Career Searching - What Is the Difference Between Jobs and Careers?

Career searching is the term I apply to actively pursuing a career position rather than looking for a job.

I can't tell you how many times I would interview someone, and when I would ask what they are looking for in a job, they would reply, "I'm not looking for a job. I'm looking for a career."

And while I can appreciate the intentions of an applicant with this response, I need to stop to tell you how wrong this is - to the recruiter with whom you are speaking, but more importantly, how much this will hinder your job search.

Let me explain the difference:

A job is something a company offers you.
A career is something you build in an industry.

There is no such thing as a career position.

To emphasize this point, here is the definition for "career" according to Webster's dictionary:

a person's progress or general course of action through life or through a phase of life, as in some profession or undertaking

I might describe my career thus far as being a "recruiter," but please understand I am not saying that simply because a company hired me to be a recruiter. In order to satisfy having a career, you need to meet three specific qualifications:

You have spent a significant numbers of years learning a particular industry.
You have specialized skills making you valuable in that industry.
You have a proven track record of success in that particular industry.

Examine those qualifications carefully. These qualifications are determined based on one thing - you! You can choose the career path you want to take, but understand that building a career is the sum total of your own efforts. No company can simply award you a career.

I remember interviewing an entry level applicant several years ago who was presently working for McDonald's. When I asked him why he wanted to leave, he explained that McDonald's was just a job - he wanted a career.

While I understand that this example is the essence of reduction to ridiculous, McDonald's is one of the greatest providers of career opportunities worldwide. You can grow from an entry level role into all different directions including Human Resources, Accounting, Operations & Logistics, Marketing, and more... ! In fact, McDonald's will from time-to-time take exceptional candidates and pay internally for additional training to advance their skill sets. In time, they too may advance in their career of choice - and it is the hope of McDonald's that those skill sets will be applied internally.

Again, I emphasize the importance of understanding that a job is something you can get. A career is something you must build. The reason why this is so important is because millions of people are searching Google every month for a "career" - and I'm sorry to say - you will never find one just by looking. Yes, you may find many companies wanting career-minded individuals, or who may offer career advancement opportunities, but at the end of the day you are applying for a job.

That being said, if you wish to begin building a career in a particular industry, you will need to do three things:

Decide in which industry you would like to develop your career.
Look at what different career paths are available in that industry.
Plan to acquire some specialized training in that industry, whether through formal education, apprenticeship, a mentor program, promote-from-within, etc.

For example, let's say you decide that Business is your industry of choice. Next, you look at available career paths and decide that Marketing is where you are the most interested. The next step would be to look at how you can begin to learn more about marketing, whether that be through an internship or going to college.

Now - and only now - are you ready to begin acquiring some experience in this particular industry. Believe me - you are more than likely going to begin in a very entry Sales level role to really understand Marketing from the ground up. And that is okay. It takes time to build a career.

My first experience in interviewing was a completely unpaid internship. And I spent hours a week interviewing, watching other people interviewing, taking notes on interviewing techniques, reviewing resumes, calling references, etc. The more I could get my feet wet and collect experience, I knew the better prepared I would be to grow in my chosen career - and ultimately the more marketable I would become to other employers within that industry.

So the next time you are thinking of cutting to the front of the line by just looking for a career, think again. You need to look for a job first. Jobs are the only things that companies can offer you. But those jobs, in turn, become stepping stones. They are the vehicle to help you build the career you truly desire.

__
Brent Jones lives in Toronto, Canada and spent the majority of his professional career in recruiting and sales. He currently offers job-seekers advice through his blog.

He is also the author of the successful report '7 Fatal Mistakes Made by Most Job Applicants.' It is available for free download by clicking here.

Get To Explore Several Careers With The Help Of Career Clusters

Deciding what career to follow must be the hardest thing for any student. This difficulty is brought about by the lack of information on the available careers. With incomplete information on a career, you cannot be able to make a wise decision. There are a lot of careers available to students and the problem only arises in choosing which one to follow. When choosing a career many factors come into play and for you to make a decision that you will not regret in future, you need to do enough research on the available careers. Traditionally, this was a challenge. Today, this is no longer a big challenge due to the development of career clusters, frameworks that tries to link the education system to the employment environment.

