Get career information you need for your career change
Posted by CathyG in career advice, career change on 05 29th, 2010Career changers often realize they need information before making a commitment to change, but its not always clear what career information will be critical to your unique challenge. You need more than answers: you need questions.
For example, consider a career changer we can call Suzanne. Suzanne outgrew her stuffy finance job after ten exhausting years. She was ready for a new career and she wanted to write a novel.
Of course, she realized, the market for novelists was on the thin side. So she signed up for a one-year program at her local college with the goal of becoming a mental health counselor.
Like all new students, Suzanne talked with an Enrollment Manager, formerly known as Admissions. He was very encouraging.
You will have no trouble getting a job, Suzanne was told. Suzanne also talked to her former college roommate who was in the health care field. She visited a few professors who taught in the program. Nobody raised a red flag.
Then Suzanne got a major reality shock. As she finished her year in the program, she was piling up debts but no interviews were offered. What was going on?
Suzanne hadnt realized that her enrollment manager was more like a salesperson than an advisor. He gets compensated by the number of people who enroll in the university after meeting with him. Suzannes future professors had been warned to say only positive things; the university needed students who would pay tuition.
Suzannes friend knew the field but didnt know this particular program. She wasnt a good source of information because her info was outdated.
In any case, Suzanne was different from other students. She was a senior executive experiencing a career transition. The young college graduates with no job experience were viable candidates for entry level jobs. Some of Suzannes senior classmates were already established; they obtained degrees to advance with their current organizations. This goal was fine and the program may have been fine too. The question is, did Suzannes goals fit this program?
Career change requires getting interviews from a variety of people. One approach is to use the Rule of Six. Ask six people, who resemble you as much as possible, at least six targeted questions. If possible, talk to a dozen or more people.
Most career changers stop after interviewing just one or two people. They get a misleading idea about a career field. If just one person presents a negative, they can rule out a whole field, although the information might be biased or even wrong.
Caree
read comments (0)Another career myth: Career change is a straight line.
Posted by CathyG in 21st century, career change on 04 18th, 2010Most career change comes about through serendipity, not linear planning. Research shows that nearly every career choice and career change includes an element of luck or chance. For example, you run into an old college friend who tells you about a job opening in his company. You hadn’t considered this field but you take the job and discover you have an aptitude.
True Story: A medical social worker moved to a small town with his significant other. Finding no demand for his services, he accepted a clerical job with a real estate agency. He grew restless, so he studied for his real estate license to become an agent. He found his first client when he overheard a conversation in a coffee shop.
Three years later, he was the top real estate agent in the county – a career he would never have anticipated by logical planning. He would have scored near the bottom on any test measuring interest in real estate and aptitude for sales.
Another example:
Following a long job hunt, an attorney reluctantly accepted a job in the finance field. She had never been interested in finance and scored low on math aptitude. To her surprise, she soon realized she enjoyed the job. Her firm encouraged her to take finance courses and one day she realized she loves what she’s doing. She has received bonuses and promotions.
Both these examples are true. Many of us find our new careers by answering an ad we stumbled across by accident. That’s certainly what happened to me.
After years of working in corporate jobs, I answered an ad to teach in a small private college. I had taught part-time in a community college but hadn’t considered a full-time teaching career. Teaching came naturally to me and I found myself thinking, “Why not?” So I enrolled in a doctoral program and embarked on a 20-year career.
Overqualified but happy to have a job
Posted by CathyG in career advice, career stress, job loss on 04 1st, 2010That was the title of a recent New York Times article. You can read it here.
The gist of the article is this: In today’s tight job market, companies can attract talent they’d ordinarily never see. And despite conventional wisdom, many of these overqualified hires are working out.
Here’s what I think (and please add your own comments below):
First, these jobs seem to work out when the company feels pleased and excited to get this talent bonus. If a company has reservations about the new hire, these feelings will carry over.
Second, you have to be honest with yourself. Some people have no problem working in downsized jobs. Others won’t. If you’re in the latter category, you may have to find a way to earn a living, perhaps by starting your own business.
