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Why a bridge job might be the secret to a successful career change

You’re in a job that doesn’t make you happy.

You want to do something by yourself, but you don’t know what that could be.

You may need time to learn and explore options.

Yet, not doing any work in the interim makes you uneasy.

You’re not sure about what you’ll do in the long term. And whether you will be successful with it.

You also have bills to pay.

This is the perfect time to consider a bridge job.

WHAT IS A BRIDGE JOB?

A bridge job is temporary employment that one takes while exploring a suitable new career for the long term. Bridge jobs can provide financial stability while you work towards a new career.

For example, a Human Resources (HR) executive working in a corporate job can work as a part-time HR consultant while she sets up and tests her new gourmet food restaurant, as a side hustle. The consulting work keeps money coming in to pay bills while she explores her passion for cooking as a career. The consulting work also keeps her updated with industry trends and practices should she want to come back to her career in HR.

BENEFITS OF A BRIDGE JOB WHILE TRANSITIONING CAREERS

1. Gives you financial Stability

A bridge job, even if it is a part-time consulting role, will bring in livelihood. It can provide a steady income to pay for your living expenses. This ensures you don’t draw out of your savings, income from investments or get a family member to pay your bills.

The income you make from your bridge job can also contribute to the initial expenses you require for your new venture. Such as funds to invest in a course, hire a team, host a website or work from a coworking space.

New ventures have their course and take their own time to become successful. Having a bridge job as you work on your new venture, allows it to breathe and take its course. A bridge job eases the pressure on your new venture to be immediately successful.

In the absence of a bridge job, you may become impatient and put undue pressure on the new venture to be a success. This in turn may suffocate the new venture.

Bridge jobs can be a valuable way to stay afloat financially while pursuing other career goals.

2. Keeps you creatively occupied

A bridge job can help you learn new skills. This is especially thrilling if your bridge job is in your area of passion or interest. By learning new skills, you can challenge yourself and expand your creative abilities.

3. Helps you develop new perspectives

A bridge career can also provide you with a fresh perspective on your previous career or on a field that you thought you knew well. By stepping outside of your comfort zone and exploring new areas, you can gain new insights and ideas that can inform your creative work.

4. Keeps you networked and socially engaged

A bridge job can ensure you stay networked as you work with others. It can expose you to a new network of colleagues, clients, and collaborators. This can open up opportunities for creative collaboration and cross-disciplinary work, which can be inspiring and stimulating.

Working on a new venture can sometimes be a lonely journey. Having a bridge job can ensure you’re socially engaged and that can lead to better productivity and enthusiasm for work. It can bring some ease to pursuing a new career path.

5. Keeps up your confidence

Working towards a new career or new venture can be a challenge. You need to learn new skills, understand new concepts, unlearn old ways and adapt to new ways.

Having a bridge job keeps you engaged and can give you much-needed self-confidence.

HOW YOU CAN DESIGN A BRIDGE JOB FOR YOURSELF

Here are 3 ways in which you can design a new job for yourself.

1. Package your existing skills

What skills do you have in your current job?

How can you put together these skills and offer them to the market, outside of a job?

For example, the HR executive who wants to set up a gourmet food restaurant can package her recruitment and hiring skills. She can offer them to a recruitment firm for a part-time job while she pursues her new food venture.

So what skills have you acquired so far with your work experience? In what way can you offer them to get a bridge job, while you work towards your new venture?

2. Bring together your interest areas

Is there something of interest you’ve been pursuing for several years now?

It could be an interest in mixed media art, cooking 8-course meals or planning holidays for family and friends. It could even be volunteering at a pet shelter or teaching math to kids.

What interest areas can you bring to a bridge job or business?

Which long-held interests can you turn into a bridge job?

3. Package any transferable skills

Do you have any other transferable skills that will help you get a bridge job?

Are you fabulous at planning events? Are you good with writing and can help professors with writing white papers? Are you in your element with social media and can create content for small businesses?

Think about any transferable skills you can bundle up as a bridge job.

Remember that a bridge job is a temporary opportunity. It can help you gain valuable skills, experience and financial stability as you transition to a new career. It can give your new venture the space to blossom. It is an important step in your career journey, so take the time to make an informed decision about it.

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