In the beginning, career clusters were prepared by stakeholders in the education and employment industries, but today, some great entrepreneurs have emerged, who are a earning a living by preparing these clusters. The clusters are available in many formats. Some are available in form of DVDs, handbooks, blog posts, while others in form of seminars. All of them serve the same purpose, but via different means. Most of these clusters are highly accessible as you can assess it from the internet. The DVDs and the e-books are downloadable from the internet. Access increases the effectiveness of this important educational material.

A good career cluster should be comprehensive, but easy-to-follow for students as well. A comprehensive career cluster is one that incorporates aspects of the education system and shows how they are related to the career of choice. Good career clusters will also have job readiness skills for students. Job readiness skill means it will give you information of what is expected of you in a particular job that falls in your career of choice. Most of this information is delivered in an easy-to-understand format in simple English that is understandable to people of all levels of education.

Career clusters are not only important to students, but they are also equally important to teachers and the authorities, who prepare the syllabus and curriculum. They need to understand all the careers to be able to prepare curricula that falls within the broad clusters. Once they have understood the clusters and prepared the syllabus, they can now go ahead and advice students on the best careers to follow based on their courses of specialization. These clusters also need to be understood by inspirational and career speakers, who visit students in schools and give them inspirational career talks.

Your career is your life. You need to choose a career you will enjoy forever. You do not want to be tired the rest of your life by doing something that you won't enjoy. For this reason, make sure you get access to the clusters, understand them and choose a career you are good at and one that you will enjoy doing. You can buy the clusters online saving you all the travelling and searching costs that are associated with physical shopping.

If you are serious about achieving a successful career, you should definitely get career clusters. Find out about several easy-to-use career clusters on DVD-ROM and use the guidance for building up a great career.

Reinventing Yourself for Multiple Careers

In many countries around the globe, people are born into their station in life and hence their professions. It is unnecessary for them to plan a career as they are expected to perform one specific job their entire lives. These cultures do not consider personal growth or the possibility of choosing one's profession.

America, on the other hand, was built on self-reinvention, and today's economy demands it. Those born before 1946 are less likely to have changed careers or even worked for more than one employer during their lifetimes.

Today, many employees outlive the lifespan of the companies they work for, and the average worker can now expect to have at least three or more careers, with up to six different positions within each of those careers.

Hardly a week goes by without hearing of corporate takeovers, mergers and corporate downsizing. As a result, thousands of seasoned employees are facing burnout from increased responsibilities or being laid-off and replaced with younger, lower-paid employees. Many are looking for a different means of earning a livelihood.

For the first time in history, employees must learn to manage themselves and take responsibility for their own employment. Even the word "career" is taking on new meaning, as a new generation of employees is moving in and out of multiple careers during their lifetimes.

Keep in mind that a career change is not the same as job advancement within a specific career. Most are either lateral or a step down in income until you gain experience and expertise in your new career. Be prepared to downsize your lifestyle.

Think of choosing a new career as an opportunity to bring a fresh outlook and revitalization to your life, as new experiences will stimulate your thought processes.

The most importance part of selecting a new career is also the most obvious, . . . deciding on what you want to do. Often this is a natural offshoot of a previous occupation(s). Reinventing yourself often involves a unique merging of your old talents with your new skill set.

Begin by making an honest assessment of your skills, interests and experiences and ask yourself:

- What would I do if money were no object?

- What did I love to do as a child?

- What activity do I do so intently that I don't notice time passing?

- What do I feel passionately about?

- What do I value the most?

- What are my strengths?

- What are my transferable skills?

- What kind and how much education will I need to make this change?

Most people find fulfillment by doing what they're good at. By evaluating your skills, interests, strengths and desires you will be able to see a connection between what it is that you value and what you excel at. These are the building blocks that you can turn into a new career.