Many people find it easier to take a step back when they are either self-employed or moving to a new career field. That’s why many qualified professionals begin an online career as Virtual Assistants: they’re actually running a business and they can fire their bosses anytime.
Career Change Book: Recommended
Posted by CathyG in 21st century, career advice, career change, career planning on 02 10th, 2010So far I’ve found two career books to recommend: Working Identity (Herminia Ibarra) and Finding Your Own North Star (Martha Beck). Now I’m adding this one to the list. Beck focuses mostly on choosing what you want; Ibarra talks about the search process. Now I recommend The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention by Pamela Mitchell.
Mitchell doesn’t have a lot of soul-searching exercises, like “What should be on my tombstone.” She invites readers to heed their intuition. Like Martha Beck, she believes the body knows more than the mind: if you find yourself feeling ill when you contemplate a type of work, it’s time for a move.
Nor does she spend a lot of time on the trappings of a career search, such as resumes. If you need to writea resume, she invites you to download samples from her company’s website.
Some useful points:
Career reinvention takes chronological time. She points out that many career-changers think “six weeks” when they should be thinking “six months.” I would agree more with Ibarra in Working Identity, who says three years is not unusual.
Besides chronological time, you need time during your week. One of my own clients said she could talk to me on Sunday evenings at 6 PM Eastern. Her weekdays were completely taken. She was too busy to change careers; she needed to take an interim job that would free up her hours.
Functional fear versus dysfunctional fear. Functional fear is based on realistic situations that you have to deal with.
Real qualifications versus negotiable qualifications. To be a doctor, you need an MD. For other careers, you may be able to substitute experience for academics.
My only quibble is that Mitchell can be a little too firm on some points. The term “laws” in the title sets the tone. For instance, on page 27, Mitchell suggests that “Patty” who dislikes a marketing job will not find happiness by moving to Google, which is after all an onlne advertising company. Yet in fact the culture of a high-tech company will be so different that a job with the same title might be transformed. I’ve seen people change their whole attitude to a career when they switched companies or even moved to a new geographic location. It’s not always easy to pinpoint the source of discomfort.
Similarly, researchers find that serendipity plays a key role in both career change and career success. By staying active and following the steps Mitchell lays out, you are more likely to experience the kind of serendipity that propels you forward. But I’ve met few people who logically chose a career and then took a linear path to get a job in that field. Mitchell undoubtedly understands the zig-zag pattern of career change, but she doesn’t highlight it the way Herminia Ibarra does in Working Identity.
Still, this book is one of the best career books I’ve seen in a long time. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more publicity. The long, awkward name and bland cover might have something to do with it. The blurbs on the back cover don’t really convey excitement and the subtitle is a yawn that doesn’t even describe the book.
Considering self-employment? Find a new career with these 3 guides.
Posted by CathyG in career change on 02 9th, 2010Several of my readers have asked about resources for moving from corporate life to self-employment. I just discovered one book, published about 7 months ago: Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields
This is one of the most realistic and up-to-date books I’ve found. You can get it from the library, your bookstore or Amazon. The link to Amazon is http://bit.ly/av7v6Z
Additional Recommendatiions to Supplement this Report
I also recommend two online ebooks you can download. Of course, no one can guarantee results, but in my opinion these are helpful and accurate. I’ve bought and learned from them myelf.
http://www.ReachDesperateBuyers.com
While Fields suggests you study a market, this report actually walks you through, step by step. It’s the single best guide to online marketing I’ve found.
20 ways to make $100 a day:
http://www.GrabOnlineIncome.com
This Report also supplements Career Renegade, with more details of how to implement such techniques as selling books on the Internet. It’s not a get rich quick scheme. Each technique requires a lot of work. I like the way the Report gives you a range of options so you can decide what you would like.
Almost all my recommendations, anywhere, are made through my affiliate links. I do get a commission when you buy through my links. However, you do not pay any more by going through a link rather than visiting the site directly.
Back to School as a Professor (Adjunct Style)
Posted by CathyG in academic career, back to school, career advice, career change on 02 5th, 2010If you are involved in a mid-life career change or a long job search, you may be getting advice to expand your horizons and try new fields. Recently the New York Times suggested that career changers explore the possibility of adjunct teaching. Read the full article here.
