Welcome to Career Coaching Ideas and Guide
Free Career Coaching Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
You may also listen to this article by using the following controls.
Career Change: Plan in advance for a successful career change!
from: John GrothCareer Change tips
Are you thinking of changing careers? Do you skills in one professional area complement the skill requirements in another more desirable area? If so you may have the starting foundation toward building another career.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average worker will change careers an average of five times in their lifetime. But after years of professional experience and skills developed in one area, how do you package your skills to impress an employer in another career? Your resume is an extension and reflection of you and should illustrate everything you can offer an employer.
Here are some ideas to assist you in thinking through the problem and then reworking your resume to highlight your skills and qualifications:
Prepare for change: What sort of preparation have you done to qualify for the career you want? It can range from self-study, additional formal education, volunteer work, part-time work and everything in between. Your new employer could care less of what you want to do-rather they want to know if you have the skill sets to do what they need you to do.
2. Focus on the required skills: Many professionals get hung up on their job titles instead of focusing on the skills they’ve learned and acquired on their jobs. Many job skills are easily transferable across industries and careers.
Think more about the skills you've used to manage successful projects, develop successful campaigns, supervise staff or develop and manage a budget.
3. Don’t neglect research in your desired field: If you are not fully committed to a career transition, hiring managers many times can detect when an applicant is simply trying to escape a problem in their current job or career. The more you research the new career, and this includes interviewing those currently working in the career, the more focused you can make your resume. Further, this depth of knowledge will clearly come through in the interview.
Once you’ve identified you natural talents and abilities, combined with your research, the ideal career should be clearly revealed.
4. Don’t forget your unpaid career related experience: Volunteer work, particularly activity connected to your planned career field, will count as valuable experience. This related activity should be part of your preparation in making the change in careers. It’s also a valuable source of networking contacts.
5. Look for valuable assistance: Nothing will help more in identifying you strengths and interests than by teaming up with a career counselor or career coach. They can tell you which skills you should learn and which you should highlight on your resume. They can point out which careers match your current and projected skills.
6. Be truthful with yourself and what you are presenting: There is the story making the recruiting rounds about the applicant for a pilot’s position and their listed qualifications being that they lived at the end of the runway at a busy airport and watched a “lot” of planes land and takeoff. This may be accurate but it doesn’t pass the basic qualification test.
Present accurate information in your resume, don’t stretch the truth and be realistic about your career goals.
By combining your research into the new career field, carefully developing a plan to acquire the necessary skills and qualifications (at least for the entry level position) you’ll be well on your way to successfully change careers.
Free Career Coaching News
Paterno earned $13.4 million pension in 61-year Penn St. career; family to donate $1.5 million
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Joe Paterno earned a state pension of $13.4 million for his 61-year coaching career at Penn State.
Read more...Jerry Sloan interested in Orlando Magic coaching job
Jerry Sloan walked away from coaching, but he didn't retire. And he's interested in the Magic job.
Read more...CoachingWebsites Presents Free Webinar: The 4 Biggest Marketing Mistakes That are Costing you Money
Professional Life, Executive and Career Coaches can learn to expand their practice through this free Webinar, presented by CoachingWebsitesBoulder, CO (PRWEB) May 21, 2012 CoachingWebsites (http://www.CoachingWebsites.com) is offering a free webinar, “The 4 Biggest Marketing Secrets That can Make - or Break - your Practice” designed specifically for Career, Executive and Executive Coaches. The ...
Read more...Rockies' Moyer can't stop free fall
MIAMI -- Giancarlo Stanton hit a grand slam off Jamie Moyer in a five-run fourth inning, Mark Buehrle was dominant after a shaky first and the Miami Marlins stayed hot by beating the Colorado Rockies 7-4 on Monday night.
Read more...Each NFL team’s most promising undrafted free agent
As soon as the NFL Draft ends, teams make a beeline to the phones in an effort to scoop up undrafted free agents — one more avenue coaching staffs go down to find talent.
Read more...Breaking down the Capitals’ unrestricted free agents
General Manager George McPhee has many decisions to make this summer about how the Capitals’ roster will look in 2012-13, from deciding which new faces to bring in and which familiar ones to keep in the fold. Read full article >>
Read more...