Career Change– 5 Must-Take Steps
Dissatisfaction, boredom, changing life styles and limited advancement or compensation opportunities headline traditional career change lists. But today career change drivers are just as likely to be for non-elective reasons. No matter if your decision is driven by a pursuit for happiness or a pursuit for survival; follow these important rules to insure a smart and lasting career change.
Changing careers requires a job change — a scary proposition. However, with career change training, and good career change advice will help see you through this difficult challenge. Don’t let your fear stop you from finding a job you love.
For more information on these techniques and for more assistance creating and pursuing a successful new career or career change see - Get help with Career Training
Good luck.
Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams (Paperback)
From Publishers Weekly
Journalist Skillings aims to rescue Americans from corporate tedium in this entertaining and informative guide to walking away from an established—albeit stultifying—job and forging a more rewarding career. With insight and humor, Skillings enumerates the stages of Corporate Disillusionment and the features of the toxic workplace—the bullying bosses, moronic co-workers, terminal boredom and rampant racism and sexism. A multitude of questionnaires, exercises and worksheets helps readers determine their dream job, assess expenses and assets, and plot an escape plan to break free of corporate life without going bankrupt. Skillings also provides pointers to those readers who simply want to be happier in their current jobs—including negotiating for more flexible hours, telecommuting and taking sabbaticals. Vignettes of successful fugitives from the corporate world populate the book and an extremely useful Escape Tool Kit supplies information on (more...)
Career Change to Lasers!
Entering the medical field is one of the surest ways of finding a secure career. Society will always need medical help. The medical field is constantly changing, with new spurts of job growth every day. What is one of the hottest career trends? Lasers, Nurse Skywalker.
Maybe attending laser school won’t be as exciting as watching Star Wars, but with the career income you’ll be able to afford endless sci-fi movies…
Laser Schools are popping up everywhere. The training is relatively short compared to other medical training, and the resultant career choices offer some nice pay. Laser Certifications are awarded to students who successfully complete the laser program. Then comes the bevy of career choices: Use lasers to sculpt bodies, remove acne, veins, and more.
Do you like to make people beautiful? If you are already in the beauty field, but would like to earn more money, laser training could be a wise choice. It could be a second career for hairdressers or spa specialists. Laser training is another way of helping people.
Does the thought of using a laser on someone scare you? A friend of mine went through a brief bout of fear with laser use. After several years working as a masseuse and hairdresser, she decided to increase her income through laser certification. But after learning how powerful the lasers are, she started to get nervous. The thought of accidentally harming anyone terrified her.
Thank goodness her laser school trained her so thoroughly, that her fear disappeared. She became a confident and skilled laser specialist, able to help people with many procedures.
Today she holds a well-paid position in a spa. She actually has one of the best-paying jobs in a town with a depressed economy. Smart she is. She understood that to make herself competitive among other beauticians, she would need something special. Laser certification did that for her.
What about using lasers on yourself? One payoff to laser training is the ability to give yourself laser treatment. Cellulite? You’ll know how to zap it. Don’t like your body shape? Just laser it away. The expensive price of laser treatment is a non-issue if you are able to do it yourself. Think of all the money you’ll save. Just don’t go crazy and laser your face away.
Of course you can’t laser your own face. Acne treatment would best be left to another professional, unless you are really good at handling mirrors… But with the connections you’ll make at your laser school, you are sure to find a friend who will laser you at a discounted price, or for trade. You laser my face, I’ll laser yours. Sounds like a nice exchange, doesn’t it?
If you are still laser-shy, think of the miracle that laser eye surgery is. People who have had it are amazed. Just amazed. It’s like their life starts over. Some of them could barely see before surgery. Lasers can do wonderful things for people.
But what about the moral quandary of lasering someone’s face to look drastically different? Are you just aiding their low self-esteem? Only you can decide if you want to be a part of that. However, many jobs within the medical field involve moral compromises. Consider the good you can do.
Posture: A Career Changing Lesson
When I first started my networking career, I was a pretty shy person. The thought of picking up a phone and calling a stranger horrified me.