The article makes some good points.
First, teaching won’t pay a lot but it can broaden your resume. You’ll have some answers to a prospective employer’s question, “And what are you doing now?” Almost any paid employment will be better than staying home.
Second, you don’t always need an advanced degree or teaching experience. Some departments will welcome you when you just bring successful experience and at least a BA degree. You get support in putting your course together. Some schools even assign you a mentor to help out when you are new.
Third, you may be able to find new contacts and even clients.
However, I would add a few points.
First, never assume anything. Go ahead and apply. Well-meaning friends will say, “They won’t hire you” or worse. Find out for yourself. Informal networking is less effective in academia than any place I know (except maybe government jobs).
Second, tailor your resume to emphasize related experience in the field as well as any teaching, training or even speaking experience. If you’ve got somespare cash, you can hire a coach for an hour or two to help you revise your resume.
Third, you may decide you like teaching and want to pursue a full-time job. It’s very rare to move from adjunct to full-time in the same school. Ask around to see if others have made this move at a particular place where you are teaching. If few people have made this move, build up a portfolio of good course evaluations and apply elsewhere.
Fourth, if you are interested in higher ed teaching, you can’t afford to assume that all degrees are created equal. Academics are selective about degrees and credentials. Some non-traditional degree will be helpful when you stay within your company or even change jobs in your field but will not be recognized by academic institutions.
Finally, I often recommend adjunct teaching as a helpful activity during a job search or career change. If nothing else, doing something new will bring a new perspective to your life and career. Many professionals are energized by novelty.
However, teaching can be exhausting, especially at first. My first days teaching at a junior college left me wiped! After years of experience, teaching a night course left me both tired and too “up” to go to sleep right away.
And yes, you can make contacts but I wouldn’t count on them. Some adjuncts have had great luck: students hire them as consultants and colleagues expand their professional network. Others have zero success: their students are too junior to do much good and colleagues can be aloof and clique-y.
All in all, though, adjunct teaching is a useful addition to your between-jobs activity and I’d recommend checking it out. I made a major career change this way.
For information about returning to school as a student, go here.
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Mid-Life Career Change: Feeling So Stuck You Want To Do Nothing
Posted by CathyG in career change on 12 27th, 2009Mid-life career changers often feel stuck when they consider finding a new career. They aren’t sure what they want to do next and often they don’t want to do anything at all.
Usually this happens when executives have experienced a series of frustrations. They think they have found a new career so they feel a burst of hope. They get energized. Then something goes wrong. The new job goes away. Or it turns out to be dreary and depressing, even worse than the first career. For this I gave up what I enjoyed before?
What do you when you don’t feel like doing anything? Here are a few suggestions to get started.
What do you find yourself doing effortlessly? Keep doing it.
You never know where these activities will take you. I started writing reviews of books and music for an online bookstore. To my surprise, this activity opened up all sorts of opportunities. My reviews attracted clients. Publishers sent me books. Today I sell products to help others write book reviews as a path to professional success.
Avoid sharing your frustrations with family and friends. Definitely don’t discuss career issues with colleagues, bosses and business associates.
You’ll be most likely to find a new networking resource when you come across as confident and satisfied. More than once, I’ve heard, “I was impressed by X and was ready to recommend him for an opportunity that seemed perfect for him. But when X started telling me about his doubts, his lack of motivation and his frustrations, I hesitated. He doesn’t seem to know what he wants to do.”
Don’t hide. Keep talking to everyone you meet in a strong, positive way.
Most career changes don’t follow a straight line. One study after another shows that career change tends to follow from a serendipitous event that could not have been anticipated. Your success depends on being available and open to recognizing a new opportunity. Chances are it will come whe you least anticipate it, from a source you hadn’t seen as related to your career.
To learn more: Sign up for my 12-session Career Strategy E-course. Get started at http://www.midlifecareeerchoice.com
Finding a new Mid-Life Career : Med School at Age 51
Posted by CathyG in age discrimination, back to school, career change on 12 26th, 2009A Canadian CEO, Brian Levy, returned to medical school after his corporate job wet sour. To be sure, he enjoyed a number of advantages. He’d left corporate life with a package of $11 million. He drives to the hospital in a Lexus. But his profs say he works harder and he’s the most prepared for any medical presentation. He has real empathy with the patients.
