Sharing Good Practice
Here is what to consider first
when changing careers
By Dr. Jan L. Jones
M
aking a career change,
especially from teaching,
can
be
overwhelming
and absolutely scary! It is
incredibly hard to change direction
when you have spent a considerable
amount of time, dedication, and money
preparing for a career. Despite this,
don’t be scared to follow your heart.
Just be practical and prepared as you
explore new opportunities. Below are
a few very basic but essential tips that
you should keep in mind if you are
considering taking the plunge.
Networking
Networking is not about attending
events to see how many business
cards you can collect or having
hundreds of friends on social media
sites that you never really interact with.
It is about nurturing true friendships
and connections that are mutually
beneficial. You may be surprised by just
how big your network can grow if you
spend the time working on it. When
making a career change, it is important
to seek out friends in your network
who can connect you to people in the
industries that you are considering.
Cultivate new relationships and set up
informational interviews to gather a
personal perspective about their jobs.
Transferable skills
Look at job announcements to see
what skills you will need to make the
change. If you don’t have these skills,
you must get them but before you start
spending money on training, think
about the skills that you do have and
how they might already closely relate
to those required. For example, in my
case, tourism professionals all want to
know if I have sales experience. My
immediate answer was “NO” until I had
a great conversation with a friend, who
reminded me that most of what I had
been doing as Program Coordinator
and Recruiter was absolutely selling!
Educators do not like to think of it in
that way but the reality is that if I am
passionate about something, I can
absolutely sell it!
Learn the lingo
On my own journey to pursue options
outside of academia, I met with
several Human Resource Directors in
the Hotel Industry. I developed what
I thought was a resume for them to
take a look at. I was so appreciative
of their honesty. They told me that
they didn’t understand half of what
was in my resume and that it needed
to be shorter. Take the time to look
at job announcements and begin
using that lingo to describe your skills.
Editing out pages of your academic
curriculum vitae to create a resume (no
longer than 2 pages) takes time. It can
be very hard but keep working on it
and continue to seek feedback. Also,
don’t forget to go through the same
process on your work related social
media sites.
Stay true to your heart
Probably the best advice I received this
past year was to “Get out of your head
and into your heart”. I absolutely love
this quote and refer to it all of the time.
Make a list of what you are passionate
about and set goals for yourself. Don’t
be surprised if during this journey,
you realize that you don’t in fact want
to leave teaching, but simply need
to adjust where, what or how you are
teaching.
Best of luck on your journey.
Class Time
|
|
May - Jun 2016
| 11