I used to literally sit at my desk staring at the phone for hours trying to sum up the courage to call my leads. It was ridiculous, but my mind found a way to justify my inaction with one excuse or another.
The problem stemmed from my lack of posture, leadership, and authority, due to a lack of confidence. When I would call my leads, I came from a place of weakness, need, and desperation.
I was spending every spare cent I had on leads and tools, and I had to sponsor a new rep soon or I would be out of money and a failure.
That desperation, need, and lack of confidence came though on the phone and people took advantage of it in order to give themselves power. I came from a position of servitude, doing anything I could to please the prospect and keep them in the pipeline.
This is a MAJOR problem with people new to this industry. You will never build an organization or sponsor the right people until you move out from a Beta mindset to an Alpha mindset.
It is impossible because people only join Alpha leaders. The good news is that your Beta status can be conquered with a little education.
So what does it mean to prospect with posture? Simple. To be blunt: The person on the other end of the phone is a nobody, that must qualify for and justify your attention and time. Until they prove themselves worthy, they are just a voice and a phone number.
I do not care if it is a doctor, lawyer, business owner, etc. They can waste my time just as
easily as anyone else. They have to earn it.
Here is a pretty basic concept that I am adding to this article based on several phone calls I have gotten this week. It is about 800 numbers and whether or not you should use one as a distributor.
I was setting up their websites for them, and they insisted that their 800 number be included because it is easier for the prospect to contact them, and because some people do not want to call long distance.
I have to admit that years ago when I got into this industry, getting my first 800 number was like some cool "right of passage" that meant "now I'm a business owner!"
Ya it was fun to experience that, but I soon learned that an 800 number has no real benefit and can actually be counter-productive.
The only time you should ever use an 800 number is in a direct response advertisement. That is it. I hope by now that YOU can recognize how flawed that above kind of thinking is. ("It makes it easier for my prospects to call me." or "Some of my prospects don't want to call long distance").
First and foremost, why would you even send information to either of those types of people, let alone cater to them? Think of an expert in any field.
Not only do they not have an 800 number, but they usually have a few hoops people have to jump through just to reach them! Receptionist, call screening, etc... forget 800 numbers. They have no benefit to you or your business, and they weaken your positioning.
The best way to build posture if you are lacking it, is to first and foremost, sit up straight or stand while on the phone. Have energy in your voice, and know in your head they you have the keys to the vault. You have already found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
If that is not your normal personality, then change it. This is what it means to become the person you need to be to succeed.
I honestly like to think of Donald Trump, sitting there in the boardroom on The Apprentice. It is an honor for his contestants to have the opportunity to work with him, and they all know it.
It should be no different with you and your prospects. You are the Donald. Act like it. The best way to assert your posture on a call is to keep control of it. Once a prospect asks a question and you answer it, you have lost control.
They are now in charge of the entire call and its outcome. You must take back control immediately! You do not have a choice if you want the call to be successful, not only for your sake, but for your prospects as well. (They just do not know it yet).
The best way to do this is to defer their question and ask them one. Asking your prospect questions keeps you in control of the conversation.
Example Prospect says, "so what kind of business is this? What is the name of your company? You say, "_____, that is a great question, but we are not to that point yet. This is an interview, and I am trying to qualify you for my time. If you would like to continue that is fine, or we can end the call right now. What would you like to do?" (Did you see the reverse question?) Now you have control again.
What does having a strong posture do for your business? First, it positions you as an Alpha leader. If you are not a leader, how can you expect people to follow you? Second, it positions you as an expert instead of a peddler.
Prospects and customers seek out experts because they have the answers they are looking for and because they gain power by associating themselves with that person. Third, it allows you to guide them though your information system on your terms for
maximum effectiveness.
IMPORTANT: People do not partner with you in business because of your product. They do not partner with you because of your compensation plan. They partner with you because of YOU and/or your system.
They partner with you because they see you as an Alpha Networker and someone who can help them achieve success they want. Everything else is secondary.
A great way to help you develop your posture is to just say no to your next five prospects. Do it. Tell them you are sorry, but they are not who you are looking for right now.