Inspirational to a point: it helps if you’ve got the money and family support. But if you’re worried about having energy and brainpower for this kind of career change, read about it here.
Myers-Briggs Criticism Draws Emotional Response From Penelope Trunk Fan
Posted by CathyG in career advice, testing on 09 18th, 2009Some people get really defensive when you attack their beloved beliefs. One such person went after me when I responded to a post on Penelope Trunk’s blog. You can read her blog post here
Penelope argued that people need to understand their own Myers-Briggs scores in order to make positive changes in their lives. For years, she says, she resisted her own ENTJ score, insisting that she was more of a free spirit creative. She finally had to admit she liked certain parts of corporate life. She also notes that she finds ways to generate desirable behaviors (such as bypassing the refrigerator as she moves from one task to the other, a challenge I share) with lessons learned from her young son’s therapist. Nice.
I couldn’t resist pointing out that Myers-Briggs is one of those pseudo-tests that’s more about faith than reason. It’s never been validated scientifically. I’m not the first person to say it’s no more valid than astrology (and some would say less valid). You can read a balanced discussion in an excellent book by Annie Paul, The Cult of Personality. Paul points out that many of our sacred tests (including the Rorschach) have no scientific basis. The test designers arbitrarily threw some questions together. (Incidentally, the New York Times wrote a devastating criticism of the Diagnostic Manual that mental health professionals swear by, but that’s another story.) You can read more about my views on testing in an article I wrote a long time ago.
Alas, corporate executives, psychologists and educators tend to believe Myers-Briggs with the fervor that others reserve for deep-seated religious beliefs. It’s more about faith than scientific evidence So my comment was answered by one Tyler Hayes, whose own blog describes him as a “young rascal” available for web deverlopment and social media projects. Tyler studied psychology at St Olaf College, where he graduated one year ago. In his comment, Tyler accuses me of being arrogant. He criticizes the skepdic website and then says, “Prove me wrong.”
Here’s where I started to feel like the aging professor I would be if I were still hanging out on college campuses. I’d circle his words about “pussyfooting around euphemisms” and write, “What does this mean?” I’d write a margin note, “To respond to this comment, you need to (a) argue that there IS scientific support for the Myers Briggs Test or else show that scientific support isn’t needed.”
Hayes said I’m “arrogant” because I just jumped into the comment box with a criticisim. So I might add a question like, “What’s the problem?” When you write a blog you want comments from strangers. Savvy blog owners want criticism because controversy draws readers. (Why do you think I’m writing this note in my blog and not someone else’s?)
And as a copywriter, I can’t resist smiling when I see Tyler’s self-description as a “young rascal.” The online Merriam Webster definition of rascal is
(a) a mean, unprincipled, or dishonest person; or
(b) a mischievous person or anima
And we’re going to turn you loose on our websites, right?
“Good entrepreneurial mindset,” I’d write, as a college professor. “Work on execution.”
Don’t Believe These Outrageous Career Change Myths
Posted by CathyG in career advice, career change on 09 17th, 2009Career change clients often come with a series of expectations that are not realistic. It’s not surprising: books and television shows can give you the wrong idea. Here are 3 myths to demolish right away.
“Career change follow a recipe.” Actually, every person’s path is different. You’ll have a different game plan depending on your industry, location, experience, and ability to relocate. And it’s more like a zigzag (or a feeling that you’re in the eye of a hurricane) than a straight line.
“Career tests will tell you what to do.” Career tests will tell you that you are very good at doing what you’ve done for the last 10 years. More here.
“Career change happens fast.” Some clients say things like, “My husband says I need to get over this. It’s been six months already.” Or, “I’ve been searching for a new path for a long time now. What’s the holdup?”
In reality, career change can take as long as three years, sometimes more. Often your greatest challenge is simply taking time to explore. For more, listen to the replay of my Blog Talk Radio show on this topic.
To learn more, Career coaching starts here.