While your new career is still in the planning stages, you can gain valuable information by:

- Attending professional meetings and informal gatherings.

- Networking.

- Joining an online career discussion group.

- Asking questions.

You are likely to need some additional education in order to begin a successful new career, start by improving the skills you already have. Sometimes, learning a few new software programs is simply all it will require. Should you choose to return to college, learning new skills is much easier when you are motivated to begin a new life.

Once you have chosen the kind of work you wish to pursue and acquired the necessary education, be sure to edit your resume to reflect your strengths and skills in this area.

Don't be surprised if your job search lasts a little longer than usual. Concentrate on companies that are seeking people with your reworked skill set and eventually you'll find an employer who will value the knowledge and experience you gained from your previous career(s).

It is vital today, more than ever, to remain versatile to stay employed. A successful career will evolve over a lifetime if you are continuously open to new possibilities. You must constantly seek opportunities for self-improvement and professional growth in order to be prepared for your next reinvention.

Mary Carroll at the beginning her fourth career. Hers career has progressed from photojournalist to catalog graphic designer to photo stylist. Mary is currently employed at Video Professor, the leader in self-paced software learning tutorials [http://www.videoprofessor.com/products/videoprofessorproducts.html] as a customer advocate.

Change Careers? Why Not?

Changing careers? Thinking about it? If not, why not? If you're not happy where you are, then changing your career may be a wonderful move. However, change is a scary concept and shifting careers can be downright terrifying to consider. Relax, it doesn't have to be.

Are you happy where you are? If so, congratulations, best wishes, stay there. Change for change's sake is just silly. However, if you feel confined, know that you'll never go anywhere on the corporate ladder or are just plain unhappy, then investing in your future by switching careers is an excellent idea.

Careers are something many of us choose for the wrong reasons. We decide what to do with our lives based on what our parents do, what our friends decide to do, or what makes more money than what we really love. Worse yet, some careers start from jobs we fall into and end up stuck in. You're not stuck, you can change!

The easiest - and hardest - thing to do is decide what career you want to pursue. Switching careers without a clear vision of what you want to gain from the change is an effort in futility. So, sit down and think about what you like to do outside of work. Not everyone can make a hobby into a paying job, but why not think about it? Maybe you'll find a way.

For example, if you enjoy coaching children, perhaps you could change careers and become a teacher. If you have a strong sense of justice, perhaps being a police officer or a judge is something to consider. Shifting careers doesn't have to be difficult or noble. Do you like being outdoors? How about starting your own lawn service?

Once you've narrowed down the field of careers to just one or two, start researching them. If you know someone who is in the field you're considering, ask them about the pros and cons. Find out what they really do in the course of a day, which may not be what you think. Look at all aspects of a career, not just pay. Consider the work environment and the stress levels, the hours and the potential for advancement.

Now you've decided on the career you want out of the huge number of careers available. Do you need extra education? Specialized training? Or can you just start the new job? Can you afford to leave the old job without all your financial ducks in a row?

This is the time to figure out the nuts and bolts of the changing careers thing. If you want a job that requires additional education or training, how will you get it? There are many schools offering online degrees now. This may fit into your schedule and your needs. Perhaps just doing some research on the internet at a site or checking books out of the library will be all you need to get started.

Now you're all set to change careers, yes? Feet a little cold at the thought of leaving the familiar? That's normal. Change is scary, especially when it can affect your financial wellbeing. There is no good way to get over the hesitation you'll feel at switching careers except to just do it. Make the change. Once you've jumped into the process, you'll become more comfortable and will probably end up wondering why you ever worried about changing careers.

So, if you've thought the careers process through, and are ready to start on your new path, then go ahead and take that first step. And have fun with it!

Whether your looking to change careers or just enhance the one you've got, check out Molly Money Bags, a great sources of information on all things dealing with careers.

How to Change Careers and Avoid Emotional Decision Making Mistakes

What makes a career change so difficult?

For most of us, probably the single biggest challenge in knowing how to change careers is addressing the emotions that are provoked when considering this kind of change.

