Will you change career in 2008?
Many of us feel we need a midlife career change. The desire for a career change in mid life gives us a burst of energy. Fun but also a bit scarey! Successful midlife career change will make use of your natural abilities as well as the skills and experience you have gained over the years.
Taking some time to assess where you've got to and where you want to go next will help make your career change a pleasurable and successful transition. You will find plenty of tips, techniques, useful career change articles and other resources here.
Dorothea Stuart, MSc
Technorati Tags:
career change, career change resume, career change stories, job interview, personal branding, job search,
mid career change,career change test
Taking some time to assess where you've got to and where you want to go next will help make your career change a pleasurable and successful transition. You will find plenty of tips, techniques, useful career change articles and other resources here.
Dorothea Stuart, MSc
Technorati Tags:
career change, career change resume, career change stories, job interview, personal branding, job search,
mid career change,career change test
curated content from YouTube
Career Change Events
Career Transitions Workshop University of Virginia
June 16-18, 2008 in San Jose, California (Workshop 15)
November, 2008 in Charlottesville, VA (Workshop 16)
Presented by Jim Clawson (Professor of Business Administration, Darden)and Herb Crowder (Co-Director of Alumni Career Services, Darden).
Read more...
November, 2008 in Charlottesville, VA (Workshop 16)
Presented by Jim Clawson (Professor of Business Administration, Darden)and Herb Crowder (Co-Director of Alumni Career Services, Darden).
Read more...
How to...Practical Career Change Resources
- 10 Steps to Successful Career Change
- Sensible, helpful list with useful links to other resources.
- Career Change Tools for the Mid-Life Woman
- Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D. shares her 14 steps to re-envisioning your work life.
- 6 Unconventional Career Change Tips
- Thought this was a great start to the tips...
The first tip is to understand that each day you remain at a job you don't love because the money is good you fall farther behind on your long-term quest for financial freedom. - Reseaching the Best Companies
- Your research should include looking at the best companies to work for. Often the reasons they get onto the list is because they treat their staff well and have a diverse workforce. One of the most recent Best 100 lists comes from the UK Sunday Times starting with the best small companies to work for. The top 100 large US companies to work for is provided by Fortune.
- Mid Career Challenge
- Three part article on the mid career challenge. How to resolve the confusion and handle it.
- Career Handbook
- From the US Department of Labour. Great resource for finding requirements for careers and getting info on what is involved in the day to day job. Useful if you live outside US too. Australia/New Zealand handbook also has good info.
- Advice for Older Job Seekers
- Sage advice including tips on how to write career change cover letters (from BBC's Panorama).
As an older job-seeker, don't use phrases like 'I offer you maturity, stability and a proven track-record'. What works best is to confront stereotypes by choosing qualities from the "young list", and placing emphasise on them. - Debunking Career Myths
- 6 page doc that includes career myths that stop people cold. Including the myth "It's too late to change my career".
- Woman too shy about touting their accomplishments?
- Ideas on overcoming reluctance to sell yourself in a job interview.
- Spar and Leisure Careers, UK
- The career zone section of this website provides info on personal career development within the industry.
Career Change Law
Law is one of those professions with a significant number of people wanting to move out into a new career as well as many wanting to make a career change and become lawyers.
Cheryl Rich Heisler gave a talk at the Washington College of Law in which she discusses career change. Included are some great stories of how people she knows made career transitions. For example a litigator who moved to being a legal writer. Then started writing articles on golf in his spare time. And eventually ended up as a anchor on a golf TV channel - bringing together his love of golf and childhood ambitions to be an actor. Listen to the podcast "Exploring alternative careers: looking inside, outside and around the law."
For those wanting to move into the legal profession or looking for a new legal position these articles (from chicagolegalsearch.com) on Job search methods and Choosing a legal recruiter are filled with useful information.
