What profession to choose: 5 career change myths that hinder development

Myth #1: Modern professions are only for the young

It seems that today the question “In what area to choose a profession?” is no longer worth it, and everyone who decides to make a radical change in their career immediately asks How to choose a profession in the IT field? This approach is quite justified: the state promises big benefits for those who work with information technologies, a recruiters“They have bots that sort emails from recruiters.” Who is hunted in IT in 2019 / TASS - secure future. 9 of the 10 highest paying jobs on "Rabota.ruCatalog of professions / Rabota.ru' belong to this area.

It may seem that only young graduates of technical universities get into IT. In fact, it is not the first year that the Russian market has been celebrating spicyPersonnel hunger. Russia lacks a million IT specialists / Lenta.ru shortage of personnel. Many companies take internships for employees with little experience and are ready to train specialists themselves in the process of work. Organizations need more than just developers: even those who are not ready to write code will find themselves in this industry. There are positions with a low entry threshold. Testers, in particular, may not know any programming language. There is a demand for them, because no site, application or game enters the market without the approval of the testing department. And the code will not be needed for IT recruiters, Internet marketers, project managers.

Creative tasks in this area are also not uncommon. Graphic designers are in demand: they come up with, draw and typeset design for applications, icons, merchandise, games and websites. If you enjoy writing and it's important to choose a profession in this direction, UX writing is worth considering. Even musicians can find themselves in technology. For example, try sound production or join the development of music services as an expert. So in this area, there will certainly be a use for your skills and talents, regardless of age and degree of love for the code.

Myth #2: Career guidance doesn't help you decide what career to choose

Many public tests really work on the principles of horoscopes and can be played on Barnum effectThe "Barnum effect" in personality assessment: A review of the literature / APA PsycNet. This is a cognitive bias that causes people to tend to rate highly the accuracy of psychotype tests, astronomical predictions, and palmistry. A person simply believes that the results of the final characteristics are unique and individually selected for him. As a result, the victims of the effect ignore inaccuracies and trust abstract comments.

For example, in a test, you may get the following final screen: “Your sociotype is distinguished by independence in decision-making. You do not tolerate discussions without convincing evidence, you have a non-standard, complex outlook on life and are emotionally sensitive. Sometimes you tend to be anti-social." The truth is that not accepting someone else's baseless opinion is a requirement of logic, not a psychotype. The desire to be alone sometimes is characteristic of the majority. And “a complex view of life” is a phrase so incomprehensible that everyone can attribute it to themselves to some extent.

But special tests for career guidance should not be avoided, because asking yourself competent questions is one of the most effective ways to choose a profession and not make a mistake. Answer honestly, and evaluate the results of the questionnaires as critically as possible.

In addition, HR specialists also use questionnaires as a career guidance tool. But here the results are not mechanical: experienced recruiters evaluate the process itself, monitor how and what you say, gently guide you with additional questions. Therefore, sometimes trusting the pros at a career crossroads is a great idea. It is difficult to make an objective assessment of your skills, because you need to mentally separate your professional “I” from your personal one. By the way, it is also not easy to make such a “cut” for relatives and friends, so their opinion about your abilities must be taken into account carefully.

Myth number 3: only the diploma determines what professions you can choose

4-6 years of study, a beautiful cover, sleepless nights on graduation work - you spent a lot of time and resources to get a diploma. However, for a career revolution, it is not at all necessary to focus only on it. Of course, in the banking or, for example, educational field, higher education documents will be needed, but in an IT company or an event agency, they most likely will not ask you for them. Experience, soft and hard skills are much more valued there. Even the ability to present yourself at an interview can play a greater role in finding a job than a coveted university certificate.

By the time they enter the university, not everyone is psychologically ready to make a decision for life. Therefore, changing a specialty at any age is a normal phenomenon. In addition, not only new vacancies appear regularly, but entire industries: how could you choose the right profession of your dreams 5–10 years ago if it simply did not exist? Your interests grow along with the surrounding information space. A diploma and acquired skills can suggest a direction for a career search, but in the modern labor market, sometimes it simply does not make sense to confine yourself to the frame of an entry in a certificate.