Emotions can result from both external and internal triggers. External triggers that could stimulate a possible career change include:

Family needs that require a change in where you live or a change in income
A job loss
Approaching retirement
A company or industry downturn
Problems with a boss or coworker
A change in health status
A change in work content or expectations (work overload)
A company direction change that conflicts with your personal core values

Internal triggers that might motivate a career change include:

A change in your personal core values that now conflicts with the company ethics (e.g., you used to be OK with your company's business practices, but have had a recent change of heart)
Routine or boring work that lacks challenge, meaning, or purpose
Lack of opportunity for personal or professional growth
A desire to increase income beyond current career expectations
A desire to create better alignment with personal core values and/or beliefsThese triggers can lead to fear due to lack of knowledge; knowledge of oneself, knowledge of the environment, and knowledge of how to change careers effectively.

Breaking it down using a decision making process

An effective decision making process provides a framework for finding or creating the knowledge needed to make any change, especially one as important as a career change. How to change careers is not an isolated decision. It is part of a set of related decisions that connect in a way that creates the knowledge needed to choose a way forward.

Let's use the list of internal and external triggers above to expose some of the decisions that can be used to help in choosing a career.

Knowledge of oneself could include answers to the following questions:

Do I have a vision for my life?
What gives live meaning?
What are my strengths and talents? What are my weaknesses?
What fits with my personality?
What relationships do I value?Rephrasing these questions as choices would provide the following focusing decisions:

Choose my life vision
Choose my personal core values and beliefs
Choose my talents/strengths
Choose activities and environment that fit my personality
Choose my relationship prioritiesKnowledge of the environment might address the following questions:

What income do I need to meet the needs of my family?
What careers are available that I could consider?
What skills are needed to succeed in a career?
Where would I need to live pursue a career? Using a decision view would suggest these decision success factors for your next career (for each you would consider both your need and desire):

Income
Fits my skills / Aligns with my strengths
Training preparation, time and cost
Required travel / Daily commute time Knowledge of how to change careers effectively is addressed by using a reliable process for identifying and making each of the related decisions that will influence or guide your choice of careers.

Addressing the emotions as you focus on how to change careers

As you start down the path leading to a career change, you will continue to experience emotions that will bring up new questions and concerns. When using a decision-focused approach, each new question becomes an added decision to be made or provides a potential success factor as you progress toward your new career choice.

If you capture the questions and identify the corresponding decisions to be made or career change success factors, you can now use your emotions as a tool to motivate making the choices needed to progress toward a new career. Instead of being overwhelmed and afraid, this high value life choice is broken into smaller choices where emotions can provide the needed motivation to do some of the work.

Emotions now become a positive motivation for change instead of generating the overwhelming fear that leads to indecision. Here are some additional emotional pitfalls that are minimized when following this approach to how to change careers:


Choosing quickly without knowing why, and then creating rational explanations to justify a poor emotional decision
Creating mistakes due to distortions and bias in judgments, sometimes leading to unexpected and reckless action
Making errors that take place because we are subject to systemic inaccuracy about how we will feel in the future
Having tunnel vision with too few alternatives due to the desire to rush to judgment
Experiencing analysis paralysis with too many options that exceed our ability to keep track of them

It is possible to learn how to change careers effectively and with confidence

See how our four-step decision making process is used in changing careers at http://www.decision-making-solutions.com/how-to-change-careers.html.

Keith is Co-Founder of Decision Innovation, Inc.
Our company is focused on moving beyond collecting data and analyzing information to creating knowledge and providing insight. We will explore the decision making process and provide a unique combination of decision tools, decision and information management methods, and expertise that will give you the power over your personal and business decisions.

Visit us at http://www.decision-making-solutions.com/.

Health Career Resources - Tips to Learning About Health Care Careers

It is good to look at health career resources, whether you are finishing high school or considering a career change. There is a large variety of jobs in the health care field. There are careers that involve direct care to patients, there is research, there are dietary related health careers and for those who would prefer not to deal directly with people there are jobs and careers in record keeping and billing. And these are just a few suggestions. There are many, many jobs and careers in the health care field.

