You’re a corporate executive or self-employed professional. If you are reading this blog, you probably have a question about your career. Maybe you thought you’d always want to keep working in your current career and now you feel differently. Or maybe you don’t have a choice. Your job goes away. Or your health, family, priorities and/or dreams fade away, change or grow stronger.

There are lots of people out there who want to help you. I’m one of them. When you read through this blog, you will get a sense of my style and you’ll know whether I’m the best resource for you at this time.  I offer career consulting as well as a series of ebooks you can download right away.

My name is Cathy Goodwin. I have a PhD in business from UC Berkeley and an MBA from the Wharton School. As a certified corporate maverick and 20-year college professor, I’ve been fascinated by careers ever since I can remember. I’ve published research careers and life transition, worked with dozens of clients and gone through career changes myself.  You can download my published book on Relocation Strategy.

Originally from New York, I am fast and direct. My favorite question is, “What’s the bottom line?” I don’t waste time on fluff. I don’t hold out the promise of easy answers in a career test. And I won’t answer a question with a question (90% of the time).

Truths I’ve Learned About Careers and Career Change

There are no cookie-cutter solutions. You can hire someone to be a sounding board. I can make suggestions and often help you avoid costly details. But you have to find your own way and tune in to your own intuition.

Tests are almost always a waste of time and money, if you’re a mid-career professional or executive. If you’re looking for tests, click away now – you won’t find them here. Your career test will show you are ideally suited to the job you have now.

The major predictors of career change success are motivation and time. You have to really, really want to change. Usually that means being so miserable you’re willing to take risks and give up some comfortable parts of your life.

Finally, if you have emotional baggage – a tough divorce, death in the family, depression, anxiety – trying to change careers won’t help. In fact, any emotional baggage you carry around will just get heavier. Work with a licensed therapist first. Some people also benefit from life coaches but that’s up to you.

The most important truth about career change is…  the decision may not be up to you.

If you really, really hate your job, recognize that the problem won’t go away. You may start to sabotage yourself. I’m not a therapist so talk to a professional for the Real Deal. I’m just speaking from experience and observation. I’ve seen perfectly smart, competent people make dumb, foolish mistakes. They get sick. They lash out and lose control. And then it’s too late to be proactive and take charge of the situation. You’re branded as a loose cannon or worse.

I’ve written a whole ebook on “10 Things To Do If You Really, Really Hate Your Job.” Click here to learn more.

I’ve got lots of tips and ideas here, from free messaging to one-to-one consulting. I’m not a trained coach, therapist or counselor. But if you like my down-to-earth, no-nonsense style, maybe we should talk. Learn more here.

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Career change calls for a test drive

by CathyG on May 17, 2012

Q. I hate my job as a computer consultant.
I am ready for a career change. The aptitude tests say I should be a recreation specialist. I like the idea but I dread returning to school for a new degree.

A. Before you invest in a degree, try out the career change. Take a test drive. Find two or three people who are doing what you want to do and ask to spend a day or a week with them.

If you’re still interested, visit a few schools or universities that offer degrees in your area of interest. Ask for names of people who have graduated one, three and five years ago.

Ask the alumni, “Did this degree help you get your job? Advance in your job?
“Would you have done better with a degree from another school? Or would you have done as well with a degree from a lower-ranked school?”

Ask students, not faculty. Professors must support their own programs, even when they want to say, “You can do better elsewhere,” or, “This program is a waste of your time and money.”
And these days, anyone with a title like “Admissions Director” or “Enrollment Management” may be trying to make a sale, not offer objective guidance.

If you believe your new career requires you to quit your job and begin a full-time degree program, investigate alternatives. You may find an equally satisfying career that offers on-the-job training.

No degree program offers a magic bullet. Ultimately you may win the job and career success by your power networking as well as you social, interpersonal and technical skills.

Don’t like one option? Try another. There are many paths to career fulfillment, not just one. There is no way for a single career coach, consultant or counselor to know the ins and outs of every career. You should be guided through an exploratory phase, not steered in one direction.

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Should you take that leap of faith and quit your job?

May 7, 2012

Every so often someone posts a note to a forum: “I just quit my job today! I am confident I can replace my income quickly.” Inevitably, coaches and business owners jump in and cheer. Often these new business owners find they do really well. They quickly find a market and make money. But at other [...]

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Defying aging stereotypes

May 3, 2012

Don’t you love it when people defy stereotypes of aging? I just read, It’s Not About The Pom Poms – how a 40-year old mom of 2 became the oldest NFL cheerleader. You can get it here on Amazon. Laura Vikmanis came from a difficult childhood and an 18-year abusive marriage. She had always loved [...]

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Best jobs for career changes? No … worst advice.

April 21, 2012

Recently I came across an article on a site that looked extremely reputable. The site promised to include tips for midlife career change, but in fact the article is misleading and even dangerous. First, I don’t recommend following any guidance for “best job” or “hot jobs.” By the time you read about them, they won’t [...]

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Some good career tips …

April 12, 2012

Some good career tips from Business Insider. Start with the 11 things never to put on a resume: http://read.bi/HxnTTR My career guide includes many of these tips – so if you start here you are ahead of the game: http://www.MidlifeCareerStrategy.com/searchbk.html

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The Fifty-Year Old Intern: Age Discrimination or Career Opportunity?

April 3, 2012

Recently ABC News ran an article, “And Now, the 50-year old intern,” by Alan Farnham. Read it here. This article seems disturbing because it seems to reinforce norms supporting age discrimination. The author refers to people 50 years and older as “aged newbies.” Fifty is hardly “aged.” Today’s 50-year-old was born in 1962. He or [...]

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How to choose a career coach

April 1, 2012

Career counseling used to be straightforward. You hired a counselor who administered tests, asked some questions and guided you to a dream career. Today’s job search model calls for hiring a coach. And you’ll find thousands to choose from. Here are some guidelines to make your selection. Karen hired a “mentor” coach to help her [...]

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Between Jobs? Save your money by moving thoughtfully

March 21, 2012

“Norman” was experiencing sticker shock. After years of career success in the corporate world, he had accumulated a healthy nest egg. But now Norman faced a midlife career crisis. He had just learned his division would be shutting down. To keep his job, he would have to relocate to a distant part of the country. [...]

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Career Mindset

March 16, 2012

Recently I heard a talk about the energy of money. The speaker said that money grows when it is watched, measured and tended. That may be true. But careers are more like “The watched pot never boils.” Careers usually move more slowly than we would like. They have an element of luck. I don’t care [...]

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Career Stress to the Max: Goldman Sachs Employee Says, “Take This Job And …’

March 15, 2012

You think you have career stress? Think again! You may have seen the news report: A Goldman Sachs manager, Greg Smith,  resigned in a very public way.  Before sending in his resignation letter, Smith wrote an Op-Ed piece for the New York Times, expressing his frustration with his employer. He criticized the self-serving value system [...]

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