How To Change Careers Without Totally Losing The Plot

By Carly Jacobs

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This post is brought to you by Evocca 

run a survey on Smaggle every year and last year one of the biggest issues with my readers (after money woes!) was career dissatisfaction. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to think of people going to work every day and totally hating their job. Unfortunately if you want to buy stuff and pay rent you sometimes need to take any work you can get and that might mean you end up stuck in a career you hate.

This week I’ve teamed up with Evocca College to give you a few tips (plus a rad interview) on how to change careers without losing the plot. As someone who has successfully changed from a teaching career to a writing/blogging career, I’ve got some fairly decent advice on keeping your life together while making a massive career change.

1. Don’t overthink it  

Most courses allow a grace period of a few weeks where you can pull out of studying fee-free if you decide that the course doesn’t suit you. Time spent learning is never time wasted, so don’t freak out about it. Just give it a go, you never know where it will take you. Just make sure you pay attention to fee cut off dates.

2. Own the decision

If you’re going to do it, make it your priority and do it well. If you don’t really want to change careers, you’re only going to unnecessarily disrupt your life and give yourself extra stress. Make the work worth it.

3. Get qualified 

I’m a firm believer that we should never stop educating ourselves and if you need to enrol in part-time or full-time study to nab your dream career you should do it. I went back as an adult to study jewellery design. It was a full-time course and I worked part-time to support myself. It was hard work but totally worth it.

4. Pick your moment

There’s no point in trying to change careers when you have no savings, no prospects and no way of supporting yourself if everything goes bust. Make sure you have a buffer of savings and a plan to support yourself while studying.

5. Embrace the challenge

It’s not easy changing careers – believe me, I know. The transition is the hardest part – making new connections, starting at the bottom of the ladder and learning a new set of skills. Embrace the challenge of the transition and know that it will get better, you just need to slog out the first few miles before you find your stride.

Every career transition is totally different so I decided to interview someone who made a career change. Here’s how Amanda made the transition from retail assistant to makeup artist.

What was your job before you decided to change careers?

Before studying after leaving school, I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I worked in retail for a few years. I then moved to England for two years and mostly worked in pubs and retail. After returning to Australia, I decided I wanted to be doing something that I really loved and looked forward to doing in the morning – and I just knew makeup was what I was meant to do.

What did a typical day in your old job look like?

My old job was a traditional 9 to 5 job. The typical day would involve cleaning the store, helping customers select a frame that suited their face, and helping them select the appropriate lens to fit their prescription and frame and doing repairs and adjustments for customers. It was fine but I just wanted something more out of my life.

What was your ‘Ah-ha!’ moment that made you take the plunge and go back to study something you love?

I have always been really passionate about film and had always known I wanted to try to get into the film industry. I was watching a tutorial on YouTube in 2007 and just became totally obsessed with all things makeup. I started playing around on my own and then got better at it and I realised that this might be something that I could do for a job. I never looked back!

What were the best bits about studying as an adult?

I definitely worked harder than I would have had I been younger. The stakes were higher and I had a stronger intention. Also, taking the extra time to figure out what I really wanted made a huge difference.

And the worst?

Definitely trying to live and support myself while studying full-time. Thankfully the course was only for a year so it was manageable. It’s important to make sure you can financially support yourself while studying which is pretty manageable with part-time courses.

If you had to do it all again, would you? 

Absolutely! I would actually like to continue studying different areas of makeup and that’s definitely part of my long-term plan.

What does a typical day look like for you now?

Every day is different, so it’s hard to say! On a typical film day, I will arrive on set, set up my area, and talk to the director if I haven’t already. Then I apply the makeup to the talent/talents and check the look with the director/client. Once on set, I will continue to watch them to make sure that the makeup holds, check for shine, make sure everything is looking as it should, under the eyes, around the lips, and everywhere else.

What advice would you give to someone who is looking at going back to school to study?

If it is something that you really want to do, go for it! Don’t worry about the time it takes to study or get a qualification. The time will pass anyway so you might as well do something useful with it.

If you’re considering going back to school to study, Evocca College offers awesome courses to help you change careers. There’s over 40 colleges Australia wide and flexible learning options with rolling starts (which is perfect so you don’t have to wait until the following year to get started). They also have one-on-one support, which is so handy if it’s been a while since you’ve studied and you need a little bit of motivation. Evocca College also have recognised pathways to university so it’s a great stepping-stone between school and going after your dream degree. Have a squiz at their website – they’ve got heaps of different courses on offer and, if you fancy spending your days on film sets like Amanda, they have a beauty course that will help get you there.

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Have you changed careers? Any tips for people thinking of doing a career switch?

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P.S Did you know there’s a Smaggle newsletter? And Smags on Facebook? There’s lots of cool stuff in both places so make sure you go to there.

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About Carly Jacobs

Carly is the founding editor of Smaggle which launched in 2007 back when blogging was weird. She has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Cosmopolitan and Cleo magazines. Hoop earrings are totally her thing and she almost got run over by Myf Warhurst while out jogging one day.

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