How to change careers

This article was sponsored by Google Trends.

Thinking about a career change could easily start with a Google search. But what do Australians want to know when they consider moving into a different line of work? And what does it take to turn that interest into a new career?

Google Trends data shows a sharp spike in Australian searches for “how to change careers” in 2026, following a period of very low measurable interest. The data offers a glimpse of when people are seeking career-change advice, but Google Trends measures relative search interest, not the number of people searching, so it cannot tell us how many people are looking for career change information or whether they actually go on to change careers.

The data highlights that people are considering the practical side of a career transition. LinkedIn and Indeed appeared among related searches, suggesting that job-search platforms are an integral part of the career-change information people are seeking.

It’s also interesting that searches for “professional development” attracted substantially more interest than “career change” in the comparison we conducted. This suggests that at least some people might be considering sideways or tangential moves within their existing organisations.

These patterns offer a glimpse of the questions people are asking, but they don’t establish how many Australians are changing careers or why. To understand this better, we need to look at what is happening across the Australian workforce.

Changing jobs isn’t the same as changing careers

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that about one million employed Australians changed employer or business between March 2025 and February 2026. The job mobility rate was 7.2 per cent, down from 7.7 per cent a year earlier.

Changing employers, however, doesn’t necessarily mean changing occupations. Just over 60 per cent of people who changed jobs remained in the same major occupation group, suggesting career change may not be the primary reason for changing jobs.

This is highly relevant to what people need to make informed decisions about changing careers. Moving to a new employer in the same occupation may require a different application strategy from moving into a new job with different responsibilities, qualifications or technical requirements. A complete career change can involve an even more substantial transition, even if some skills are transferable.

What makes a career change possible?

Jobs and Skills Australia’s Jobs and Skills Report 2026 identifies career mobility, lifelong learning and recognition of transferable skills as important parts of helping people adapt to voluntary and involuntary career changes throughout their working lives.

The report also highlights one very practical challenge: people may already have developed highly useful skills, but it’s not always easy to identify, communicate or recognise them across different occupations and qualifications.

Experience in managing projects, communicating with stakeholders, analysing information or leading teams is valuable in many fields. But workers need to understand how those skills relate directly to the role they’re aspiring to, and employers need to know how to recognise relevant capabilities beyond a candidate’s
current job title or qualifications.

Some people might need to consider additional training or qualifications, particularly in occupations with formal registration or licensing requirements. But changing careers doesn’t always mean starting from scratch with another tertiary degree. The Jobs and Skills Report 2026 found that people with existing university-level qualifications were enrolling in vocational training to acquire and develop additional
skills. Popular choices included individual support, early childhood education, and training and assessment.
For someone considering a career change, the practical starting point is to identify what their existing experience offers, establish which qualifications or skills a new role requires, and investigate whether previous study or workplace experience can count towards that training. Recognising those existing capabilities could significantly reduce the time and cost involved in moving into a new field.

What does this mean for the not-for-profit sector?

Pro Bono Australia’s 2026 Salary Survey report highlights that flexibility, workplace culture, leadership and wellbeing all influence how people choose where to work, suggesting that not-for-profits need to offer more than a compelling purpose to attract and retain valuable staff.

Recognising and appreciating transferable skills could be an opportunity for not-for- profit organisations looking to widen the pool of employees who could contribute to their work.

Someone moving from another sector or field could bring highly useful experience in communications, finance, human resources, operations or project management, even if they have not previously worked in the not-for-profit sector.

Obviously, employers still need to evaluate candidates against the requirements of the role. But looking beyond sector-specific job titles can help identify desirable skills and opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked.

For people considering a move into the not-for-profit sector, understanding the work involved, the skills required and the remuneration on offer is an important part of making an informed decision about what could prove to be a highly rewarding career change.

Turning a search into a plan

Google Trends can reveal when interest in career-change advice rises and which related terms people search for. It cannot tell us, though, whether those people will change careers or what they need to do to establish themselves in alternative fields.

That requires moving from general advice to specific evidence, such as identifying the skills a target role requires, working out what capabilities they already possess and establishing what further training or qualifications are needed for their new role.

A career change is not simply a decision to do something different. It is a process of connecting existing experience with new opportunities and finding reliable resources that can help make that move as easy and rewarding as possible.