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A great exercise to undertake if you're thinking of a change of career is to capture all the different ideas you have about possible career options in the one place. You can choose to use a few sheets of paper, a new notebook or a file or folder. It really doesn't matter as long as all your ideas go in the one place.
Kickstart your Ideas Pool
Initially you should write down all the thoughts you've had over the past few months. Note that these don't necessarily need to be job titles but can just be general clues about the sort of role you'd like to have eg. "travel" or "would like to work with children". Choosing a new career requires detective work to put all various clues together so the more information you can provide the better.
Study the Appointments Sections
Buy newspapers and other publications with appointments sections on a regular basis and got through them with a highlighter pen picking out anything words, phrases, job titles or job descriptions that capture your imagination. You can either cut these out or write down the information. The best way to approach this is to forget what your logical brain is telling you eg. "this job isn't within travelling distance" or "I don't have right qualifications". You're not actually going to apply for these positions, you just want to build up a picture of what appeals to you.
Talk to your Family, Friends and Colleagues
Ask people who know you well what they think you'd be good at. You might be surprised at their responses. Think too about what you wanted to be when you were younger. Did you enjoy playing at being a doctor, a teacher or a fireman? These can also be important clues about what you're interested in. Be conscious of other people's jobs when you're going about your daily life. For example, you might be at the hairdresser's and think you'd enjoy their job although you're not actually any good at cutting hair. Ask yourself what is it about that role that appeals. It might just be the chance to meet lots of different people.
Brainstorm Further to Add to your List
Take a look at some of the words or phrases that you've written down and see if you can think of any job titles that might these might describe. Look at the job titles that you've written down and see if you can think of any similar occupations eg if you've written psychologist you might also think of counsellor. If you've got particular subjects you're interested in then try and broaden this out eg. there are lots of different fields of law.
Once you've got your list together start to see if you can group the ideas into themes and decide which themes are most appealing to you. Do further research if required before working out how to bridge the gap from where you are now to where you want to be.
Jacqui Mitchell is a successful career coach and consultant.