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CHANGING YOUR CAREER

Also on this Page:

Timing

Produce a CV

Explore Job Options

The Interview

Job Offer

This section has to be treated very seriously and you need to do a lot of soul searching. This is where you may have decided that being in Financial Services is not the right career for you. In this section, you are advised to carry out various exercises to help you to come to the right decision.

You may be unhappy where you are and convinced that Financial Services is not for you.

In most cases, the solution is quite simple. It could be that you are working for the wrong company and that all you have to do is look at a different employer but in the same industry.

First exercise - Put it all down on paper or on your personal computer where you can refer back to the various exercises you will be doing.

• Assess where you are today.
• What have you achieved so far in this industry? List your successes.
• Where do you want to be?
• Where do you see yourself in a few years time?

Second exercise - List out the following:

• What do you like about your job? List out as many points as possible. There should be at least
10 main points.
• What don’t you enjoy about your current job?
• Then have a think about your past career.
• What have been the most enjoyable past roles – and why?
• What was the most positive and exciting part of your career?
• What has changed since then?

Now have a big think and design your ideal job.

• Describe what type of an ideal position would be for you?
• Include your duties and functions.
• What do you want most out of this job?
• Why is this job ideal for you?

Third Exercise - What obstacles are in your way? You need to list things that may get in your way which could include timing, financial, lack of advice etc. When you get to this stage it is vital that you start to include others because this is not a decision you can take on your own. What we suggest is that:

• You confide with your spouse or partner. (We feel essential)
• Speak to friends and family. (They know you best)
• Contact a Career Coach or Career Counsellor.
• Speak to us – It’s free!
• Why not confide with your Boss or work colleagues.

Sometimes it’s your friends and mates who can offer the best advice. But it is vital to get the backing and support from those nearest and dearest to you.

Timing

So if you have decided that you want to change career. Make sure you have pursued all existing options and alternatives within the Financial Services side. You may be in Financial Sales and think you have had enough of being in a sales role – having the pressures of performing to achieve high sales targets, so why not consider other options that can fully utilise your existing skills such as:

• Being a Para Planner – who are in great demand.
• Why not find a Compliance role.
• Explore local IFA’s who may have a variety of vacancies.
• How about looking for a Supervisor role training new starters.
• Administration work etc.

So if you have finally decided to leave Financial Services – the next thing to consider is WHEN.
Timing is critical. Once you have made a decision the chances are that a mighty weight has been lifted from your shoulders and can start looking to the future with a certain amount of excitement.

This is it! A start to a new and exciting life. Now you need to be positive, upbeat and full of enthusiasm. So when it comes to timing, you need to consider the following:

• How much holidays have you got owing to you.
• What bonuses or additional payments are you do?
• May and October are probably the best times to look around.
• Good times to start a new job is January or September.
• Plan ahead and give yourself a decent lead in time. Say 6 months.

NEVER RESIGN BEFORE YOU HAVE A NEW JOB LINED UP.

NEVER START A NEW JOB UNTIL YOU HAVE HAD A DECENT HOLIDAY BREAK.

In other words, go on an excellent holiday, come back refreshed and resign, and you might get some garden leave thrown in. You need to have fully charged batteries before you start your new job. Sometimes when you go on a holiday knowing that you are about to chuck in your ghastly job, you might have the best and most relaxing holiday you have ever had. It’s a fact.

Produce a CV

Next stage is to produce your own CV. This has got to be done properly and you need to spend much time and effort in producing the right document.

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to a career change is giving your CV the punch it needs to make an impact in a new industry. You may think that little of what you have done before will count, but you’d be wrong. We all pick up and develop a wide range of skills that can be applied in many different roles.

Refer to our section

How To Produce a CV

What is a transferable skill?

As the name suggests, a transferable skill is something that can be taken with you and applied to any new job. These are core skills that all employers value, such as:

• Planning and organisation
• Communication
• Listening
• Presentation
• Influencing / Negotiation
• Managing client meetings
• Team working
• Results Driven
• Sales ability / Persuasiveness
• Customer focus
• Leadership
• Taking on Information
• Adaptability
• Quality and efficiency
• Initiative / Drive
• Tenacity and resilience

These are the Skills that most Financial Advisers have that can be transferred to a new employer. Do not forget the obvious strengths that you have developed because that is important.

For example in Financial Services you have to:

• Be able to learn and take of information
• Be fully IT literate
• Sales orientated and target driven
• Working with high net worth clients
• Rapport building and developing close working relationships.

