PART 1 - INTRODUCTION
Background to career changes
- why it's happening more and more (more women returning to workforce after maternity leave, dissatisfaction, buoyant job market creating opportunity)
- why it's a good time to think about changing (transferable skills are acknowledged career currency, not unusual anymore, more flexible working conditions, fewer jobs require degrees/specific qualifications for entry, more of a `can-do' attitude)
- a career is no longer about a series of jobs, it's about getting satisfied emotionally and financially and is likely to involve periods on self-employment, moonlighting, lateral moves and voluntary downsizing. You will still be likely to be PAYE for a large part of your career and this book will help you find the jobs that best serve your career ambitions
PROFILE Hilary, 44, teacher to charity fundraiser
Reasons why people look for another career
- they never really gave it much thought at school and have drifted
- they need to earn more money
- they don't feel fulfilled
- their sector is shrinking
- their skills are being devalued by technology
- their bored/jealous/restless
PROFILE Geri, 32, housing officer to web designer
So why don't more people do it?
- loss of status
- fear
- possible drop in earnings
- mostly it's because they don't know how to do it
PROFILE Steve, 27, electrician to journalist
PART 2 - THE SEVEN STEPS TO CHANGING YOUR CAREER
STEP 1
Deciding what you want work to do for you
- work out what you're working for - is it money, status, power, a sense of purpose
- make sure your work dovetails with your ambitions for your life, not just your career (there's no point craving a career in city finance if you don't want to work 18 hour days)
- this starts with visualisation, registering your priorities, reconnecting with your dreams
- work out what you like about work (money? Camaraderie? Etc) and what you don't (being pushed around? Commuting? Etc)
- CHART fill in your ambitions for every sector of your life - leisure, family, money, home, work, status. This helps you identify two things: what your personal priorities are and how much time you can devote to earning money
PROFILE Paul, 35, accountant to carpenter
STEP 2
Working out what you want to do
- most people know what sector they want to move into, but some don't, or they can't choose between several enticing sectors. For others, the next chapter on qualifications will have greater influence on their choice. This chapter will help those who are undecided
- using a series of prompts and tests (childhood dreams, analysing your leisure choices etc), this chapter helps you whittle down the sectors you want to work in, the kind of positions you want to hold, and the type of work that most motivates you
- this is important: if you look for work in a field that you love you will look twice as hard and quadruple your chances of success
- start to look at the recruitment ads for that sector, or read relevant press to start building up a picture of the skills and qualifications required. This will be returned to shortly
PROFILE Fiona, 40, librarian to teacher
STEP 3
Working out what you're qualified to do
- while the CV may not be the self-publicity tool it used to be, we're going to use it here as the base of a series of exercises.
- Start by writing out the most extensive version of your CV you've ever written. This is not to be sent out, but just for your reference. Include everything from how you got the job to how interacted with your colleagues, your successes, your shortcomings. Include work experience, leisure activities, education. Forget job titles - this isn't about what you did but rather how you did it
- Now rewrite your CV to bring to the fore a) your people skills b) your sales skills c) your management skills (a list will be provided). This will make you realise just how diverse your talents are, how easy it is to present yourself to an employer in several lights and will help you identify skills you've acquired without noticing.
- In a separate exercise, gather together several newspaper recruitment sections and see just how close you come to filling the general criteria for different positions in different sectors. The aim is to realise that 70% of skills are repeated across sectors enabling you to switch if you carefully acquire the necessary specialist knowledge/contacts/etc
- Go back to basics and see where people with your degree/qualifications have ended up, or where colleagues in your field have moved to. This will give you an idea of the sectors that can most easily open up to you
- Returning to the recruitment ads, what qualifications/skills/knowledge/contacts are missing from your CV that could transform your job hunting?
PROFILE Harry, 27, corporate finance to recruitment
STEP 4
Get to know yourself
- working on the assumption that you will be able to sell your services better the more convinced you are of what you're selling, you need to get to know yourself very well.
- This chapter contains a number of aptitude and character tests that will establish either your leadership qualities, your perfectionist tendencies or your unstable genius (ie are you a Completer Finisher or a Plant)
- There's no point having dreams of running a team of fifty if you are unable to lead, motivate or manage. So this is important
- Use this information, knowledge you've gleaned from recruitment ads and your CV to analyse what's missing in your professional arsenal. Working out what skills are missing, what knowledge you need to acquire etc and then find out how long it will take you to get that certificate/ make the necessary contacts etc
PROFILE
STEP 5
Get to know your destination
- Once you have established that you want to move into a certain profession in a certain you need to start researching those areas
- Tips for gathering information, making contacts in the right field, spotting opportunity
- Establishing likely entry points, starting salaries, career paths, companies' hiring procedure
- Understanding what you best offer your target sector, profession and companies
PROFILE
STEP 6
Map making
- working out a route from here to there
- essentially this is writing a personal business plan with timings, deadlines, milestones, ambitions.
- It should be realistic, deliverable and inspire you to attain your goals and make you realise that career changes don't often happen quickly. Small successes and smart decisions are built on over time to produce results
- This will help you incorporate paying for retraining (if necessary) into your game plan, coping with a drop in pay etc and enable you to make the leap with greater confidence: it's much easier to set off on a journey with a map
PROFILE
STEP 7
Getting that job
- recognising that career changers don't often do well with traditional recruitment departments and agencies
- making personal introductions, getting yourself noticed, using information from the trade press to spot opportunities
- persuading employers to create a position for you
- preparing for an interview so you can enter into a 50:50 agreement with an employer
PROFILE
PART THREE - THE CAREER CHANGERS Dferent role for yourself where you are)
2 Getting a trade - training, apprenticeships etc
3 Working for the government (teaching, nursing, etc)
4 Careers where unusual experience is valued appropriately (voluntary sector, teaching etc)
5 Predicting the future - working out what skills will be required in the future and training now for the next technological advance
PART FOUR - SECTOR BY SECTOR ANALYSIS
Charts on entry points, salaries, number of openings v applicants, necessary qualifications, various recruitment statistics etc for 40* professions
* Number and nature of professions subject to consultation, negotiation and size of advance!
