Career Planning

Thinking Career Change?

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Deciding to change careers is a big decision.  It doesn’t just happen; it takes work and focus in 4 areas: Future Orientation, Research, Mindset, and Putting Yourself Out There. Whether you are focused on a federal or private sector career change, here are some specific actions to take to help you make that change you’ve been dreaming about.

Future Orientation

  • Start thinking about the future by examining the past. Reflect on your career journey to date — how you got to where you are today. How did you choose your current career?
  • Spend 15 minutes brainstorming what you want your ideal next job to be like in your new career fields.
  • Take a career assessment test (skills test) to identify opportunities for a future career. Free assessments include the O*Net Interest Profiler (https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip) or the CareerOneStop Skills Matcher (https://www.careeronestop.org/toolkit/Skills/skills-matcher.aspx).
  • Make a list of what you like — and don’t like — about your current job. What do you want to be different in your next career?
  • Take a sheet of paper. On one half, write a list of the skills you already possess. On the other half, make a list of the skills required in your new industry.

Research

  • Conduct an inventory. What skills, education, and experience do you have to offer (not just from your current job, but also consider volunteer work, hobbies, previous roles, etc.)?
  • Explore your transferable skills and experience using a tool like the CareerOneStop mySkills myFuture tool: https://www.myskillsmyfuture.org.
  • Spend 15 minutes researching a target profession. Use an online tool like the CareerOneStop Occupation Profile: https://www.careeronestop.org/Toolkit/Careers/Occupations/occupation-profile.aspx
  • Make a list of 10 job titles you’d consider in a career change.
  • Make a list of 10 target employers you’d be interested in working for in your next career.
  • Spend 15 minutes researching the salary and benefit averages for your desired career.
  • Write down the names of 10 people who might be helpful in making your career change.

Mindset

  • Take out a piece of paper (or open a document on your computer) and spend 5-10 minutes answering these questions: Why do you want to make a change? What do you want to be different in your next career?
  • Write out a statement — a mission statement — that you can use to guide your career change. It should outline what you want your career to look like and how you will achieve your goal.

Putting Yourself Out There

  • Register for a class, training, or degree that will move you towards your next career.
  • Make an appointment with a career counselor to provide an objective point of view on your career change planning.
  • Set up an informational interview. Arrange a meeting/call to talk to someone who does the job you want to do.
  • Ask one of your contacts if you can “shadow” them at their job to see what a “day in the life” is like in that career.
  • Re-target your resume to highlight your transferable skills, training and education, and experience towards your new career target.

None (or even all) of the above ideas will guarantee you a successful career change but they will help you get on the road to success!

Bitesize Ways to Move Your Job Search Forward

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You may have heard that looking for a new job IS a fulltime job. While I do not disagree; looking for a new job requires focus and time; there are a number of things that you can do to move your search forward.

If you’re willing to spend 5-10 minutes of your time, here are some small steps you can take to forward your job search—each of these can be accomplished in less than 10 minutes:

  • Add a recent achievement to your resume.
  • Reach out to a former colleague on LinkedIn and connect. Be sure to send a personal note with your connection request.
  • Comment or “like” a LinkedIn post—or two.
  • Identify 3 organizations you want to work for; connect on LinkedIn and / or Facebook.
  • Make a copy of your last 3 performance evaluations (so you can “mine” them later for additional accomplishments).
  • Check out free sources of information to further your job search.
  • Identify a potential mentor and reach out to them.
  • Pinpoint 1 professional skill or knowledge that you could improve; find a way to close your gap.
  • Write down 1 thing you want to accomplish professionally in the next 12 months; share that with a colleague or family member to hold yourself accountable.
  • Spend 10 minutes searching for potential jobs online. Be sure to time yourself; it’s easy to go overboard!
  • Find a career expert you like on LinkedIn; follow them.
  • Look at YouTube for a short video on an aspect of job search (interview skills, elevator pitch, preparing accomplishments, etc.)
  • Add 2 numbers to your current resume to provide better context to your work. Think about your budget, the size of your team, the number of transactions you prepare monthly, etc.; anything that you can quantify will work!

