Q TIPS:
Critical Career Change Tips:
Advice for Career Changers -- #1
These career-related tips -- for all job-seekers making or contemplating a career change --
have been gathered from numerous sources throughout Quintessential Careers and organized here for your convenience.
"It is the kiss of death, career wise, to fail to keep up your
skills," cautions author Donald Asher. In the
Q&A
interview he did
with Quintessential Careers, Asher said: "It requires lifetime,
continual learning not just to advance, but just to keep a job in
this economy. At Gap they have a slogan they print on banners and put
everywhere in corporate and back-office sites: 'Change or fail.'"
Want a degree or new career training but can't take time from your
career? You're far from alone. According to a Marketing Facts study,
70 percent of Americans have considered taking a course of study to
help further their careers.
And according to a Department of Labor
study conducted by Merrill Lynch and the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(May 2000) 65 percent of jobs today require additional skills. By
2005, that figure is expected to increase to 85 percent.
Additionally, 42 percent of consumers indicate at least some
difficulty in locating education/training resources (International
Communications Research, Dec. 2000).
Monster.com to the rescue.
Monster recently announced the launch
MonsterLearning,
an online resource for managing
learning as it relates to advancing careers. The site provides a
variety of learning tools, opportunities and information, that are,
according to Monster, "in one comprehensive location, empowering
individuals and corporations to take more control of the career
development process." MonsterLearning's one-stop search engine
provides free access to a universe of learning opportunities,
including online and classroom courses, test preparation, degree
programs, certifications, and other instructional materials such as
books and videos, anytime -- 24/7. The MonsterLearning search engine
contains general and enrollment information on all types of learning
opportunities from top learning providers offering online and offline
courses and other instructional products and services.
Career changing is a big step. Career-changers may want to read
The 10-Step
Plan to Career Change. Assuming there will be career
opportunities in the area into which you've chosen to transition, the
next step is determining where and what type of education or training
you will need. Once you've determined your educational requirements,
try to get experience in your new field while getting that education
-- even if it's volunteer work -- just get the experience.
A major myth about job-hunting is that the Internet has created a
climate in which a passive job searcher can post his/her resume on
Friday and wait for the offers to come rolling in on Monday,
according to career development therapist Janet Scarborough in the
Q&A
interview she did with Quintessential Careers.
"This kind of response happens only
for persons with highly marketable skills and a documented track
record of success using those skills. For most people, there still
exists the need to build relationships to increase the probability of
being in the right place at the right time to land the best job for
you. This is especially true for career changers," Scarborough
observes.
According to a recent study conducted by Prudential Financial and
Linkage Inc., a leading organizational development company
headquartered in Lexington, MA, employees are more focused than ever
on maintaining a better work/life balance. The study also revealed
that today's employees are more technologically and financially
savvy; less loyal to their company; and more diverse.
These factors
combine to create a new workplace dynamic, and serve as the
foundation for shaping future employee benefit strategies. These
survey results are based on a 2001 study entitled Survey of Human
Resources Decision Makers: Linking Employee Evolution to the HR
Revolution. The survey was completed by senior human resources
professionals -- across varying industries -- primarily of large and
mid-sized corporations. Source: Business Wire.
If you'd like to switch careers, but the notion of starting over
overwhelms you, calm your fears, advised career consultant Karen
Chopra in the
Q&A
interview she did
with Quintessential Careers."For people in mid-career, going back to
zero can be a terrifying thought," Chopra notes."In reality, you
don't start over. You carry the skills and abilities learned in your
present job into a new field. Clients often find that their unique
combination of skills makes them more attractive to potential
employers."
Career-changers face many challenges, but one of the most important
ones is gaining experience in their new career field. You've got to
build your resume with the training, skills, and accomplishments that
make you an attractive job candidate. You may need to obtain
additional training. Also try to gain some experience in your new
field, perhaps by volunteering for a nonprofit organization. Join a
professional association or organization -- and then do some
networking. You might also consider job-shadowing people in your
would-be field to get a better feel for their jobs -- and to build
your network. Finally, another way to build your resume is through
temping -- but be sure you have the skills to do the job first. Take a
look at our article on
temping.
Most Fortune 1000 companies allow telecommuting but very few
employees work from home, and even fewer do so on a full-time basis.
Cutter Consortium reports that 87 percent of the companies it
surveyed allowed telecommuting, but 53 percent said fewer than 5
percent of their employees worked from home. None of the respondents
said that more than half of their employees worked from home. Two
thirds of those polled also said that their telecommuting employees
only work from home for one day each week.