Cheryl Rich Heisler gave a talk at the Washington College of Law in which she discusses career change. Included are some great stories of how people she knows made career transitions. For example a litigator who moved to being a legal writer. Then started writing articles on golf in his spare time. And eventually ended up as a anchor on a golf TV channel - bringing together his love of golf and childhood ambitions to be an actor. Listen to the podcast "Exploring alternative careers: looking inside, outside and around the law."
For those wanting to move into the legal profession or looking for a new legal position these articles (from chicagolegalsearch.com) on Job search methods and Choosing a legal recruiter are filled with useful information.
Career Change Resumes and Career Change CVs
How to make your resume an effective career change tool
- Career Change Resume Samples
- You'll find a number of sample career change resumes and cvs here - for a range of professions.
- What makes a good resume or cv?
- Read a Human Resources insider's view on what makes a good resume. Susan M Heathfield discusses a resume that stood out for her. She shows the resume for you to see exactly what she means.
- Write a Masterpiece Resume
- Award winning guide on resume writing from Rockport Institute. For everyone choosing or changing a career.
- Creating your midlife career change resume
- Practical advice and tips from the Australian Government's work and employment website.
- How about using a Mini-Resume?
- Patty Inglish suggests using a 3x5 Jist card which combines a mini resume and business card. Looks a good idea for business contacts as well as a useful reminder for friends and family.
- Career Change Cover Letters
- Using your cover letters for marketing yourself for a career where you have little experience. Gives 'before' and 'after' sample wording.
Career Change Resume - packed with tips and real examples
A recommended resource to help hone your cv or resume
Kim Isaacs is the resume expert at Monster.com and Karen Hofferber is Microsoft's resume expert. Find out more about them at ResumePower. Their book contains advice on not only on writing career change resume but also career change cover letters and putting them to good use. Masses of sample resumes from people in different careers are provided.
Books on Practical Career Change Tools
Are You New to Career Change Or An Old Hand ?
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Career Change Tip of the Week April 6, 2008
Get career change inspiration from people you know
When you stop and think about the people you know my guess is that you'll be amazed by just how many of them have changed careers. Once, twice, three times or even more, over their working lives.
An IT professional who is now a business coach, a banker who is now a trainer, a customer services person who became a florist, a garden designer who is now in financial services are just a few I know.
Other examples include Alison McNicol who switched from being a business executive in the music industry to spearheading a national sewing campaign.
Talking to the people you know who have already experienced career change can save you a lot of time and get you on the right path far quicker than if you work everything out on your own!
Or Phil Borges who moved from being an orthodonist to an internationally renowned photographer.
Talking to the people you know can save you time and heart ache. Learning from others will speed the pace of your career change.
An IT professional who is now a business coach, a banker who is now a trainer, a customer services person who became a florist, a garden designer who is now in financial services are just a few I know.
Other examples include Alison McNicol who switched from being a business executive in the music industry to spearheading a national sewing campaign.
Talking to the people you know who have already experienced career change can save you a lot of time and get you on the right path far quicker than if you work everything out on your own!
Or Phil Borges who moved from being an orthodonist to an internationally renowned photographer.
Talking to the people you know can save you time and heart ache. Learning from others will speed the pace of your career change.
Career Change Question of the Week April 6, 2008
Ask yourself...
“Who do YOU know who has already changed career? What can you learn from them?”
Career Change Stories
- Medicine to Real Estate
- Part of a great NPR series Take Two: Life Changes from 2005. Read transcripts or listen to the recorded interviews.
- Lawyer to Writer/Coach
- Read Marci Alboher's column on Shifting Careers in the New York Times. Her own story shows how it can be done.
- 10 Famous Career Switchers
- Diverse stories of career switching in a slide show from Business Week.
- Dental Assistant to Cake Maker
- Example of an extreme career change. After 22 years as dental assistant to running a wedding cake business and teaching the art of cake decoration.
- Social Worker to Gallery Owner
- Kathy Kreager...made a career shift to realize her dream. ``I worked at Western Michigan University as a social worker...I wasn't thinking I was going to do art full time, but it just kind of happened.''
