When career change is inevitable

“The reason I left my teaching job was because I wanted something more challenging. But I also wanted to enhance the career I had started, and it was never about the money,” Patience Kyomugasho Aryaija, the human resource manager Capital Shoppers, says.
Kyomugasho decided to change a career she had practised for some years for another she thought was more challenging.
“My first degree is in Education from Uganda Christian University, majoring in Literature and English. From 2004 to 2005, I taught in Rwanda at Greenhill Academy, from which I joined Vienna College Namugongo, where I taught from 2006 to 2010 when I left and joined capital Shoppers as a human resource manager,” she shares.
Her newly found passion was discovered while working at Vienna College where she doubled as a teacher and senior woman. She says managing people and teenagers made her pick interest in the human resource field.
“I first upgraded with a diploma in Human Resource Management and continued immediately for a Master’s in the same course at Uganda Management Institute, and completed it in 2010 - a few months into my new job. I have found human resource management quite interesting because you deal with people from all walks of life, from all levels of education and you have to manage all of them.
“Now, that’s a challenge, but a good experience,” she says, with satisfaction pointing out that although managing people is challenging, one just learns and understands how to deal with them each day.
“Just like teachers, our satisfaction is seeing the people you have taken on and rendered a hand become better. Though the job is not easy, with a lot of patience, you can manage. That, plus paying attention. For example, if you are managing about 400 people, you should be able to know them by name, greet them, and do the little things. It’s that attachment with the people that you are working with that makes you love HR,” she says, adding, “From the beginning - I think this was my calling and I have fun doing it.”
In an article by the Guardian newspaper, Suzy Greaves , who runs a coaching business called The Big Leap, says an astonishing 80 per cent of us end up in the wrong job!

When to move on
“We finish school, and go through our 20s conforming to what other people want us to do. That’s often a solid career with a professional qualification. But most people aren’t maturing until their early 20s, and before that we tend to listen to other people’s opinions of what we should do with our lives, rather than our own,” she says.
In such a situation, changing career could be the best decision you ever make, says David Thomas, chief executive of Crac, the Careers Research and Advisory Centre.
“For most people, a major career change is a very positive experience and nearly always a success story. If you can find a role that you love, the change will be totally invigorating,” Thomas says.

What to do

If you are to change career, do the following:

Look for satisfaction
“By the time you decide it is time to change career, it is most probably because you are disgruntled. It could be financially, but for many, it is a lack of enthusiasm in their current careers. A loss of drive, purpose and stagnation that they feel they should conquer more, be more challenged and satisfied by their career. That should be the most salient or at least among the salient reasons you decide to change from one career path to the other,” Catherine Tumukunde, a career guidance counselor, says, noting that one ought to consider overtime that they are not changing career for the wrong reasons.
“Out of competition – to look more superior that your peers, because you hate your colleagues, or if you are simply bored for a few weeks at work. Your motivation should be passion and job satisfaction,” Tumukunde says.

Give it your all
A change of career is usually seen by some as walking into uncertainty. “You are quitting your career and probably your job and believe me, people – your boss inclusive - might advise you against it. You might even be seduced with a pay rise. My point is, you will be discouraged to take that leap into another career but if you have made up your mind, give it your best,” Tumukunde says. This might mean putting in extra hours to learn new things, investing money into learning new skills, doing research about your new field, getting in touch with mentors in that field, among others. Just better oneself at every chance, she insists.

Move with your skills, experiences.
You might at times be shocked at how well the skills earned from your former career can blend into a new career choice. “If you plan a career change, don’t forget to move with your skills and experiences because it maybe the leverage you have over your peers when you cross on to the other end. This, however, doesn’t mean rigidity to skills and requirements of your new career. The idea is to incorporate the two – especially those skills that can be, to better yourself in the new career field,” Dr Kasekende Thompson, a career guidance counselor at Thompson Consultants says.
So, don’t be afraid to make the change. Get ready for it, and the sky will only be the beginning.