Cutter says that most
employees telecommute only if they cannot travel to work because of
bad weather or a personal or family emergency. The respondents said
the biggest advantages of telecommuting were that workers had more
flexibility, companies could hire workers that might not otherwise be
available, and that less time and money is spent on commuting. The
biggest disadvantages cited were the belief of managers that workers
need supervision, security concerns, and the conflicts that can arise
between an employee's work and home life.
Informational interviewing is the subject of an article by QuintZine
editor Katharine Hansen at a Web site called YourCareerChange.com.
The article explains how informational interviews can benefit
career-changers.
Check it out.
Though a noble and rewarding profession, teaching unfortunately has a
high burnout factor because it has seen a deterioration in respect
from just about all stakeholder groups. Career-changing teachers have
unlimited avenues to follow, though simply changing the scenery by
transferring to a different school or different school district might
cure the burnout. If you do want to leave teaching, some obvious
career paths include corporate trainer, researcher/fact checker,
sales representative, or human resources management. Enhancing your
computer skills opens the door to many other kinds of jobs, such as
help-desk technician. Even beyond these ideas, there are many other
possibilities based on your personality and interests. Sit down and
plan your future. A great article to help you on your way is The 10-Step Plan
to Career Change.
And once you have a few career choices in mind,
you might consider conducting informational interviews with people in
those careers. Informational interviews are a great way to gain a
better understanding of an occupation or industry -- and to build a
network of contacts in that field. Read more in
Quintessential
Careers: Informational Interviewing Tutorial.
If you are changing careers and believe that a chronological resume
is not having good results, you may want to check out Susan Britton
Whitcomb's
Resume Magic: Trade Secrets of a Professional Resume
Writer (Jist), which comes highly recommended by many career experts.
The book is a comprehensive (almost 600 pages!) review of all types
of resumes, and as you might guess given its size, spends a good deal
of time on functional resumes.
A number of fascinating-sounding jobs are listed in Ferguson Publishing's book,
50 Cutting-Edge Jobs.
Defining cutting-edge jobs as those that blaze
new trails, the book lists the following among its trailblazers:
benefits administrator, bilingual consultant, biotechnology patent
attorney, business valuator, chief information officer, chief
knowledge officer, complementary medicine practitioner, computational
linguist, computer animator, computer repair technician, computer and
video game designer, desktop sound engineer, digital agent,
environmental accountant, fiber optics technician, forensic
accountant and auditor, forensic psychophysiologist, fuel cell
technician, fusion engineer, geriatric social worker, grief
counselor, health advocate, horticultural therapist, information
broker, interactive media specialist, among others.
Interested in career opportunities in podiatry? There are
approximately 14,000 practicing doctors of podiatric medicine in the
United States. And according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau
of Labor Statistics, which publishes the Occupational Outlook
Handbook, the job growth for podiatrists is expected to be 10 to 20
percent because "more people will turn to podiatrists for foot care
as the elderly population grows." The Handbook continues, "Employment
of podiatrists would grow even faster were it not for continued
emphasis on controlling the costs of specialty health care." In
addition to growth, the need to replace podiatrists who leave the
occupation will create employment opportunities. Relatively few
opportunities from this source are expected, however, since most
podiatrists continue to practice until they retire; few transfer to
other occupations.
According to a survey by the American Podiatric
Medical Association, average net income for podiatrists in private
practice was about $116,000 in 1997. Those practicing for less than
two years earned an average of about $61,000; those practicing 16 to
30 years earned an average of about $146,000.
Think your mundane job could not become a career? Even the most basic
of jobs have some degree of career paths/promotions. If you want to
stay with your current employer but begin to pursue a promotion, you
should read this article,
Moving
Up the Ladder: 10 Strategies for Getting Yourself Promoted. The
article outlines key strategies to use as you begin to map your
future.
Seeking a career in information technology? Know what to expect.
Although demand, salary, and perks are still promising, IT staffers
are working longer hours but producing less, according to ZDNet,
quoting a new report on global IT trends. The study, by research firm
Meta Group, found that US computer professionals worked an average of
45 hours a week this year, an increase of 36 percent from 1999.
Working hours rose by 30 percent outside the US. Even with these
extra hours, the high learning curve demanded by projects has
affected productivity among technology workers. The average US
software developer produced 9,000 lines of code in 1999. This year,
the average has fallen by 47 percent to 6,220 lines of code.
Read the
full story.
Loyalty to your employer doesn't pay, reported US News and World
Report not long ago. While merit raises have hovered around 4 percent
in the past decade, corporate profits have risen 9 percent, and
executive salaries are up 13 percent. The older you are, too, the
smaller percentage raise you can expect. It often pays to look for
greener pastures, especially in an economy where employers may be
offering big incentives to lure warm bodies.
