God is intimately involved in each of our lives. What I notice often, however, is that when it comes to the thing that we spend most of our day engaged in – work – we don’t involve Him as much we should. In this Complete Guide to Career Change for Christians – I discuss some practical strategies but also spiritual aspects to move you toward God’s purposes for your life.

Changing careers takes planning and effort.

When I was younger I would complain about my jobs and how I wanted to do something “more” with my life. I felt that since God heard me, He would drop a new job in my lap! 

Well, that never happened! I would end up frustrated and even more dissatisfied.

What I had to learn was that when God has moved on your heart to make a shift as drastic as changing careers – He is also expecting you to respond with some kind of effort.  

Researching, planning and actively engaging in the process of changing career paths is putting your faith in action. 

It’s not only believing God at His word but also actively pursuing it. As James 1:22 “But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” 

If you’ve already heard from God about moving forward into a new career or job – then this Complete Guide to Career Change for Christians will be an excellent companion for you on your journey!

The Complete Guide to Career Change for Christians

Do Your Research

If after a time of prayer and fasting you believe God has called you to make a career change then here are some steps to get you started. Research is what the Bible means when it says “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding…” Proverbs 3:13

What field are you interested in?

Before you start applying for jobs or writing your resume – you need to research this new field of interest. The best way to do that is to ask someone that you know who’s already in the field.

If you don’t know of any one in the field then visit a local trade association, meet-up or chamber of commerce meeting where you might those individuals already working in that career. This did wonders for me when I transitioned from field of counseling to corporate training.

Some people will take a meeting with you and some may even allow you to shadow them for the day. Shadowing them is preferable to a meeting because you will be able to experience what the job entails on a daily basis. You might find out that what you thought about the career was inaccurate or that what it takes to get there may require more than you had anticipated.

Humility Check!

At this point, you must also remember that you’re starting from scratch in this career and with that comes everything about being a beginner – lower pay, lower ranking, etc. And it’s highly likely that you may be managed by someone younger than you.

You will need to do a “humility check” and be at peace with these possibilities before you embark on this transition.  James 4:6 reminds us how important humility is as Believers regardless of the situation we may be placed in: “But He gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Who knows, maybe God is calling you to humble yourself in this new career for His purposes.

Some other questions you need to get answers to:

Does the career require a new degree, certification, license, etc.?

Will it require relocation? Does that type of career fair better in a different location than the one you currently live in?

Will it interfere with my personal life? How much time will I need to devote to this career path? Are the hours conducive to my lifestyle?

Will you need new or enhanced skill sets – Does the new career require that you be tech savvy, be highly organized, etc.?

Skills, Abilities, Interests and Experience

Years ago when I was in the role of vocational evaluator and career coach – I assisted dozens of people who were transitioning from one career to the next due to an injury or illness that required them to change fields.

I would interview them, administer a battery of tests then develop a report and recommendations based on all that I the information I had gathered.

What I noticed while conducting these evaluations was that those who were in transition had quite a bit of work experience to draw from.

Whether stay at home parents or military veterans – I was able to help them draw out life experiences and transferable skills that they didn’t realize they had.

Evaluating yourself is critical to making the career change you desire. You must tease out all of the nuances of the transferable skills and knowledge you’ve gained over the years to be better able to express them during an interview, in your resume, while networking and in your cover letter.

Take a moment and do this brief self assessment

Abilities

Abilities are the things that come easy to you and that you’re good at. You may be able to talk to strangers easily. Or you may be really good at understanding complex math problems that others just don’t get. Take some time and write a list of at least 10 abilities that you have.

Skills

Skills are a bit more specific than abilities. That ability to talk to strangers easily can be translated in to sales skills or counseling skills. Or if you can understand complex math problems you may be skilled at teaching it to others or using it for engineering. Write a list of the skills you possess – they can be hard skills or soft skills.

Interests

You may have the ability and skill to do a job but you may not be interested in it. Which is why you may be considering this career change at this point. Think about some careers, hobbies, or businesses that get you excited and make a list of them.

Experiences (Volunteer or Work)

Write out all of the work experiences that you’ve ever had. I’ve done everything from take orders at McDonald’s as a teenager to hiring the new CEO of a non-profit as a member of the Board of Directors. All of your experiences mean something and add value to you. Write them out and add them to your list as well.

Spiritual Gifts

Last but not at all least – this is a great time to explore your Spiritual Gifts.

If you know what your spiritual gifts are then great! But if you don’t know them try one of these assessments from Lifeway.

Now you should have a pretty good idea of what value you can bring to this new career and to your new employer. As you pray over these lists, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything that you should pursue or develop more skills in.