Where to look for health career resources. A good place to start looking for the types of health care careers that are available is the newspaper classified ads. You are not looking for a job as such, but for ideas of position that might interest you. This might also give you some idea of the earning possibilities of those position that might interest you.

Another place to look is the local library. Look for journals for medically related professionals. There are nursing journals. There are physician journals. There are journals for x-ray department career specialists. And the list goes on and on. Again look at the help wanted section and see what is advertised for types of jobs and the income possibilities of those jobs.

Make a list of the health careers that are interesting to you. This is a starting point list and your thinking may change as you continue to look around. But now you want to see what people in different health careers are doing.

You want to see what people in these careers really do. There are several ways to go about this. You would be well to use more than one approach. Do you know someone in a health related job. For example, do you know a nurse or a nurse assistant? If so go talk to them and ask questions. It is wise to prepare ahead and write down specific questions to ask.

Another way to learn about health care jobs is contact a local hospital and see if you could take a tour. Explain that you are considering a medically related career and you would like to see what people do. Probably the nursing education department would be the best place to start your inquiry. However, you should explain that you would like to see several areas of health care services, not just nursing.

Some hospitals accept volunteers. However, because of patient confidentiality this is not as available in some areas as it once was. Many hospitals do not allow teenagers to help out in patient areas. However, volunteering at a hospital is an excellent way to get started in health care. It allows for an opportunity to get to know people in various areas of health care and ask and possibly get to see some of what they do.

Once you have some idea of the type of health care career you are interested in exploring, then it is time to find out what you need to do to pursue that career. First, check if there is a local place where you can get the training that you need. Often a community college will have a program for you. Start by requesting a catalog. This will explain the program, and what the admission requirements are. Most likely you will need to complete high school or at least a G.Ed.

Nursing programs are also available at community colleges and some colleges. There used to be a lot of hospital based nurse training programs. There are a lot less of those now a days, but there still are some. Some people feel hospital based nurse training programs are better, because they usually require more practical experience than do community or 4 year college programs.

Another consideration for health career training is the cost. As you explore the training programs you also need to consider the cost and how you will pay for the education.

So, in conclusion, there are many health career opportunities available to a person looking for a career in health care. To learn about some of them explore some of the health career resources suggested above.

Learn more about health career resources at http://healthcareerresources.com.

ENFP Careers Advice

ENFP personalities are one of the 16 personality types from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and are known for being fun, open and enthusiastic. Their career strengths are different to those of others personalities. This means there are some jobs and careers they are well suited for and others that they may find challenging and less enjoyable.

Everyone needs careers advice that's specific to their own personality and situation rather than generic guidance and as a career coach, and an ENFP myself, I know the advice below is spot on!

1. Start with your heart

As opposed to diving straight in and examining your skills and qualifications, try first considering what you want to do. People with this personality need to enjoy their careers as for them work isn't just somewhere they go or something they do. For them it is often an expression of who they are. This means that it needs to be meaningful and fulfilling.

So the first piece of careers advice I would give is 'Start With Your Heart'. This isn't the same as saying just follow your heart as there are certainly other factors to be taken into consideration, but first of all look inside and decide what you really want to do.

2. Career strengths - build on them

You might think it sounds obvious to build a career based on your strengths, but sadly it's all too easy to follow a path better suited to someone else. This is usually because you aren't aware of your strengths or possibly you've received inappropriate advice.

The career strengths people with this personality often have include great people skills, creativity, adaptability and the flexibility to turn your hand to many things if you want to.

There are many areas where you can use these including teaching, social work, counseling, psychology, marketing, design, event management and many creative areas.

3. Got weaker areas?

In the same way that they often have signature career strengths, there are usually areas they find more challenging. This often seems to include follow-through, the need for flexibility, attention to detail and impersonal environments or those they perceive to be critical.