- Playwright to Radio Show Host
- How Peter Sagal made the unusual career change from writing plays to becoming a public radio show host. And how since making the career transition in 1998, he has risen to stardom in the medium.
Career Change Inspiration
What Kind of Career Change Do You Want?
We have different motivations for career change tell us where you fit.
Extreme Career Change
I want to do something completely different. A law more...1 point
Gradual Career Change
I want to transition slowly into a related role us more...1 point
Accidental Career Change
I need to decided if I take an unexpected opportun more...1 point
Stepping Stone Career Change
I want to take this role on the way to what I real more...1 point
Sunset Career Change
I want a new career to enjoy until retirement. May more...1 point
In House Career Change
I want to use my company's career ladder to work i more...1 point
Resume Objective
Learn how to write a good resume objective. more...1 point
http://www.patients4you.com
Dental Marketing - Patients4you - Dental Advertising
more...0 points
Dr Georges Dental White
Dr Georges Dental White for whiter teeth! more...0 points
“Self-knowledge is the most important component of finding the right career. Richard N Bolles”
Take Stock Before Launching Your Career Change
The advantage of Midlife Career Change is that you'll have had plenty of experience of the world, and different work environments.
Often people talk about Career Change as if it's a single activity or process. Extreme Career Change - when someone shifts to a new career with no connection to what they were doing before. From ballet dancer to accountant. From Rock 'n' Roll to nursing. From Technology Officer to Patent Law. From varied professions to Green Collar Jobs. Penny Trunk describes her own career changes, "how to get a job you're not qualified for" in The Brazen Careerist. New York Times writer Marci Alboher give advice on gradual career change in Your Next Career on BusinessWeek TV.
In reality, of course, Midlife Career Change happens in many different ways.
You probably know more people who have taken a gradual approach to changing career. For example, someone starts a career in Human Resources administration. Finds she enjoys talking to groups of new employees during their induction process. And gradually works her way into a role as a trainer.
Before launching into career change it's good to step back and make an objective assessment of where you are. Get very clear about your strengths. Identify what you like and dislike about your current career. Clarify what you want to achieve by making a change.
Taking a couple of career questionnaires, access experts via books, websites, or career coaching will help you along. It may confirm what you already know but the chances are you will gain additional insights. Learning practical tactics and strategies will help you move forward more quickly when you get your career change started. It will also help you develop your personal brand (see below)
Often people talk about Career Change as if it's a single activity or process. Extreme Career Change - when someone shifts to a new career with no connection to what they were doing before. From ballet dancer to accountant. From Rock 'n' Roll to nursing. From Technology Officer to Patent Law. From varied professions to Green Collar Jobs. Penny Trunk describes her own career changes, "how to get a job you're not qualified for" in The Brazen Careerist. New York Times writer Marci Alboher give advice on gradual career change in Your Next Career on BusinessWeek TV.
In reality, of course, Midlife Career Change happens in many different ways.
You probably know more people who have taken a gradual approach to changing career. For example, someone starts a career in Human Resources administration. Finds she enjoys talking to groups of new employees during their induction process. And gradually works her way into a role as a trainer.
Before launching into career change it's good to step back and make an objective assessment of where you are. Get very clear about your strengths. Identify what you like and dislike about your current career. Clarify what you want to achieve by making a change.
Taking a couple of career questionnaires, access experts via books, websites, or career coaching will help you along. It may confirm what you already know but the chances are you will gain additional insights. Learning practical tactics and strategies will help you move forward more quickly when you get your career change started. It will also help you develop your personal brand (see below)
Online Career Change Tests and Questionnaires
- MAPP
- MAPP is a well researched and well established career questionnaire. You can get a free sample report to decide if you like the style. The sample includes 5 job matches.
- Princeton Review Career Quiz
- A quick and useful quiz. If you register (also free) after you do the quiz you get a list of job titles which fit your work style. Each job links to a "day in the life of" article and a list of associated careers.