This exercise will change your mindset and your posture instantly because it gives you all of the power and it will help you adopt a mindset of abundance which is a critical trait that all Alphas share. Your mind will finally understand that you are the leader, and that the success of your business is not dependent upon any one person or handful of leads.
In all honesty, you should be telling this to at least 50% of everyone you talk to each day if you are building your business correctly! The vast majority of people you meet will not have the characteristics you want in a business partner!
Is There a ‘back to School’ Career Change in Your Future?
Even though most of us hang on to as much summer as we can, as soon as the calendar changes from July to August the department stores want us in back-to-school’ mode. With school-aged children, besides dreading another year of packing lunches, you’ve probably already started to think about what they will need in the way of clothes, shoes and school supplies this year.Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll spend countless hours preparing your children for the new school year - but what are you doing this September? Are you yourself ready for a change? Do you find yourself paying extra close attention to those decorating shows you love as the summer winds down? Have you almost made up your mind that this could be the year you turn your love for decorating into a career?Because most people associate September with the start of a fresh new school year, it’s only natural for many of us feel the itch to do something new this time of year. September symbolizes change, the first page of a brand new scribbler, setting goals and learning something new. If you are one of those mothers who have been waiting until all of your children were in school to reenter the workforce, has that time finally come?It seems logical to wait until there are teachers looking after your children all day before you go searching for employment, but it can be difficult to go back to work for someone else after an extended time of being a stay-at-home-mom. You will probably find it tough to adjust to the inflexibility of a traditional job if you’ve been lucky enough to have had the freedom of staying home to raise children for five or six years.Many mothers looking for a temporary escape from domesticity and a way to contribute to the family income realize they still want the freedom to be home when their children need them. If this sounds like you, the perfect solution is to start a home-based business that will be profitable while allowing you the flexibility to set your own hours.If you spend your evenings curled up with HGTV and have friends and family members always coming to you for decorating advice, Home Staging is the ideal career for you.A home staging or ‘house fluffing’ business can be based from your home, and you can set your appointments around your family’s busy schedule. You don’t need any special certifications or a background in interior design to be a home stager. If you have a natural talent for arranging a room, you can stage homes to sell quickly and for top dollar.The Staging Diva Training Program will teach you everything you need to know to start and grow your own successful home staging business. As you think about preparing your children for the new school year, think about how great it would feel to do something for yourself this fall. You deserve it.
Career Change – Understanding your Worth and Value
Asimo is a robot made by Honda and currently working for IBM Japan. ASIMO works as a receptionist for IBM. He greets guests and shows them around the building. Asimo’s gets paid $150,000 a year (Yearly lease for ASIMO) Compared to the salary of a human receptionist - $35,000. To perform these duties, ASIMO has to be specially programmed to know the layout of the buildings and the appropriate way to greet visitors and answer questions.
What about You!
I recently saw a documentary about a lady that could not smile because of a birth defect. It cost her $70,000 to surgically have a smile created for her. It's close to the real thing but it's still not the real thing. Knowing the value of a rolex watch, how much would you pay for a fake rolex. Now try smiling. Easy? That's priceless but an artificial one would cost you $70,000.
Try squeezing your hand, pick up your pen, throw your pen a varied speeds, pick your ear, play with your hand, do what you wish. Asimo couldn't even do a tenth of what you are doing, yet it is paid a salary of $150,000 dollars. Asimo is a fake version of you. No where near the real thing.
You are priceless and Asimo is worthless compared to what you can do.
Yet it gets paid more than most!
Why?
People will only see you as you see yourself! My father always told me; "If you sell yourself cheap during the day, don't expect to increase the price at night, for you will not find a buyer" You are fearfully & wonderfully made, you probably have been nurtured and cared for by loving parents who in their own rights are priceless. You don't have to be programmed to know the layout of a building, greet visitors and answer questions. You are not made by man but uniquely created and fashioned to invent, innovate, discover, adapt and rule.
