Career Change Tactics

As I was putting together a job search session on Career Change, I found a quote by Stephen Warren. He said, “Getting what you want means you must first decide what it is that you want.” At face value, that sounds so obvious but when you really think about in the perspective of job change, it is overwhelming.

Once you decide that changing your career direction is something you want to do or might consider doing, let’s look at the steps to get you started.
I have found that there are five steps in the career change process. They are:
• Assessment
• Research
• Action Planning
• Update your Skill Set
• Network

Assessment: Reflect. There are a number of valuable tools in Google that will help you assess your skills, personality, likes and dislikes and attitudes toward work. I recommend one from the US Department of Labor. It can be found at http://www.careeronestop.org/. Here you will find a free self- assessment tool called the Skills Profiler. Once you enter your skills, it will automatically provide a listing of professions that match your skill set. Another site is called The Riley Guide, http://www.rileyguide.com/. They list a number of free or for fee assessments. They also provide links to a world of other job search activities.
Research: Once you figure out what you want to do, you need to learn about that area. Searching for information is easy if you Google the position, attend a professional meeting or go to the Bureau of Labor statistics at http://www.bls.gov/oco/. Here you will find every job description A to Z along with job trends, salary information, and educational requirements. You also need to research your own personal information and ask yourself if you can afford to pursue this career, or if you need more education or training for it. The Career One Stop and Riley Guide are also good.
Action Planning: If you are serious about career change and have decided after assessment and research that this is the direction that you want to take, you MUST complete an action plan. List your career choice(s) along with goals, dates and action steps. Review this form daily and revise it as necessary. If you don’t have a plan, it will be harder to focus.
Update your Skill Set: Talk to financial counselors at local community colleges or universities. Find out if there are any grants available. Is the career you are interested in targeted by the government as new and necessary? If so, there may be free or low cost training available. If you are an older career changer, some colleges offer “senior discounts”. Go to LinkedIn and join a group in the profession and write to people about needed skills. Ask questions. Don’t forget to look to your local libraries for free or low cost training options. Do you have a friend who is in the field you are interested in? Talk to him or her, ask about mentoring possibilities.
Network: Talk to people in your area of interest, research and participate in “informational interviews”, join local professional groups, talk to college alumni associations, talk to friends, family, neighbors and Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn friends.

“Getting what you want means you must first decide what it is that you want.” After going through some of these steps you may find that you are perfectly suited for your current field and that is fine. Changing careers can be scary, exciting, gut wrenching, anxiety producing and exhilarating. Whatever your decision, just do what you feel is right for you. Good luck!