Days of dreaming of being a doctor, engineer or police officer as a sign of success are behind us. If you look into the jobs that are most thriving and the industries that are on the rise now, they are not necessarily around traditional professions. These are industries that have emerged around new trends, creating opportunities that are exciting and rewarding.
Take marketing for example, years ago marketing revolved around ads and commercial, or maybe some direct mail. Although these traditional channels exist, the rise of the web created space for digital marketing, which is a whole new universe in itself.
So for up and coming generations that are still making career decisions or those who are reinventing their careers, it is important to look into all the opportunities that a particular career provides. Even traditional professions may have exciting opportunities that work better for your lifestyle and needs.
For example, in the US, where homeschooling is an option, there is a rise of platforms that offer online classes and personal tutoring for students who are as young as elementary school age. This rise could offer a teacher who is unable to commit to a full-time schedule an opportunity to work at a flexible schedule and earn some income.
If you feel like your career could use a push on a different path, consider the following factors.
Related jobs
You may feel doomed to a particular career because of your diploma or degree. This doesn’t have to be the case. Are you a doctor? How about working in health counselling or fitness? You might need to get some certification and take a part-time job for a while, but if that change makes you happier, go for it.
Related jobs are also easier to obtain when you have mastered your own profession. For example, are you a professional salesperson who has excelled in sales, but interested in business development. Bring your sales experience to the table, and build a case for how your experience coupled with additional learning, can help with business development for your organisation. You might not head the business development department, but you could get assigned projects that build your knowledge — and your resume — along the way.
New jobs
Whether you’re fresh out of college or you’ve been immersed in your career for years, check out the new jobs out there, especially if you’re in profession that is somehow related to web production, online advertising, or eCommerce.
For fun, search for jobs related to social media. Analyst, specialist, marketer, manager, content creator, and more title may appear, and they don’t all share the same functions or tasks. So if you’re considering a career change or even a job change, try to match your skills with existing new jobs, and find what you need to do to qualify.
Coming jobs
Be the pioneer in your organisation. If your interest doesn’t match an existing job, suggest a new structure or job description for yourself. This may appear hard in some larger, structured organisations, but it is not impossible. Explain to your supervisor what you want to do and why it is relevant to the organisation. Compare your proposed job description to what others do, and explain how it doesn’t conflict with others’ duties or step on anyone’s toes.
Many organisations find out that they might not be catching up fast enough with industry changes. So if you feel your aspirations align with a job opening that doesn’t exist in your company, but can be beneficial, be an advocate for creating this opportunity.
Finally be prepared to do the job. Build the knowledge and skills required for it, and propose to do it on the side for a while to show proof of concept. This is a stage when putting some extra hours here and there, and making a good case for your proposal can pay off.
The writer, a former Gulf News Business Features Editor, is a Seattle-based editor.
Factbox: Get into a new field
Look into jobs that are related to yours
Understand market trends and changes
Be the first to do the job in your organisation
Work hard and propose realistic plans
— R.O.
