Stay Motivated to Change Careers

I was working on the phones as a customer service representative at a random company. I wasn't too thrilled about answering calls and saying the same thing over and over again, but a job is a job.

There would be a few perks where I would be able to teach a class over the phone so I wouldn't have to answer as many of the same questions. However, I still wanted more from life.

I needed something that was challenging and made me want to wake up in the morning, and be looking forward to the day. So, since I had an interest that I had kept from college, I pursed getting certified in the field to show to companies that I was serious about it.

I had decided, I don't want to be answering phones all my life. So I hit the books. Reading each book for each test that I had to take to get certified. The motivation to be doing something I could look forward to every day made reading the books all the easier.

I was scared of my first certification test, but I passed it easily. With one test of five under my belt, I had an idea of what was to come with the next tests. Two down, three down, four down, and eventually five.

The fifth one took me the longest for some reason. I didn't actually take the test until I was called from a company asking about my resume. They had seen my current certifications and wanted to know more about me.

A week later, I got that fifth and final certification, which helped greatly when I went in for the actual face to face interview.

I got that job, and now I wake up wondering what I'm going to learn next, excited that I'll be doing something new with a career that was only a dream only a year before.

Motivation and keeping at it is the best advice I can give. Don't let anybody stand in your way. The biggest hurdle is going to be getting yourself excited about something while keeping up the energy, even after a long day of work.

Comments for Stay Motivated to Change Careers

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Customer Service Career Change
by: Matt

Wow I really needed to read this because I am in the exact same boat.

I have done customer service for over 10 years and have hated every bit of it, but I am unsure about what I would actually like to do, so I always end back up in the same place. T

his definitely keeps me motivated to stay at trying to find something new. Thanks!


Lisa's Response to Matt



Matt, I'm so happy to hear that the story about making a career change has helped you to feel motivated.

I have helped about 2000 clients with a job search and career change, and, from that experience, I can tell you that for the majority of people, motivation and attitude are the biggest factors in achieving career goals.

The people who are willing to stick with things and do what is necessary to find the job they want, even if those tasks are challenging or out of their comfort zone, are the ones who find work fastest and are happiest with the jobs that they find.

In my experience, motivation is a huge factor in success even in a competitive labor market and even when a person has some challenges that may make it harder to find work (such as a gap in work experience, limited education, making a career change, etc.).

I ran job search workshops all through the tech crash in the early 2000s, and clients who came from that industry may have taken a little longer than usual to find work, but those who had a persistent attitude did find employment in the field even in that tough labor market.

You mentioned you are not sure what you want to do. One suggestion I would make would be to do a few informational interviews. If you have a list of a few careers that interest you, set up interviews with people who already work in that field to ask them about their jobs.

In my opinion, it is the best way to get thorough, fairly unbiased information about a job in order to determine whether a specific type of job would meet your needs.

You'll find detailed information about conducting an informational interview on these pages:

Informational Interview Tips
Informational Interview Questions

Also, I wrote a detailed response to another reader who was thinking about making a career change with suggestions for making the change and links to additional related information. You'll find that information here:
Career Change Question

I hope all of that information will be helpful to you.

All the best,
Lisa

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