“You have the right to change your mind.”

That’s the message Michelle Obama shared with Oprah Winfrey as they discussed her admission that she hated being a lawyer, according to the article, Michelle Obama Gets Candid With Oprah About Her New Memoir, Becoming.

It’s an important message. If you aren’t happy with your job, if you feel like you are on the wrong career path, you can change your mind. In fact, changing careers isn’t that uncommon. The average person may change jobs more than 10 times during a lifetime and completely change careers several times as well, writes career coach Martin Yate in the article, Building Bridges to Your New Career.

However, a career change isn’t easy. Once you’ve made the decision to switch paths, you’ll have some work to do.

Maybe you’ve identified your passions and interests but not how to find a career that uses them.

Or, you may have heard about a job that you think would be perfect for you but have no idea what the necessary qualifications are for the role.

Even with a clear goal in mind, you’ll need to get some answers before your dream job can become a real career.

For example, can you get to your dream job by changing career paths and adding to your existing skills or will you need to begin developing an entirely different set of job skills? To attain your goal, which of your existing experiences and skills should you highlight on your resume and what gaps will you need to fill?

Finding the answers, you need to transition to your dream job

As you seek answers, you might turn to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupation Finder. Using the occupation finder, you can select a job to learn more about it and the skills and experience required to qualify for the role. You can also search the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data for careers related to your skills and interests, but finding your way through the agency’s huge collection of data can be a daunting task.

You can also enlist vocational coaches, mentors, and members of your professional network to find answers to some of your questions. If no one in your network has knowledge about your desired career, then begin building contacts in your new target industry. Try to set up informational interviews with individuals who have the career you want to learn firsthand what will be required.

Actionable advice and resume assistance using Carmen’s Skills Benchmark analysis

Perhaps the quickest way to begin your career transition is to use the actionable advice provided by Carmen’s free Resume Benchmark analysis tool. This career discovery and development tool will identify the qualifications you need to land your dream job and then guide you through the creation of a resume that points you in the right direction.

To get started, all you have to do is enter your dream job’s title. Then, Carmen’s Skills Benchmark analysis tool begins analyzing its jobs data. The software searches through millions of U.S. job descriptions related to your chosen job title. Using the data it gathers, Carmen’s tool will then identify the skills and experiences employers commonly expect to see among candidates seeking the job you want.

This list of qualifications will then be used to provide you with step-by-step recommendations. You’ll learn which of your existing skills to highlight on your aspirational resume and what additional skills you’ll need to obtain.

To make planning your new career path easier, Carmen’s Skills Benchmark analysis tool separates the necessary job requirements into several categories. You’ll know which of your dream job’s requirements involve technical skills, what level of experience you’ll need, and which soft skills are most valued by employers.

When you’re ready for a career change, Carmen’s Skills Benchmark analysis tool is the place to start

Access to the internet has provided job seekers with almost unlimited access to information. But more information doesn’t always make finding answers easier. If you’ve searched for a job recently, you probably already realize that there are a lot of differences in the way job descriptions are written for similar job roles. While some descriptions are broad and lacking any key details, others can include unique jargon that can make identifying necessary skills a challenge.

These inconsistencies among the job descriptions with similar job titles make it very time-consuming to identify the skills that one needs to acquire to continue moving toward their dream job. However, with Carmen’s Skills Benchmark tool, you can quickly access data from hundreds of thousands of job descriptions to quickly analyze what employers in today’s job market are looking for when they hire for a specific job title and get you moving the right direction for your new career.

Whatever your career goals are, Carmen’s Skills Benchmark tool can give you a better picture of how to reskill yourself and move you closer to getting your dream job.

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