Interested in a career in environmental science or studies? Go to the
Career
Exploration section of Quintessential Careers, where we have
several resources, including our favorite "What can you do with a
major in...?" Web sites.
Here is just a partial list of careers for
graduates in environmental studies: agricultural scientist or
technician, conservation agent, environmental analyst or technician,
EPA inspector, forester, laboratory analyst, naturalist, park ranger,
planner (urban or regional), teacher, wildlife manager, and writer --
as well as many other careers.
Another great site to go to is The Environmental Careers
Organization, whose mission is (in part) "the promotion of
environmental careers, and the inspiration of individual action. This
is accomplished through internships, career advice, career products,
and research and consulting." One other good site is
Environmental Jobs and Careers.
Changing careers but not sure what you want to do? Consider one of
the jobs listed among the top five best overall jobs by Jobs Rated
Almanac:
1. Financial planner
2. Web site manager
3. Computer-systems analyst
4. (tie) Computer programmer
4. (tie) Actuary
Hiring managers like to avoid risk, according to career development
therapist Janet Scarborough in the
Q&A
interview she
did with Quintessential Careers. "They like to hire people about whom
they already know something, even if the connection is as tenuous as
someone within the company knows someone else who recommended the
hire. Hiring managers like to hire people who seem clear about what
they want to do and have some previous success in doing it, because
the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. That's why
career changers can dramatically increase their marketability by
getting some experience in whatever they want to do next, whether
through a part-time job, volunteer work, or project-based work in a
class," Scarborough advises.
Want to work on a cruise ship? There are any number of "cruise ship
jobs" Web sites, but all of them charge a fee, starting at $40. We
have serious reservations about job-seekers ever having to pay for
job information or leads, so we really can't recommend any of them.
Finally, develop a list of the cruise ship
companies you want to work for and conduct a "cold calling" job
campaign. You can read more about this proven job search method by
going to our article, Cold Calling: A
Time-Tested Method of Job-Hunting.
Functional resumes focus on experience and accomplishments in a small
number of skills clusters. If you are changing careers, focus on
showcasing skills clusters that help support your new career
direction. These skills clusters should signal potential employers as
to the types of jobs you feel you are best qualified to hold. Read
this article: Should You
Consider a Functional Resume?.
Wondering why you got a rejection letter after that last job
interview? In her book, Real Resumes for Job Changers, Anne McKinney
cites the following reasons (according to employers) that job hunters
are not offered the jobs they apply for:
Low level of accomplishment
Poor attitude, lack of self-confidence
Lack of goals/objectives
Lack of enthusiasm
Lack of interest in the company's business
Inability to sell or express yourself
Unrealistic salary demands
Poor appearance
Lack of maturity; no leadership potential
Lack of extracurricular activities
Lack of preparation for the interview, no knowledge about the company
Teachers who are burned out, especially after working at under-funded
public schools, have at least two sets of skills that can be use to
their advantage when contemplating a career change. You have your
subject-specific set of skills -- your writing and communications
skills -- and your professional skills -- training and teaching
skills. Between those two sets of skills, you have so many possible
career options -- but you aren't limited by those skills because, if
you have the interest, the time, and the expertise, you can switch
careers in any direction. Read our article,
The 10-Step Plan to
Career Change. Your
choices are really limitless. You just need to spend the time
contemplating the direction of your life -- and your next career move.
Career-changers need a strategy. Because very few companies are
willing to train workers from scratch in a totally new career field,
you may need training to move into a new career. It's very hard to go
immediately from one field to another without first gaining new
credentials in the form of education, training, and experience. Try
developing a short-term plan for yourself that includes continuing in
your current career while taking classes in your desired new field.
Once you've mastered the skills, you may want to work or volunteer
part-time in the new career so you can build a portfolio of your
skills and abilities. Then go after a full-time position. For more
information and resources, read our
The 10-Step Plan to Career Change.
If you are burned out in your current job, don't mention your burnout to
prospective employers you interview with. Advises Kate Wendleton in
the career column she writes with Dale Dauten, "Tell prospective
employers that you left because you want to move your career in a
different direction, then say
what that direction is (preferably something that the employer
needs)." Adds Dauten, "The idea is to portray yourself as moving
forward to a new passion,
not crawling away from the ashes of your old profession."
Interested in a career in the advertising field? The advertising
industry is an exciting and dynamic industry, where lower-level
employees often work long hours for lower-than-average pay. The two
major paths in advertising are the creative side (art, copy-writing)
or the management side (sales, account planning). You can work in
advertising on the client side (the advertisers) or on the agency
side.
"It is the kiss of death, career wise, to fail to keep up your
skills," cautions author Donald Asher. In the