While doing any one thing will not likely result in a new job, tackling your job search in bitesize pieces will help you make progress! It’s like the old saying, “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

Is Your Boss Hurting Your Career?

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Not all bosses are perfect—in fact, most aren’t. Some bosses aren’t interested in helping your career and some are just poor managers. Nonetheless, you can still have a successful career. Here are some ideas to help you succeed:

  • Make sure your performance is exemplary. Deliver high quality work products on time. Be confident (but not arrogant) in your abilities. This will help give your boss less to complain about and minimizes your opportunity to be seen as an easy target.
  • Have a conversation with your boss. Pick your time carefully and be prepared. Focus on what you need rather than what’s wrong with your boss.
  • Recognize that it’s not always about you. Your supervisor’s unpleasantness, disinterest, whatever, may have nothing to do with you—try to not take it personally.
  • Identify what you can learn from your boss. Everyone can you teach you something. Figure out what you boss has to offer and learn it—and forget about the rest (easier said than done, of course!) You can learn something, even from a bad boss.
  • Find a mentor. A mentor can provide perspective, act as a sounding board, and perhaps broaden opportunities for other experiences.
  • Try to be become an ally. Ask your boss what she needs from you to succeed. Listen carefully and deliver it.
  • See if there are other opportunities in your organization. Look for temporary assignments, details, or sideways movements within your organization. That will give you an opportunity to meet new people and expand your skills.
  • Keep you own counsel. While it is tempting to share your experiences with colleagues, be careful. Secrets are rarely kept and what is shared may not be what you said. And if it gets back to your boss (which it likely will), things are not likely to improve for you.
  • Determine if there are viable options for assistance internally. Many organizations have a Human Resources office, an Equal Employment Opportunity office, or conflict resolution resources. These options should not generally be your first resort but of course, there are situations that demand immediate third party intervention but in most cases, you should try to solve the problem yourself or at least peacefully coexist with your boss if possible.
  • Decide whether it’s time to leave. If you decide that the situation is irreparable, make a plan for a transition. Do not quit in a huff; if it all possible, begin a structured job search.

There is no perfect solution to a bad boss but having one doesn’t have to ruin your career. If you do need to leave your job, do not bad mouth your boss on the way out. Be sure to do your due diligence about future organizations and bosses during your search. You don’t want to end up in another untenable situation.

10 Steps to a Successful Job Search

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Looking for a new job? If so, there are a number of things you should do before you submit your resume.

  1. Conduct informational interviews to learn about different jobs and organizations, and figure out what you want to do.
  2. Research organizations to identify those in your sweet spot—learn about their culture, mission, and values.
  3. Write a job search plan to hold yourself accountable; write down where you want to apply, how many applications you want to send out each day / week, how many people you will contact in your network each week, the time you will commit to networking each day, the resources you will use to help you prepare your career documents, etc.
  4. Once you have identified where you want to work and what you want to do, list your contacts so you can reach out to your network. Not sure you have the right contacts? There is where LinkedIn can help you see who you know who might be able to assist you.
  5. Draft your resume toward your target job(s). Make sure that your resume is appropriate for your career field, includes key words, focuses on the past 10 years, uses numbers to provide context to your work, accomplishments to demonstrate the value you have contributed to your employers, and a strong qualifications summary.
  6. Use your network to apply for positions you hear about, tweaking your resume each time to ensure it fits the specific announcement. If you can identify the hiring manager and find him/her on LinkedIn, read and respond to their posts. It’s OK to apply through job boards but do not make job boards your sole strategy.
  7. While you are waiting for responses, practice your interview skills.
  8. Follow up if you haven’t heard about your applications after 2-3 weeks.
  9. Don’t get discouraged. Job search takes time and in the current environment where many employers are still teleworking and the volume of applicants is high, it may take longer than usual to make the transition you want.
  10. Engage in self-care throughout the process. Job search is high stress. Don’t forget to do all of the things that you know you should: eat right, exercise, take breaks, engage with family and friends—and take time for yourself!

