6 Months Away From a Dream Career?

Follow your dream career steps with rapid-fire training and transition.

If you’ve grown tired of your current line of work and want a new start, you don’t need to invest years into a new career track. Rapid-fire training and transitions can help you find and land a great job within as little as half a year.

There are plenty of folks looking to start a new career, after all, since the average American works just over 11 jobs by the age of 46.

Here we explore a few of the career change paths that take a minimum amount of time:

Video Editing and Design

You can get a four-year degree in digital design, but many videographers may use only a handful of programs in order to create everything from commercials to full-length films. Becoming professionally proficient in a video editing platform can be done in the span of only a few months and lasts for as long as the technology remains relevant.

For example, a Microsoft certification lasts until the program receives “legacy” categorization, at which point it is either incorporated into new lessons or discontinued. This can last years or even decades, while the certification can be awarded as soon as the exams have been successfully completed.

Emergency Medical Training

If the idea of helping to save peoples’ lives every day sounds like a rewarding career, it’s possible to become a paramedic or EMT within only a few weeks. There are different levels of certification and career potential, with states like New York using a five-tier system of EMT responders that begin with first-responder certification. The experience working as an EMT, furthermore, can be beneficial to breaking into another part of the healthcare industry—an industry that accounts for nearly $2 trillion per year in the US alone.

Veterinary Medicine

Your love for animals might be the perfect inspiration for a fulfilling career as a veterinary technician. There’s a huge demand for technicians who can foster the healing process for pets, livestock, and exotics alike. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that demand for vet techs is expected to increase by 30 percent over the next decade.

If you’re looking for a career as a veterinary technician, find out which states require certification. Resources like the online school at PennFoster.edu, which offers a vet tech certificate, can help you determine the training and certification requirements for different parts of the country.

Bartenders

If you pride yourself on originality and great taste, there can be ample rewards in working as a bartender. In fact, the highest bartender wages earned aren’t in bars themselves, but rather in the traveler accommodations and the tourism industries. Opportunities abound, from resorts, restaurants, casinos and beyond. Put your affinity for cocktails, wine, or beer to work in little time by taking bartender classes in person or online to learn how to mix everything from Manhattans to Shirley Temples.

Jenna Fuller, the author of this article, is originally from New York. Jenna left a career in advertising to study sustainability. She is married and has a son.