Dr, Micheal Denton clearly states – the cosmos (universe) is specially designed whole with life and mankind as its fundamental goal and purpose. Cosmos - The universe regarded as an orderly, harmonious whole. In simple words, The world has been created specifically for you!
Trees have a purpose, gold has a purpose, water has a purpose, salt has a purpose, even micro-organisms have a purpose. What more of you? You are the most intelligent being of all creation - One that wills thoughts to action, one with feelings, emotions, a soul and a mind to invent, learn, discover, communicate, build and rule.
The more physicist, biologists and scientist learn about the universe the more they realise it has been created custom made for human existence. For you are made with love in mind - Psalmist
If the world has been built with you in mind, why settle for anything less. Asimo is a product of your your neighbours invention and how much is it worth?
The question I need to ask you is this:
How do you see yourself?
The most valuable things in life are not things but people. You and I.
Celebrate and value yourself daily and everyone else will treat you the same way.
www.careerinsights.tv
How To Get Your Career Change In Motion
Know Your Uniqueness
Find out what is unique in you that makes you stand out and makes you the right choice for the job advertised.
The first thing you need to have is an outstanding resume, one that will guarantee you an interview. Every organization wants only the best employees, and you need to prove that you qualify.
Some basic preparation to determine your uniqueness is in order.
1. Recognize your strengths. You need to review what you have already done as well as your competence and aptitude level. Your past appraisal reports, verbal or written, will help you with this.
2. Identify your skills. The skills and experience you have acquired over the years will help you handle your new job. You have technical skills as well as software skills that you carry with you wherever you go. Stress these strengths. For example, your communication, management and interpersonal skills might be your forte.
3. Highlight your personality. You also have certain personal traits that make you unique. You have a record of meeting deadlines. You have initiative and a great attitude. Being positive will carry you a long way.
4. Follow up your list of strengths with examples to support them. This is most important if your interviewer is to believe that you are not claiming strengths you may not actually have. This will help you stand out.
Locating the Job of Your Choice
Geographical limitations should not stop you from applying for a job that you are suited for.
Read every advertisement carefully, noting what each company is looking for. Then make your notes in two columns, one with the heading "What the organization is looking for" and the other "What I have to offer." This exercise will help you see the closest matches.
It will help you identify your skills and strengths and how you might apply them. Spell them out in as many words as the advertisement calls for. This will make your resume stronger. You should also use this information in an interview situation.
Facing Your Interviewers
Remember to research the organization before the interview. This will demonstrate your interest in the company and also help you frame questions to them.
Wearing the appropriate clothing is important for any interview, so it is best to find out ahead of time what that is. In general, attire for an interview is formal; but if your research tells you that the organization is informal, dressing more casually might be a better choice.
Women candidates are faced with more choices. A good policy is to wear nothing very dramatic and keep it conservative. It's better to avoid fragrances the day of the interview.
Always remember: first impressions are often the last impressions, so make the best of that interview call. You may not get a second chance.
How to Write a Career Change Resume
Congratulations! You've made the difficult yet rewarding decision to change careers. The good news? You're in for an exciting adventure as you blaze a trail down a career path that perhaps you've always wanted to explore. The bad news? First you've got to get someone to hire you into this new field.
A traditional resume-most likely the resume that you have now-isn't the best tool to maximize your talent and experience. If you're transitioning to a closely related field-a hospital nurse to a private nurse, for example-a combination resume format serves you well. It's like a chronological resume, except that you begin with a summary that outlines your qualifications and certifications, proving that you're a great candidate for this new role.
If you're making a larger leap between careers, a functional resume is the right choice because it highlights your skills while downplaying your work history (which undoubtedly has little, if anything, to do with your new career). Since this is the hardest transition to make, we'll focus on putting together a functional resume.
A couple of tips before you get started on your resume:
Do your homework. If you've made a life-altering decision about pursuing this new career, it's probably safe to assume that you're familiar with what the job entails on a day-to-day basis. But that doesn't necessarily mean you know what employers are looking for in potential employees. You may think you're perfect for a marketing or PR position because you're a great writer, but did you know what many employers are looking for marketing staff with sales ability? You can get some information from the Internet, but a better solution is to meet with an employer within your desired industry to pick her brain about what specifically she looks for in a candidate.