Books for identifying your strengths and talents
Confidence is Key to Successful Midlife Career Change
Are you primed for a career change interview? Ready to give a presentation?
Unless giving presentation is part of your current work you need a bit of time to development your skill and confidence in this area. One tried and tested method is to join a speaking club. For example a Toastmasters International Club. Clubs like this provide an invaluable opportunity to practice giving short prepared talks in front an audience.
Club meeting are set up so there is opportunity to try off the cuff, impromptu speaking. This is extremely useful for preparing for job interviews and handling unexpected questions.
The added bonus that Toastmaster members will confirm is that participating boosts your overall confidence. As a member myself I have benefited hugely. There are more than 11,000 of these friendly clubs around the world so visit if you can.
For excellent presentation tips go to Frank Roche's Squidoo lens Best Presentations Ever
Interview Skills Resources
- Competency based interview
- Five page report on competency based interviewing. A widely used approached to interviews aimed at finding out if you can provide specific evidence for the skills you say you have. All professional interviewers will use these kinds of questions. Kris Dunn gives 5 questions and how they work to separate the players from the pretenders in an HR interview.
- Interview momentum
- Article from Washington Post 2007 on being memorable in interviews. Includes smart questions to keep until the end.
- Types of Interviewer
- 6 minute video. A useful reminder of the different type of interviewer you may have to deal with. Good idea to watch if you haven't had a job interview for a while.
- Classic Interview Questions
- 4 minute video. Helpful tips from Monster.com
- Handling interviews
- A host of articles from Career Builder on job interview questions, answers, tips for phone interviews etc.
- Winning Stories
- Highly recommended blog posts on using story telling effectively in interview (useful for interview presentations too). You'll find another great take on career change story telling on the Brazen Careerist.
- Most important job interview questions
- ''Whether you are liked or not accounts for about 40 percent of the hiring decision,'' says recruitment expert Tony Beshara. Here he give the sample answer to the questions that aim to test whether you will "fit in".
- Survey reveals wackiest job interview mistakes
- Most recent annual survey from CareerBuilder.com
Apart from the laughable, wacky mistakes the article also points out the most common, detrimental mistakes that you should avoid in job interviews.
Presentations and Interview Skills Books
Presentation Skills Resources
- Improve your presentations
- Video of international keynote speaker, Patricia Fripp giving her 3 top ways to improve your presentations. Worth watching and listening!
- How to put together a presentation
- Video of international keynote speaker, Patricia Fripp demonstrating how to put together a presentation that will engage your audience.
- Interview Presentations
- How to make an interview presentation. This video, from Monster.com is well structured with good practical suggestions.
- Words and phrases to help your presentation flow
- I find this a very helpful list of words to use to keep the structure of your presentation clear. And to keep your audience with you.
- 10 minutes to improve your presentation
- Give your presentation an overhaul in 10 minutes. Emphasises focusing on the audience and what's in it for them. I'm sure following these steps will result in a massive improvement in any presentation.
The power of stories in Career Change Presentations
How to make your presentation stand out from the crowd
You maybe thinking...an interview presentation is a serious business. How can I include stories? If you think back to presentations or speeches you've heard and remembered my guess would be they included stories or anecdotes that made a point very powerfully. Listen to Patricia Fripp and see if she convinces you! Interestingly Ms Fripp started out as a hairdresser before developing a career as an international keynote speaker.
curated content from YouTube
Promote Yourself - Personal Branding for Career Change
Positioning yourself for a successful career transition
At every stage of the career change and job interview process you are selling yourself. You may not like the idea but this is the reality! I finally understood this when I grasped the concept of personal branding. Communicating your natural talents and unique experience honestly and consistently.
Your personal brand will shine through your career change resume, your career change cover letter, how you present yourself at job interviews, the stories you tell about yourself. Your brand will be evident in how you handle meetings, and how you talk to people and follow up when networking.