LinkedIn by the Numbers

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As you know by now, LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool. I look at LinkedIn profiles every day and see that many users do not take full advantage of their profile. Character counts are changing regularly; here are some current character counts—check out your profile and make sure you’re taking advantage!

  • First name: 20 characters. If you have a formal name but use a nickname, this can be helpful. For example, Robert (Bob). This is 12 characters and allows people to search for you by either your formal or nickname.
  • Last name: 40 characters. BONUS: If you name is difficult to pronounce, LinkedIn has a feature where you can record your name; this is a great tool to use!
  • Headline: 210 characters. If you don’t create a headline, LinkedIn automatically uses your job title. Consider using a customized headline so you can include words that are specific to your industry. This is a search feature that recruiters use.
  • Customized URL: 30 characters. LinkedIn allows you to customize your URL; a customized URL allows you to remove the random numbers that LinkedIn assigns. A customized URL can be used on your resume.
  • About: 2,600 characters. This is a great opportunity to get personal and tell something about yourself; who are you? What do you bring to the table? What is your story? Using first person is acceptable, as is highlighting your achievements and the things that are important to you. This section can also be searched by recruiters so be sure to include key words from your industry.
  • Company name: 100 characters
  • Location / Industry: this is a predetermined list prepared by LinkedIn. Don’t forget to include your industry and location. As of this writing, LinkedIn as identified 148 industries ranging from law enforcement to shipbuilding to retail to farming to computers and everything in between. These too, are searchable by recruiters.
  • Job Title (100) / Job Description (2,000) each. Don’t forget to populate these sections.

LinkedIn offers lots of other section too including Education, Field of Study, Volunteer, Skills, Projects, Publications, Certifications, Languages, Awards, Courses, and Patents. Take a good hard look at your Profile and see what you can do to attract more views and connections!

What is a Career Portfolio & Why Should I Care?

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Have you thought about creating a career portfolio to highlight your accomplishments? While portfolios are expected in certain creative professions, jobseekers in the more traditional fields could also benefit from preparing one to display in an interview.

A portfolio or presentation binder illustrates your professional achievements. When beginning your portfolio, review your resume, your performance evaluations, and awards to identify and substantiate your qualifications. Start collecting this information and try to show off your accomplishments with images—for example, photos of your awards, your team or you in action, copies of letters of recommendations, events you’ve organized, etc. Choose only the best achievements and visuals and carefully cultivate items that provide concrete evidence of those skills.

Once you’ve gathered this information, then what? Find an attractive binder or portfolio to hold everything. With your binder in hand:

  • Create a logical order and structure—start with your most recent accomplishments and work backwards chronologically
  • If you have more than 20 pages, include a table of contents and list the included documents.
  • Depending on the breadth of your content, consider creating sections using divider tabs
  • Use clear sheet protectors and make sure all printed photos and documents are the highest quality of color.
  • Always use copies, never original documents.
  • Consider tailoring your portfolio for a specific job/position (leave pages out if specific positions do not require certain skills).

How can you use your portfolio?

  • Consider including it (or portions of it) on your LinkedIn Profile.
  • Review it to prepare for interviews. Studying your portfolio is a good way to refresh your memory about your achievements.
  • Bring it with you to your interviews. At the beginning of the interview, let the interviewer know you’ve prepared a “portfolio” that illustrates your qualifications and accomplishments.
  • Do not leave the portfolio unless you are asked to do so.

Building your portfolio from scratch will take some time, but you can start small and improve it as you go along. Don’t forget to keep it updated and when an opportunity presents itself, you’ll be ready to share!