Most of us have had our work lives and routines altered in some way as a result of the pandemic. So as the world starts to reopen and things return to some sort of normal, it’s causing many people to reevaluate their situation with regards to work.
If you’re thinking of making a change, whether that means exploring new career paths or simply staying in the same field but changing the way you work, there are lots of things worth considering. Jumping into a major life change without exploring the implications is rarely a good idea. We’re going to cover some of the career change options and their benefits below, so read on.
Attitudes to Working Are Shifting
Attitudes to work and how we structure our work lives are clearly shifting as a consequence of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns over the last year. For many, and some of them for the first time in their lives, have been working from home on a consistent basis. That means no commuting, no morning rush and none of the good and bad things that come with sharing an office space with others.
Some will have missed the day to day, in-person interactions. For others, they’ll have gained insights into the benefits of working from home. Others will simply have taken this massive global event to reevaluate what’s important to them and how their work lives are contributing (or not) to their general happiness and satisfaction with life.
Going Self-Employed in Order to Gain More Control Over Your Work Schedule
For many people, the chance to control their own schedule and decide when and how they work is what matters most after the pandemic. If that path interests you, you’ll want to consider becoming self-employed and working for yourself. For many this, simply means doing the same work but for themselves rather than someone else.
For example, a solicitor might choose to transition away from working at a traditional law firm and instead start operating as a consultant solicitor. There are organizations like Passion for Law that make this kind of transition smoother. And there are similar pathways to self-employment in many other industries, not just law.
Making Working From Home a Permanent Arrangement
For others, the need to become self-employed is not such an important one. For them, they might be happy negotiating some sort of work from home arrangement that continues on from the way they were working during lockdowns.
Lots of people have had a taste of working from home and don’t really want to go back to the office, but still want to work as an employee for an established company.
Following Your Passions
There’s a growing desire among many people to follow their passions. There’s nothing quite like a global pandemic to make you realize that life is short and if you’re going to follow those passions and dreams you’ve always had, it’s probably a good idea to do it now rather than later.
Of course, even this change should be managed carefully. Plan out your finances beforehand and don’t quit your current job until you have a solid plan in place for how you’re going to transition towards the plans you want to implement next. Doing it in stages and reducing your hours at your current job as you start building your passion project might be the best way to do it.
Looking For a New Job in a Post-Pandemic World
Finding a new job in the post-pandemic world, if that’s what you’ve decided you want to do, can be tricky. It might not be the ideal climate in which to be job hunting. But it’s also not as disastrous as you might think either. There is demand out there in the UK. Various factors, ranging from increased staffing needs in some sectors and rule changes for the hiring of EU workers relating to Brexit mean that there is a demand for employees.
Be sure to make use of the contacts you have as they might be useful in finding new positions before others do. You should also avoid quitting an existing job before you have a new one lined up because if you do struggle to find a new job, you might be without an income for an unsustainable period of time.
For many, now is the perfect time to start thinking about changes in their career. And if you’re thinking of doing the same, hopefully, the information and advice discussed above will help you make a success of whichever next step you decide to take in your work life.
