Looking for a new career this year? Thinking about what you do on your off time may lead you to a rewarding career. On the average, most employees change careers three or four times during their work life. Many career changes stem from workers wanting to expand their careers to include their personal interests. For instance, let's say you work in finance, but you really love to create pottery. Take your finance experience and use it to open up a pottery studio, or sell your pottery online and at art shows. Many hobbies can turn into lucrative careers with the right plan. Are you a golf fanatic? Investigate into careers in golf management or tournament planning. Many community colleges or online schools now offer management training in a wide variety of fields. Imagine yourself in golf school, expanding your knowledge of the game you already love.

One of the first steps in changing careers is to build a bridge resume. Although your resume may be filled with your marketing experience figure out how you can add your hobby into your resume. Do you belong to any associations for your hobby? Are there associations or clubs that meet in your town that revolve around your hobby? Become a member, most job leads come from friends or contacts, not the internet or the paper. In rebuilding your resume, think about the skill sets that you already have from your hobby. How can you use them to market yourself?

A great way to build up contacts is the informational interview. Research who currently works in your new field, and contact them. Most people will give someone twenty minutes to discuss what they do on a daily basis. It's important in the informational interview that you don't ask for a job, you want to build a contact and discover what skill sets you may be lacking. Odds are the professional who grants you an interview will feel more open and candid if they know you are there for information and not to inquire about job openings.

Do you remember internships? Internships are no longer just for college kids. Most companies have some kind of internship program and some of them even pay a small amount. If you can work it out financially to partake in an internship, which will boost your resume and give you some practical experience, try to take advantage. Being an intern allows you to learn firsthand how a business or industry operates. You may decide that the industry is not for you, or you may absolutely love your internship and inspire you a new! Either way an internship gives you practical knowledge of how the business works and informs you of skill sets you need to expand upon.

Think of your resume as a revolving work. Many people don't expand or change their resume as they gain experience. When updating your resume consider what your strengths are and how you can apply them to your new field. Changing careers can be a rewarding experience, not everyone knows their passion right off the bat. Look into what interests you and research the career opportunities that come with that field. So if you're an accountant that really wants to be a pastry chef, start by joining a local baking association, or interview a pastry chef in your area. Love golfing, but don't have the expert swing for the pros? Think about the many other careers within golfing, check out a golf school, and learn how you can transition from a mere hobby to an awe inspiring career all your friends will envy.