Think like an employer. If your resume can't demonstrate years of direct experience within this field, what would show an employer that you've got what it takes to make it in this new profession? Think through all of your potential transferable skills. Did a volunteer project incorporate a related skill? Does your hobby use a transferable skill?
Crafting a new resume from scratch can be daunting-especially if you're unfamiliar with a functional format. But the tips below will take you through the creation of your new resume step by step.
Step 1: Begin with a clearly-stated Objective. This is important on most resumes, but it's absolutely crucial in a transitional resume. You must tell the hiring manager exactly which position you desire because she probably won't be able to determine that you're applying for a graphic design job if all she sees is teaching-related skills. Example: "Graphic design job where 10 years of demonstrable creativity, adaptability, and communication skills will ensure that clients are fully satisfied with their design projects."
Step 2: Include a Profile. This is where your knowledge of what an employer in this field is looking for begins to come in handy. In this section, you'll list who you are in a nutshell-as it relates to your intended position, of course. Example: "Creative, self-motivated professional who can adapt to any situation with ease. Talent for conquering new technology and software application, while retaining creative flair. Trained in cross-cultural communication and fluent in two foreign languages."
Step 3: Make a Skills Summary. In this section, simply list all of your skills-column format is easiest to read. Include technology, languages, and hard and soft skills. List everything from "project management" to "Dreamweaver" to "French fluency."
Step 4: Create functional categories. Depending on your experience and the job for which you're applying, your functional categories could be "Sales Experience," "Organizational Experience," and "Customer Service." Under "Organizational Experience," for example, list all of your organizational-related achievements throughout your career. Example: "Created new system that tracked a 68-employee firm's compliance with new federal regulations." This is the most difficult aspect of a functional resume for many people because it can be hard to identify skills, rather than just job descriptions. Sometimes an outside source-a spouse, friend, or family member-can help you brainstorm ideas.
Step 5: End with a brief employment history. You've already plucked all useful skills and experience from your work history and distilled them into your functional category sections. So all you need to list here is the company name, address, your job title, and the dates of your employment. Don't elaborate on your job descriptions.
It's a little time-consuming, but writing an effective functional resume is the first step toward the career that you've been dreaming of.
Professional Compass: a Career Change Guide
When you have decided to change your career path, it is difficult to assess whether or not you need to just make a job change or consider a new career direction. You might ask “What if I try other career, will my life change for the better or for worse?”
To help you with your decision try the following systematic procedure before you maneuver the steering wheel to a new career destination.1. Assess yourselfAt your first crossroads along the path to a better career, figure out where you are now. Start by identifying what elements make you miserable at work today such as your present role, the overall industry you work in, your location, the hours required, the skills you use and the skills you are not using.
It will help you quantify and evaluate your reactions to work and identify what elements are most decisive to you-- be it supportive colleagues, salary, or a lively company culture.This assessment will provide you with solid and real-life information to inform your next move.2. Figure out what working atmosphere you can work best
The next vital point on your journey determines how you like to work and who you want to work with. Are you happiest working in teams, or alone? Do you enjoy motivating others? Or perfecting the details?3. Clarify work optionsIdentify the benefits that you get from your present job versus the benefits you might get from the career you want to pursue. Do the companies give importance to the professional growth of their employees? Do they offer seminars and group dynamics? Do they give bonuses and other perks to their employees?
Answering these questions will help you decide if you would actively pursue your desired career or stay with your job.4. Evaluate your transferable job skills
What do you use in your current position that you could use in another role (writing skills? management experience?
Find a way to use transferable skills in a new position. Consider the following:
A. An investment banker who likes research might enter a more research-oriented role in their current company.B. Web designer who loves literature might design book covers for a publisher. Whether you decide to stay put in your job, make a lateral move, or make a radical change, you’ve taken steps to better understand yourself and your hopes for work. No matter what path you choose, clarifying your needs and interests will get you moving toward the peak of your potential.