So look at your skills and strengths. Don’t be modest!

Start to Explore Different Job Options

So the CV is done. Show it to friends, family and others for their feed back. This is vital. They may think you are under selling yourself.

You have your job spec of the type of role you are looking for.

The rest is up to you. This is where you start doing some serious research and it is important that you put this all on paper and monitor your progress.
Title this bit My Action Plan.

If you are going to find your ideal job, then you need to face some facts. Unless you are lucky, you are not going to get a job offer on day one. So ideally, you need to see as many potential employers as possible.

There are two ways of doing this. You can either be Proactive OR Reactive

Proactive is where you go out and find the job yourself by approaching companies direct.

Reactive is where you get an Employment agency do all the work for you -

OR you can send your CV blind and hope someone comes back to you.

OR you can post your CV details on an Employment Website and keep fingers crossed.

OR you can do a bit of both.

Here is an example of your Proactive Action Plan:

• Decide a target start date for your new job. Minimum in 3 months time.
• List out 15 potential employers you are going to approach. We strongly recommend that you speak to
all your friends, mates, past contacts and anyone you know. Here is an important statistic to consider.

All those who decide to change careers, find alternative employment as follows:

	85% through personal contacts, friends and acquaintances

	10% from employment agencies

	5% from job adverts in journals and news papers

So what does that tell you?

• Research each Company thoroughly, and the role.
• Find out the name of the best person to speak to.
• Call the contact and discuss any vacancies or potential roles they may have.
• ASK for a meeting.
• Send your CV before the meeting. Make sure they have received it.

Work on the following statistics:

Approach 15 potential employers direct

You will be invited to 7 interviews

Invited back on 4 for a second interview

You will get 2 job offers

And remember that if you approach a company direct, they could be saving themselves a fortune on recruitment fees!!


The Interview
	Please refer to our section Interview Guide Lines. It will contain everything you need to fully prepare yourself for an interview. On your list of companies you will be approaching, there may several jobs that you are really keen on. We suggest you leave the best until last. Get some ‘interview’ practise in first. You may be a bit rusty on interviews so practise on some of the lesser roles, and when you feel that your interview techniques have improved, then go for main roles you are really keen on. Remember - The golden rules before and during your interview is: • Do your research. • Look the part. • Be enthusiastic, keen and positive. (Smile) • Get invited back for a second interview.

Job Offer

This is a very important area where many people get it wrong. If you are being made an offer, then basically you are in the driving seat. You are in a position of strength as you are now wanted and having passed all the interviews, tests, assessments etc.

So, if your future employer offers you the position, and the job feels right, ACCEPT it!! You can always turn it down later if there are certain aspects you don’t feel comfortable with. You never know, but they may have a second choice person who will bite their arm off for the opportunity.

Never say:

• I want to think about it
• I need to speak to my Spouse first
• Can I have it in writing first
• What sort of car do I get with the job etc

Always say:

• That sounds excellent! I look forward to the opportunities this position offers.
• I look forward to working with you and being a valuable member of the team.

Or words to that effect. If the job feels right, or you feel 100% about this new role, then the chances are, it is right for you.

If you have any doubts, air them there and then. If you have doubts about anything, or not comfortable about certain aspects of the role, then the chances are, it’s not the right job for you.

It is important that you think in terms of the future. What are the long term prospects like? It might be an ideal job short term, but is there an opportunity for career progression within this new role?

Once you have had confirmation that the job is yours, and have ironed out all the final details, and have mutually decided on joining dates - then you need to look in terms of resigning.

Please refer to our section Starting A New Job for the correct process of resigning.

There is a right way and wrong way of resigning. Do make sure you spend a bit of time reading up on this section. You do not want to leave on a sour note, nor burn your bridges.

If your existing employers say they will ‘leave the door open’ for you to come back some time in the future if you ever wish to – then it speaks volumes about you. It is nice to have something to fall back on if it goes wrong in the future.

However, if they counter offer and put more money on the table etc, you need to revisit the reasons why you were not happy in the first place. Don’t get flattered by all the extra attention you might get about why they really want you to stay. Lets face it, they are only thinking of themselves!


So, just to recap, you have • Carried out your personal assessment. • Made a final decision to Change your Career • Designed your ideal future role. • Discussed your plans with those close to you. • Agreed on timing. • Produced your CV. • Have designed Your Action Plan. • Approached potential employers or Agencies. • Improved your interview techniques.
And finally – been offered that job that you always wanted. A Happy Bunny!

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