Readers:
Dr. Randall Hansen, a nationally recognized career expert, is the Career Doctor.
Discover more about Dr. Hansen, read about the purpose of this column,
and find previous issues of this column at the home of The Career Doctor.
If you have any college, career, or job-related questions or comments that Dr. Hansen could
provide valuable assistance with, please
feel free to email him at: careerdr@quintcareers.com.
Dr. Hansen writes this column on a biweekly basis.
Pam writes:
My son turned 21 in October. He is in turmoil regarding a career. How do you guide
a young man in a career path when he is not sure where he would like to go?
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
Yours is a universal question, whether asked by a teenager, job-seekers
in mid-career crisis, or a concerned parent… and the beginning of a new
year is the perfect time to do some serious career assessment and planning.
(Of course, you can do this type of thing at any point during the year, but
since we often make resolutions for the new year, you should add a career
planning resolution too.)
The first thing to remember going into any kind of exercise of career
exploration is that it may take years and years before you discover your
true passion. I don’t mean that statement to depress you, but rather to
free you from the pressures of wracking your brain and feeling a failure if
you cannot discover your ideal career after one of these exercises. Some
people are lucky enough to find their career passions early, but for others,
they are now just discovering them in midlife.
That said, the more of these types of exercises you do, and the more job
experiences you have, the more likely you will find your way to your ideal
career (or careers). For example, while I have always had a love of
marketing and knew I was going to have a career in marketing, I never
would have guessed at age 21 that I would be a marketing professor or
own my own business.
So, for everyone struggling with finding a new career in the new year,
here are my tips:
Set aside a day for this exercise. Turn off the cell phone, find a
quiet place somewhere, and really be committed to learning more
about yourself.
Do some self-assessment. Examine all the “stuff” you have done
in your life thus far (work, volunteering, hobbies, education, etc.) and
make a list of the activities that you absolutely love. (You should also
make a list of stuff you never want to do again.)
Take some tests. I kind of consider this step optional, but I have
a lot of clients and students who absolutely love taking a few assessment
tests because they really feel they learn more about themselves, so do
so if you think it will help you too.
Research careers that involve the activities you love. For this step,
you may need access to the Internet, career books, and people. You may
even want to plan several informational interviews with people in a number
of different careers to get more information about the details of their jobs.
This step, obviously, may take you weeks to complete, so don’t rush
the process.
Develop a plan for moving into the new career choice. Once you have
found a career for you, your final, step is developing a plan for transitioning
into the field. This plan may involve internships, volunteering, temping, and
more education.
Brian writes:
I read your articles on salary negotiations and they are very informative.
They have helped me understand quite a lot about this process. I am
currently involved in salary negotiations with a company. In your article
you suggest getting as much information as possible and researching
salaries. Where would I begin to research salaries? Any information
that you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
First, kudos to you for doing your best to prepare for this
delicate and often misunderstood aspect of job-hunting.
Just remember that the ultimate goal of salary negotiation is that
everyone leaves it satisfied -- both the employer and you feel the
offer is a fair deal.
If you are the final candidate standing, then you have a lot of
power in negotiating the best offer for you. But you’ll have even
more power -- and respect -- if you back up your requests with
solid research on salaries for your profession and location.
The best sources? Many professional associations and industry
groups conduct annual salary surveys, so start there. There are
also several online sources, such as Salary.com, that can give
you solid information.
Finally, don’t forget that salary is just one part of your total
compensation package, and often times employers are more
willing to negotiate non-salary issues.
Doug writes:
I graduated college three years ago with a Bachelor of Arts in History. I
have worked in Insurance sells ever since. But I feel while I can, I need to
go back to school. My degree is not worth that much it seems unless I
plan on continuing my education. I’m debating to either go back to school
and get a masters in History, and then try and get a PHD. Or go back
and get a computer science degree. I have talked this over with my last
school, and it would just take 42 hours for me to get a second undergraduate
degree in Computers.
Which do you think is the best option to get a good career? And which
has a better job market. I can’t seem to find anything on the need for
History professors. My friend who graduated with a computer science
degree started out making $30.00 and hour. Any suggestions? At this
point it don’t matter what I really want to do, I want to do which is the
best in guarantee to make a living.
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
Yours, I think, is the classic example of someone who majors in the
liberal arts (which is a great thing to major in), but with no career
planning… so you end up in a totally unplanned career with little
or no future.
I know you may feel a bit depressed over your current situation,
but please do not despair… and more importantly, please do not
make a major career decision solely based on money or future
earning potential. You may also need to think both short-term and
long-term.
What you need to do is decide which of these two career paths
(or perhaps one you have not even considered at this point) would
make you the most happy, the most fulfilled.
The best sources of information? Industry studies and informational
interviews.
I can tell you in terms of the college professors, that there are quite
a few of us who are baby boomers (or older), and I would expect
over the next 10 years there is going to be a fairly large number
retiring, creating a pretty big need.
So, you just need to do some career reflections. Do you want to
work with technology or be immersed in history and impacting young
people’s minds and lives? Or can you envision some other career?
Take the time to do this work now before you jump back into more
education.
Q:
Renee writes:
I was interested in how to format salary requirements after your resume
is finished. If you can please send me an example of how this is to be
formatted it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
First, and foremost, remember that you never want to put any kind
of salary information on your resume.
However, if an employer asks for a salary history, then you should
develop one that matches the look of your resume (using the same
header as your resume). In fact, just a reminder that *all* your job-search
materials -- your cover letter, salary history, references sheet, thank-you letter, etc. --
should be consistent, matching the style of your resume.
Basically, the format of a salary history is, starting with your current position
and working backwards, your job title, dates of employment, company name
and location, and then salary. You have two options for listing your salary. You
can list starting salary and then your current salary, or, you can list the salary
range. Obviously, for job-seekers in sales, you may want to include base salary,
commissions and bonuses.
And remember to be honest about your salary history, because some prospective
employers may even ask for paystubs.
Of course, I dislike employers who ask for salary histories because my belief is
that you should be paid for the job you are going to do (regardless of the increase
from your last job).
