsthand experience. This is something you can use in your job interviews. When you are brought in to speak about your personal experiences, your volunteering experience should be used to explain why you’re the right person for the job.
Put the blinders on
Are you fine in your role right now? Maybe you aren’t at the mercy of the industry and you won’t be getting Fired anytime soon. But what if you’re not happy where you are? Do you want to be promoted instead? Some people get very frustrated that they aren’t seeing some kind of progression in their careers. Rather than move to another company where it could be worse, why not just put the blinders on? Become tunnel-visioned and increase your productivity.
This is a tactic which many people use to gain the favor of their middle management superior. This way when the time comes, their name will be pulled out of the list, regarding promotional chances. Use certain techniques to get over the hurdle of procrastination, become more organized, learn how to effectively prioritize and know when you need to ask for help with a task. It’s all about bettering your own character and believing that you haven’t earned your promotion yet, that will increase your productivity.
Start to network outside of work
Many companies will have events whereby employees are speaking with clients and customers alike. You will be able to network with people and learn more about what their needs are. But this is very focussed in one particular area. Networking outside of work could show you what lies beyond the field. Could the grass really be greener in another company? Could you have a higher salary for the same role in another city? Could you be more-readily given a promotion with a smaller company?
Going to industry events on your own could be your chance to escape your current role. Here you will meet companies looking to recruit, industry leaders that could guide you and individuals that could be searching for someone to join their team on a project or startup company.
Talk with your boss
Don’t suffer in silence. If this lockdown has taught you anything, it’s that your professional career is more than a livelihood. It’s a way for you to live a life that you feel is worth your effort. Work gives us routine and goals to reach, which are needed for our mental health. If you feel you need to take on new responsibilities and be given the opportunity to shine, speak with your boss, and simply ask for a promotion.
There are so many roads to drive down when you want to improve our career prospects. Going to industry events by yourself and searching for opportunities is a very viable tactic as you will meet many people looking for people like you.
