Changing Careers In This Economy

[Sweetpea76]

Since this came up in another thread, on the advice of @BigBear I'm starting a new thread in chit-chat as to not clog up the works. :)

Does anybody have any advice to offer somebody who is switching careers in this nightmare of an economy?

 

[BigBear]

Lets do some basics, like how many years of experience do you have at what? No names needed, just generalities. What is the longest that you have been at one company? And how long at the current one? Do you have people that will give you professional references? Any of them managers? I know that you already said, but put your baiscs for your education here, so that who ever gets involved will know.

Oh yeah, where in the world (roughly) do you live? How far will you move to get the right job?

These are the basics that I would want to know to get started.

As a first suggestion, are you on linkedin.com? It's a professional connectivity site. Think of it as a very structured FB for professionals.

Bear

 

[franciemarnie]

I would say follow your bliss. Actually Joseph Campbell said it and I'm repeating it.

I know it's a bad economy, but if you can, find a way to do what you love even if the money isn't there right now. Someday it will be.

And as always, one day at a time.

 

[Britt.f7]

Just don't leave a job without a secured one. That would be my advice. I think changing careers can be done and should be done if it is for your well being.

 

[DMerish]

Look at your skills, interests and talents - can any of them transfer into a career related to the field of medicine?

Following one's bliss - depends on one's current resources and ability to discipline themselves. My eldest son has done that twice, both times quite successfully. But I know a few people who followed their bliss without first evaluating the feasibility of becoming "successful" and the outcome wasn't what they wished.

 

[franciemarnie]

I made next to no money working in bookstores until I was 31. I loved it though.

Then I thought I should make more money doing something else. I made a lot in the design field working for several companies for 25 years. Even though I was good at my job, I missed the bookstores and felt I was wasting my life. I still see it as a waste other than that it allowed me to pay bigger bills and do something I was proficient at. There was some satisfaction in that but my heart wasn't in it.

So think about what would make you happy. Some people need a lot of money to be happy and feel secure. I didn't. I wished I followed my bliss.

 

[BigBear]

I personally need to be doing something that I am good at and get praise for to be happy. I need to do things for people that I care about.

Bear

 

[The Albatross]

I'm like Big Bear... I take less money but have a flex schedule and do part time for a not for profit and part time elder care. Between the two, I'm pretty content. I found, though it can create some stress at times, I am more peaceful/calm/content in general even though I could be earning more. To remedy this, I am working at simplifying my life. My general mood base point and happiness moments have improved.

 

[Sweetpea76]

I worked in the salon industry for 11 years, and before that I had various jobs including retail management, waiting tables, and factory work. I recently finished a BA in History... the plan was to immediately go to grad school, but life happened and I have to delay that for awhile.

I have excellent references (both professionally and academically), graduated with honors, and was at one company for 9 years. I'm on LinkdIn, as well as several other resume sites. I go to job fairs every 2 to 3 months, and have applied to more than 100 jobs. Unfortunately I live in a part of the US that is very economically depressed, and I cannot move right now because I am a single mom, and my extended family is here to help me with the kids. My main problem is that I have no professional experience in my field of study. I have some experience in an academic setting, such as tutoring, a few published papers, one presentation at a national conference, and editing a History Journal. Right now the only thing I can think to do is volunteer/intern for no pay just to get experience.

I can understand the 'follow your bliss' thing. When I went back to school I picked a major that I loved, knowing that it would not lead to the most excellent pay in the world. I'm in the same boat that a lot of recent college grads are in. We have to compete with people who have been laid off and have loads of experience, but are willing to take lower paying jobs just to get by.

 

[DMerish]

Things are tough out there, and IMHO, higher education has just become big business, errgh!

I work for a large international corporation and I'm a member of the Society for Human Resources which publishes monthly reports materials that more closely reflect actual job forecasts (BOLI's - USA job info is a few years old). Medical services is about the only thing left that has some sustainability unless one has education and background in the energy/natural resources sectors. People will always need medical help (I wish I had stayed with my first career, Nursing : ) and people will always need energy/natural resources. With a History degree (interest) you might want to consider becoming a professional Genealogist, however, and work for yourself.

I had to dumb down my resume to get a job that pays less than 30% of what I used to make. The saving grace is that my job now is 50% less stress.

 

[Sweetpea76]

I do genealogy, and would love to get paid for it. I've been taking some courses to get a certificate in genealogical studies, but that is not going to make me enough money on its own to live on. I also do some freelance writing. I'll have to have 3 or 4 part time jobs like this in order to work strictly in my field. About the only other things I am qualified to do in a professional setting are fact checking and copy editing.

It's a shame that nobody values a classical education anymore. I actually had a recruiter at a job fair asked me, rather rudely, why I would choose to get a history degree. I gave him that standard spiel about how technical degrees teach people "to do" and liberal arts degrees teach people "to think," yadda yadda yadda. He informed me that even if that was true, that we are ultimately useless in the modern workforce and basically unemployable. I told him to f*** off, then asked him if he wanted to hear it in one of the 3 spoken or 2 dead languages that I studied, the etymology of the word f***, the philosophical arguments about the morality of f***ing off, or the history of a number of great men who have f***ed off in the past? Needless to say, I did not get hired that day lol.

 

[Toria]

Could you... do what you get paid to do part time (or just slightly less than full time) and volunteer in your chosen area for a day or half a day each week? I studied something fairly similar to you, came out of uni and worked in a shoe shop for the next five years!!! It was pretty soul destroying but I did manage to find a (very) part time job taking guided tours in a stately home - and that's how I started out. I have to say though, a lot of my career path was more being in the right place at the right time than it ever was pre-planned. I will never forget being turned down for a job that I SO wanted because I was "too educated" !!! I took to my bed for days!!!!

With the genealogy, could you set yourself up online to research people's trees for them, or to offer help? You could maybe start a Blog and see if it takes off.

Best of luck xxxx