Future employers are highly likely to search your name online. What will they find? Check by googling yourself. You can test the strength of your online personal brand with Online Identity Calculator. Now's the time to start positioning yourself for your new career online.
Find out more about how to strengthen your online identity and attract more positive interest from recruiters in an article I've written on HubPages.com.
Your personal brand will shine through your career change resume, your career change cover letter, how you present yourself at job interviews, the stories you tell about yourself. Your brand will be evident in how you handle meetings, and how you talk to people and follow up when networking.
Future employers are highly likely to search your name online. What will they find? Check by googling yourself. You can test the strength of your online personal brand with Online Identity Calculator. Now's the time to start positioning yourself for your new career online.
Find out more about how to strengthen your online identity and attract more positive interest from recruiters in an article I've written on HubPages.com.
Personal Branding, Personal PR Books
Personal Branding Resources
Boost your career change prospects with effective self marketing
- Personal Branding Guru
- Website of William Arruda, Personal Branding Guru. I suggest signing up for the monthly personal branding tips and taking some time to explore the rest of the site.
- Why personal branding
- Article from author of Brag! Peggy Klaus on why personal branding is so important for your career success.
- The Brand Called You
- Tom Peter's highly influential article from Fast Company Magazine 1997.
Growth Areas of Work 2008
Jobs where more people are needed for the future
When considering career change it's always a good idea to look at jobs where growth is predicted. It might help you focus in on a specific role within your new career field.Anthony Balderrama who researches career management and hiring trends in the US has a list of 50 jobs which are looking good for the future. Included is a wide range of careers from Information Systems Manager to Veterinarian Read more...
Tempted by any of these career opportunities?
Perhaps these jobs might spark ideas, or fit your career needs
- Senior Director, Professional Services
-
MicroStrategy - New York, NY
The Senior Director, Professional Services is responsible... Job Duties (include but not limited to): Meet professional services revenue and profit quotas while... ... - Assistive Technology Professional
-
The Scooter Store - New York, NY
of the organizational team (LCMP, patient and ASM) • Coordinate with healthcare professionals to assess and recommend appropriate mobility and seating based on... ... - Professional Nurse PD
-
Visiting Nurse Service of New York - Queens, NY
as a Registered Professional Nurse in New York State... by operational needs. One year Med/Surg or other professional nursing experience relevant to the assigned... ...
Lastest Career Change Research and Career Surveys
- Harvard Business Review
- Leading edge career change articles. The first page is displayed. You can decide whether to buy the whole article. In the February 2008 edition there is an interesting article on the necessity of midlife change. "Contrary to popular belief middle age heralds neither the beginning of the end nor a magical transformation - but it does offer new opportunities for personal growth."
- Changing Careers, Changing Self
- Eyebrow raising career change strategies from INSEAD.
- Multiple Careers
- Wikipedia cofirms that career change is an increasing fact of life. Also discussed - the idea of concurrent careers. Is this for you?
- Baby Boomer nurses plan career change
- A recent survey of nearly 2000 nurses aged 45-60 in the US shows that 35% are planning a career change.
This is at at time when many more nurses are needed. Suggests career change opportunities in both directions?
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Career Change Essentials: 21st century career switching
A career change toolkit covering all the element you need
I am the author of Career Change Essentials: 21st century career shifting. In this information and action packed toolkit I have pulled together all my knowledge and experience of career change. You can use it flexibily to suit your needs. Start at the point that makes most sense for where you are in your career change.
Career Change Essentials is an expert guide that takes you though the steps of successful career change. And one step further. Helping you to get established in your new career field as quickly as possible.
Click on the image below to find out more.
Career Change Essentials is an expert guide that takes you though the steps of successful career change. And one step further. Helping you to get established in your new career field as quickly as possible.
Click on the image below to find out more.
by CareerChanger
CareerChanger
Helping individuals to achieve career change and revitalize their working lives.
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