Resume’ & Cover Letter

This may be the most frustrating part of the career transition process or just the job search process in general. The dreaded resume’ and cover letter! To be quite honest with you, I never really felt quite confident in my resumes or curriculum vitae (just another word for a super long resume’ LOL!)  and don’t even get me started on writing cover letters!

When making the transition from one career to another you want to make sure that your resume’ and cover letter can easily and simply convey how transferable your skills and previous experiences are.  

Pamela Skillings at the Big Interview has some excellent advice for career changers who need help writing their resumes.  You can also check out this example resume for career changers here.

For cover letters, Live Career has a helpful article on how to write a cover letter to showcase how your current training and skill set can benefit the interviewer’s organization. 

Also, remember these four tips while writing your resume’ and cover letter:

Communicate your Transferable Skills

Highlight Past Performance

Explain any Employment Gaps

Highlight Relevant Qualifications

If at all possible, I would recommend hiring someone to write your resume’ and even a template cover letter for you.

Job Search

After you’ve spent some time sorting out what kind of career your interested in, your spiritual gifts, abilities, skills, interests, how your previous & current experience may be helpful in this new career, and have you’ve gotten your resume and cover letter squared away – now it’s time for the Job Search!

When I started looking for jobs after I graduated from college – sites like CareerBuilder and Job Monster were just taking off and though I used them, I also bought the Sunday edition of the newspaper because the Jobs section was filled with “Want Ads”. I would go through pick out the jobs I was interested in and fax or email them to the employer. So much work to get back so few responses!

Now the major job sites still include the ones I used 20 years ago but also consist of Indeed.com, Glassdoor.com and more.

Another site that you should consider is LinkedIN – there you will find positions AND people you might already be connected with who can help you learn more about the organization and may be able to connect you with the hiring manager. 

Don’t forget about your local department of labor. They often partner with businesses and conduct hiring events where you may be able to meet employers in person.

Working from home or remotely is something you may want to consider also. There are a ton of positions that allow you to remotely. For these types of jobs try sites like ZipRecruiter.com or Jobspresso.com .

I still believe however, that the best job leads come from people we know – the people in our network. Simply letting friends and colleagues know what kind of work you’re looking for can spread the word much faster if you’re solely on the journey alone.

Don’t forget to ask friends to pray with you in your job search as well. Sometimes it can feel as though you’re out here on your own so it helps to have a prayer partner during this time.

Set a Goal

Additionally, you may find it helpful to set a goal for how many jobs you want to apply for and how many resumes you want to send out every week. Looking for a job is like a full-time job!

Be advised that you may or may not get the response from your resume that you’d like. This is a time where many people get discouraged and begin wondering if God has really called them to this new career or if they just heard wrong.

If you are clear that God has called you to make this career transition in midlife then you must be remember that He is also calling you to grow you in faith as well. This is a pivotal point – you will either continue moving forward and trust God or you will turn back. Renew your mind and spirit (Ephesians 4:23) as you apply for jobs and send resumes.

Interviewing

Interviewing for a completely new job and career can be somewhat nerve racking.  I would suggest setting up a mock interview with someone who can give you some objective feedback. Often job placement centers can help with that or get a trusted friend to help.

Here are a few tips for interviewing:

Address the “Elephant in the Room” before they do – The question will come up as to why you are changing careers at this point in your life and you may as well be upfront and state it at the beginning of your interview.  When you’re asked – “Tell me about yourself“…go beyond your education and skill set and say why you are making this switch. That way you can get on with the rest of the interview.

Emphasize your transferable skills – Use the list of skills you developed for your resume’ and cover letter and now verbalize them. Help the interviewer understand how these skills will transfer into this new career and will also help them grow their business or organization.

Mention Your Flexibility and Adaptability – The ability to flexible and adaptable is what most employers what to hear. Demonstrate to the interviewer how you were able to handle change in previous experiences and how you would handle it in this new role.

Give Tangible Examples – Instead of talking about what you can do – show the interviewer an example of your work product in the new field if possible.

If you’re transitioning into digital marketing – bring your tablet and show them some images or screenshots or an actual campaign your worked on. If you are moving into copywriting bring writing samples or articles you’ve written. Also bring any certificate, license or degree you hold in this career field as well.

Don’t forget to follow up with the interviewer after the interview with a thank you note or email.

Let God Work!

Now that you’ve done the spiritual and practical work to make this career change –  let God do the rest. This is what He’s best at!

You’ll see why He’s led you down this path of career change – not just for you to follow your passion, work in a different environment, or to make more money  – but to grow in your faith and to diligently serve others with the spiritual gift you’ve been endowed with. Keep following His path and you will not be disappointed in the results!

Have you downloaded the 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting for Career Change Guide yet?

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