If you’ve been looking for a job for a long time, you may be feeling frustrated. The good news is that there are some steps you can take to help yourself find a new career and break out of your unemployment rut. Thinking outside the box and making the shift to change your career can help you get breakthroughs in your job-hunting quest.  

Here are seven tips that can help:

Figure Out What You Want

Believe it or not, many skills are transferable and could easily serve you on a new career path. Maybe you don’t enjoy coding anymore, but you wouldn’t mind teaching others to do it. Perhaps you don’t like doing social media management, but you love running online ads.

It’s important to know what you want to do, so that you can figure out how to get there. What are your interests? Skills and talents? Strengths and weaknesses? Once you’ve figured out these things, make a list of all the possible careers that would match up with your answers. You might be surprised at the number of options that present themselves once you look at things this way.

Learn About Other Careers

Educate yourself on the career you want to pursue. If you’re thinking about making a career change, it’s important to know what you’re getting into. Before spending time or money on education or training, read up on the careers that interest you and discuss your options with people who work in those fields. You may be surprised by how much knowledge can be gained from talking with an expert or reading books about their experiences.

Gain New Skills

While the skills you have can help you get new jobs, you might need to work on gaining new skills as well. You can do this by taking certification courses, training through eLearning sites like Udemy, and even going to a seminar or webinar. Once you gain these new skills you can use them to create a portfolio, case study, or other option to showcase your new abilities.

Network, Network, Network

If you don’t have a job, and you’re on unemployment, it’s time to get out and make some connections. Unemployment benefits in Mississippi, Florida, and other states only last for so long, so you don’t want to procrastinate job hunting or making a career change. In the current job market, it is no longer enough to just send resumes and hope that an employer will call you back. It’s important to build relationships with people who can help you in your job search.

Networking is key. The more people you know, the greater your chances of finding a job. It doesn’t matter if these connections are related directly or indirectly—you’ll benefit from both. Being on a networking site like LinkedIn or involved in a local business group can be extremely important.

Update Your Resume

When you’re looking for a new career, you should review and update your resume to reflect the new career path. Make sure you highlight how previous roles helped you gain a perspective that will help you in the new career. Also, make sure that your resume is up to date and accurate. If there is any information on your resume that doesn’t reflect what you’re currently doing right now, remove it. Also, do not include references or testimonials unless they are specific to the position you are applying for.

Write Better Cover Letters

Your cover letter is a great opportunity to discuss your skills and abilities in the new field. You can use it to tell a short story about why you want to work for their company and how your training and passion would be a valuable resource to them. Make it like a love letter to their company and why the job is a match made in heaven. You’ll get better at writing cover letters if you practice, so make sure that this is part of your daily routine as you look for new jobs while you’re unemployed.

Be Flexible

Be flexible. You may have to take a job in a new field that is not your ideal role if you want to get your foot in the door and gain some experience. It’s also important if you want to get back to work and stop burning through your emergency savings. It’s important to look at these entry-level opportunities as stepping stones for your future career goals in the new field.