What are some ways to prepare for a new career?

There are many ways to prepare for a new career and it often depends on your starting point and your goal.  That said, there are many general practices that can help to prepare for a new career:

1. Research - learn as much as you can about the new career or careers
2. Create a plan - create steps to help you organize your path from now to your new career
3. Interview - find and reach out to professionals who are in that career and ask them for advice
4. Job Postings - look up job postings for the career and note the requirements for the career.  Look at entry level, mid-level and senior roles to get an understanding of the career path
5. Education - for some careers it may be helpful to have a related degree, accreditation, certification or simply a conversational understanding of the career
6. Experience - it is often helpful to have related experience to a career.  First, think about your own experiences and how they could be of interest to potential hiring managers.  If required, next think about any jobs you could take on as a step to getting closer to that career that would help in your next career search
7. Network - ask your contacts if they know of anyone looking to hire in that career that you could talk to about potential opportunities in the field or gather additional advice