In IT for over 5.5 years-how can I change now?

by: Cherry

You say ‘a handful of lucky people got through this way’. So you can move to a different department within your company. What have they done that’s helped them make the move? They are not just ‘lucky’ – you need to find out what strategies they used. Can you talk with them and discover what they did?

Who do you know in HR? You need to build your contacts in this sector so you can learn more about what the job involves. This will help you understand the work and you may get some useful leads and contacts regarding routes into the HR field.

What attracts you to HR? What particular skills and experience do you have that will make you more successful in HR? If you go for an interview you will probably be asked that question so you need to think through your answer in advance.

You say you want to do an MBA too. Do you have to do both? Is an MBA an essential requirement to get into HR? What other training could you do that would qualify you more specifically for the HR path and which might be less expensive? What do you hope to get from studying an MBA which is a broader qualification?

There could obviously be a significant cost for you if you go back to study full time, so what about part-time study? Would your current employer support you either financially or just in terms of giving you the time off to study?

If you know you have a significant expenditure ahead of you, then clearly you need to plan for it, so what can you do to revise your current spending and reduce your debt? If you know you have issues around how you deal with money, then I recommend this great ebook by Supercoach Michael Neill – Money Made Fun. You may also wish to explore developing some online income streams that will complement your earnings. I have built the How To Change Careers website using SiteBuildIt and I highly recommend it for creating an online business. Take a look at this page for more information.

Finally it seems to me that you are visualising what you want as an enormous and almost impossible task. You are setting it up in your own mind as something you don’t really believe you can achieve. This mindset will make it harder for you to get what you want! Take some time to revise how you think about your goal – as a challenge, yes, but one you can approach with creativity and positive energy. This will mean you are more open to ideas that may help you move forward and you will be more willing to take chances. Everyday just keep your eyes and mind open to the question ‘what can I do to make my goal a reality and who can I ask to help me?’