|
 Most
of us just fall into a career, without much
thought or planning. Usually this is a decision
we make when we are 18 to 20 years old, before
we really understand what work is all about.
Mostly, it is about spending a lot of time doing
something. It's like being married. You are
probably more married to your work than your
spouse, at least as far as how much time you
spend there. You also tend to get married to
your work because the easiest job for you to get
is one very similar to the ones you have had.
One job leads to another similar one and all of
a sudden, it is ten years later and you wonder
how you got there.
Okay, but what
if you don't know what you want?
Don't feel bad.
You are definitely not alone. Most of my career
coaching clients felt the same way. They felt
embarrassed and stuck. Through career testing
and coaching, they were able to clarify what
they want. This is mainly a matter of looking at
yourself objectively, which is not easy, then
taking a broad look at what is out there in the
marketplace and putting the square peg in the
square hole. For more information about how to
do this, see career planning.
I'd like to
change, but I don't want to start at the bottom!
My experience is
that most people can increase their career
satisfaction without major retraining, taking a
big cut in pay or starting over. The reason for
this is that you probably have many
"general transferable skills". These
have to do with knowing how to get things done
in the real world. How do you acquire these
skills? Not in school, for sure. You learn them
in the school of hard knocks, through years of
experience. These general transferable skills
account for most of what it takes to do any job.
The specific skills for any job can be learned fairly
quickly in most jobs, usually by reading or
taking some courses. Since you already have most of
the skills to do any job, why start at the
bottom?
Yes, but in
the want ads they list educational and
experience requirements.
True, but if you
know how to market yourself effectively, this
may not be as big an obstacle as you imagine.
First, you can "package" yourself to
highlight your transferable skills rather than
just your job history. Let's say a teacher
wanted to get into sales. Instead of saying
"teacher", talk about skills you have
demonstrated, like communication, persuasion,
planning, organizing and being self-directed.
This will help the employer see the relevance of
your background. You can also incorporate these
in your resume. Secondly, you can present your
message to the right person, which is not the
human resources interviewer, but the manager or
supervisor. This can be accomplished through
networking and "advice interviews".
What if there
is a licensing requirement for the job?
Well then you
will obviously need to jump through the right
hoops. However, if you are confident that this
new career would work better for you, it might
be worth it. Any expense you have in making a
change will be amortized or spread out over the
rest of your life. Most people make more money,
have more job security and actually live longer
doing something they love that really fits them.
Job satisfaction is a big part of life
satisfaction and of emotional well being.
What is the
secret of career planning?
Going back to the
marriage analogy, would it make sense to marry a
rich person you don't love? Maybe for some
people, but it probably gets old fast. Most of
us are like that with our work, just doing it
for the money. The best work is something you
would do anyway, even if you didn't have to
work. The secret of career planning is to tune
in to what you love, what turns you on, what you
could be passionately involved with in your life
if money were no object. Then you try to find
way of making money doing the things you love.
The neat thing is that there are so many ways of
making a living now that most of us can find
meaningful work. This actually makes practical
sense, because you will be more enthused and
motivated doing something you love. As
Confucious said, "If you find a job you
love, you will never work a day in your
life"!
To learn more, click here on
CAREER PLANNING. |
