4 Tips for Starting Over

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By Christiane Soto

Getting certified can help both your career and your ability to provide better patient careA generation ago, people retired from the same job they held for decades.  Twenty, thirty, even forty years in the same job was the norm.  However, thanks to technology, that is less often the case.  The average careers spans 40+ years; think of all the medical advances that have occurred in the last forty years.  How many new jobs have been created in that time?  How many jobs have morphed into something totally unrecognizable?

For example, transcriptionists – while still needed – no longer simply transcribe written notes; they edit drafts prepared by speech recognition software.

Because of the advent of electronic health records (EHR), medical record file clerks who are able to move away from paper, have wonderful new opportunities; those who cannot, don’t.

So what do you do if you suddenly find your job to be obsolete, your skill set no longer required, and you need to start over? This is a situation hundreds of thousands of people found themselves in during the last economic recession.  Job duties changed so much – so quickly – that many people who were not keeping up found themselves in a position where they no longer qualified for their job.

Here are four tips to keep in mind.   

  1. Breathe deep.  Change is hard; it takes time; it takes energy.   This can be debilitating – given that you may feel that all your hard work yields no positive results.  Find some tactics for those times when you just need to breathe deep and keep going.  Looking for ways to update your skill base, networking with others who have made similar changes and testing the waters with temporary work are all great ways to keep going.
  2. Pat yourself on the back occasionally.  Starting over takes guts, pure and simple.  Many people would give up and never attempt the same thing.  Give yourself credit, pat yourself on the back every once and a while and celebrate every achievement.
  3. Focus on others.  Networking is the best way to transition, but it is based on relationships and relationships take time to establish and flourish.  To help the process, focus on what you can do for others.  This may seem initially counterintuitive, but if you only focus on yourself, you will find that others are more receptive to lending you a hand as well.
  4. Embrace fluidity.  You should have an end-goal in mind, but rigidity leads to disappointment.  Rivers are one of the greatest change agents found in nature – strictly because they embrace the landscape and find the best path through.  When a roadblock emerges, the water finds a new path around that obstacle. Model this behavior.   When you’re surprised by an unanticipated roadblock, allow your plans to organically develop in relation to your new situation. You may end up on a better path.

Regardless of your position on the career continuum, change will happen.  For many, change in the workplace requires a career reboot.  If you find yourself in this position, keep these four tips in mind, but also remember Snelling Medical Professionals.  We work with thousands of people every day who are in various stages of a career reboot or transition. Our temp-to-hire program allows you to test the waters of change, investigate new careers, new facilities and new management teams.  We are here to help.  To get started today, register on our website or visit your local Snelling Medical Professionals office.