Myth number 4: the rules for choosing a profession are the same for everyone

When the list of work tasks for tomorrow causes melancholy or slight nausea, I want a simple human “so that someone decides everything for me.” But no matter how meticulous your research on the peculiarities of choosing a profession and changing it, it is unlikely that you will find a ready-made algorithm of actions. The stories of successful career metamorphoses are very different, and what yours will be depends on many factors.

Some people can afford to go nowhere. A year or two to train in different large companies for a small fee, find yourself and then invest this experience in a rich future. For others, this scenario does not suit: you need to feed your family or pay a mortgage here and now. You have to rely on a promising specialty and study in parallel with an already bored job. At the same time, the endings in both stories can be both successful and disappointing.

Everyone has their own conditions for choosing a profession, and there is no ready-made instruction. But here's what's most likely worth a try:

• See what vacancies are held in high esteem on major aggregators.
• Find specialized channels and publics in social networks with interesting vacancies.
• Find out about the possibilities of horizontal transition in your company - maybe something suitable can be found in the next department.
• Consider how much time you have to study.
• Write down the main complaints about the current place of work and find internal filters for finding a new one.
• Determine the main priorities and arrange the requirements for work in order of their importance. For example, to understand that the main thing is to choose a profession to your liking or expand your financial horizons.
• Complete internships, courses or participate in volunteer projects, keeping your previous job if possible.
• Decide if you are ready to start from scratch with the ensuing salary caps.
• Make a financial plan for the next six months, taking into account different scenarios.

Myth #5: Just do what you love and the money will find you.

Surely you have heard the phrase: “Do what you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” This thesis is only partly true, and it’s definitely not worth making it a career strategy. It's great when you can turn a hobby into a source of income. But for this you need to make a lot of effort and work even more than the usual 40 hours a week.

Business does not appear out of nowhere. Let's say you like restoring furniture. The process itself is meditative and exciting, and the results of creativity are already flaunted by all your acquaintances and friends. But as soon as you decide to get out of the garage and make your hobby your full-time job, a number of questions arise. Where to rent a room? What professional tools are worth investing in? How many orders do you need to make per month to cover the costs? How and on what platforms to look for clients? Any novice entrepreneur is a master of all routine processes, a marketer, an accountant, a bit of a lawyer and an anti-crisis manager.

Therefore, if you decide to restart your career path and choose a new profession from the list of hobbies, you should not immediately quit your stable job. Get ready: do a market analysis, write a business plan, and put together an airbag that will last at least six months on your own.

Myth number 6: the choice of a profession in life is the main task

Of course, very important, but not necessarily the main one. And do not put too much pressure on yourself - this is unlikely to help in making a decision and rather only slow down an already difficult process. In moments when it seems that you are going the wrong way, remember: this does not make you a loser. On the contrary, admitting to yourself that it is time to change something, and taking the first steps towards this is the prerogative of courageous and strong-willed people. And you are not alone on this path: everyone thirdCareer results of the decade and plans for the next 10 years: survey results / HeadHunter a HeadHunter survey participant has gone into a radically different career field in the past 10 years.

The reasons that encourage people to choose another profession are different. Perhaps you just squeezed the maximum out of your position, and promotion for some reason does not happen. The desire to achieve more is natural. Another option - at the start of your career, you simply had no choice: you had to go to work in a specialty that was chosen not by you, but by your parents. Or the number of budget places in the university is limited. Or maybe you just had a global reassessment of landmarks and the current working days no longer fit the way of life and views on the future. To return to the stage of choosing a profession could be forced by external circumstances. For example, marriage and having children are powerful motivators to earn more.

Changing activities is normal and natural, you should not dramatize this process. One does not choose a profession once and for a lifetime - the world is changing, and those who move forward with it, and do not stand still, win the race of self-realization.