Whatever you do for a living, the chances are that you would rather be paid to do something else. Three people out of four have considered a career change, according to a survey by the Health Learning and Skills Advice Line. If you do decide to follow your heart and jump ship, what are the odds that a company will offer you a fresh start?

“It depends hugely on the employer as to how resource-hungry they are,” says Kate Grussing, the managing director of Sapphire Partners, a recruitment consultancy. “Secondly, how enlightened the employer is [and] whether they are looking to do things in quite a traditional way.”

At first glance, law seems to be precisely the kind of conventional profession with well-trodden career paths that would exclude career-changers. Not so, according to Caroline Addison, a trainee solicitor at Allen & Overy (A&O) – a “magic circle” law firm that has no problem attracting trainees. A former nuclear physicist, Addison also worked as an electricity trader before taking a law conversion course. Experience working with lawyers in the energy industry undoubtedly helped her to win a training contract, but she believes that opting for a big firm also improved her chances. “[A&O] takes on 60 trainees every six months, whereas smaller firms, which might take on one or two, find it quite hard to think that you are going to be dedicated.”

The firm recruits trainees from a variety of professional backgrounds, such as the Armed Forces and teaching. Mature candidates should not rely on having the advantage of experience over younger competitors. Recent graduates can also point to business and life skills from working part-time and completing internships, says Zoe Gordon, the graduate recruitment manager at A&O. “The successful candidates are able to spot those skills and qualities that are required to become a lawyer, show what they have done in the past and how that will help their new future career.”

Blue-chip employers, such as accountancy firms that hire graduates in large numbers, make it easier for career-changers to get a toehold because they are explicit about the skills that they want, says Terry Jones, a careers adviser at the Careers Group, University of London. “There will be a competency statement and the advantage of people who have been successful in other careers is that they often have these competencies,” he says. “Because the recruitment process focuses on skills, it plays to their strengths.”

Candidates hoping to make a career change should be wary of applying to companies that are vague about the skills they are looking for. “If an employer is not making it explicit then they are more [prone] to their own acknowledged or unacknowledged prejudices,” Jones says.

The battle really begins in earnest at the interview stage, when candidates have to sell themselves. Employers can be suspicious about career changers’ motives. They think, “Why are you doing this? Is it because you were crap at your previous job?’ ” Jones says.

The more experience you have, the harder it is to sell yourself, Grussing says. “People are going to say, ‘Why would you throw away 15 years in HR’ – whereas someone who has worked for maybe two or three years is still experimenting and trying things out.”

Wherever your ambition lies, making a career change takes in-depth research, focus and superhuman effort. “Some candidates think that going back and getting an advanced degree or qualification is sufficient,” Grussing says. “It’s absolutely not.”

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