It makes sense to avoid career paths which don't need your strengths but instead demand skills in an area you are less talented in. This can include auditing, accounting, computer programming and other detail-oriented IT work, manufacturing, cold calling and admin work.

This doesn't mean you need to look for work that doesn't include any of these things as most jobs will have elements you are not as keen on, but you may find it easier to flourish in a role that doesn't focus on one or more of your weaker areas.

4. Finding the right career - more than personality

Although your personality is undoubtedly important and can be a helpful guide when finding the right career, it shouldn't be the only thing you consider.

Other factors to consider include: skills and skill level, qualifications, interest areas, which jobs and careers paths are available and growing in the area where you are looking.

5. Job hopping or undecided? Build variety into your career path

These folks love variety and have many interests, as do people with a scanner personality. This can result in a low boredom threshold and if their current job doesn't offer them variety or challenge they may end up job hopping.

To avoid the many disadvantages of job hopping, try building variety and change into a job or career path. Ways to do this include working in environments with a lot of change, doing project-based work, having 2 different part-time jobs or working for a small company where you get to do many different roles.

If you're an ENFP and have been following generic careers advice and found yourself miserable in your job, that may have been where you've been going wrong. There's nothing wrong with you, you've just been following the wrong advice. Perhaps now you need to look at careers advice tailored to you.

Katie Stephens is a career coach at ENFP Careers where we help ENFPs to choose enjoyable and meaningful careers. We also show ENFPs, scanner personalities, and some folks, how to build variety and change into their careers as an alternative to job hopping. Find more ENFP careers advice at http://www.enfpcareersguide.com

Careers After 50: The Value of a Temp Job!

Careers after 50: developing appropriate experience to qualify for a planned career.

You've researched and studied a variety of proposed new careers. After speaking to others working in the field you've narrowed your list down to one or two possible new careers. However, you've found both require specific experience that you need to acquire.

Other qualifications for a new career after 50, for example, can be learned through self-study, distance learning, formal education and working with mentors. However, now you have the dilemma of getting the necessary experience to qualify for new career.

Let's suggest a way to put you in a position to successfully compete for job in the new changed career. You might want to consider working for a temp agency, to get some desired experience or to discover if the suggested career is right for you.

Ask around for referrals to the right temp agency. Some temp agencies are specialists only working with specific careers and industries.

Re-draft your resume to put your best foot forward depending on the career and job. For each career you might want to restrict only signing up with two or three temp agencies. As you progress and learn more about specific temp agencies you can adjust your focus so you are only working with the best agency relative to the planned career.

Make it a point to see the temp agency recruiter, have a face-to-face interview and learn all you can about their services. Don't forget this is a job interview and you want to show the recruiter how you would present yourself to a prospective employer.

Find out in advance if you are required to show specific technical skills at the temp interview and spend some time brushing up on the required skills prior to the interview.

Do some research regarding prospective wages you might expect. You'll probably be asked what wage range you would accept. Also, you should learn what possible benefits might be available.

Many times temp assignments can last six months or longer. Be sure to tell the temp agency the length of assignment you would accept.

If the temp job is in a career you wish to qualify for, you may leverage yourself into being offered a full- time position. Or you gain enough relevant experience to qualify for a full-time career with another employer.

Don't expect that you'll be immediately moved into a desired temp position. Continue to contact the temp agency, at least once a week, to let them know you're available for placement.

So the value to you using a temp agency in qualifying for a new career after 50 is: (1) Gaining required work experience, (2) Possibly being offered a job in the desired new career, (3) Bringing in some income while you prepare to change careers, or (4) Finding out the new career is not for you so you can research additional opportunities.

For information and background in building a career plan to better prepare you to making a career change or for moving up in your current career or finding the right job go to http://careersafter50.com. Learn the stories of others who build robust career plans changed careers after 50 and found the right job.

Doctors Changing Careers - Motivations

This is the first of a series of articles directed at medical doctors considering a career change. Topics look into (i) factors that influence your career path (lifestyle, commitment, responsibilities, pride, finances, age), (ii) what keeps doctors from making career changes, (iii) attitudes of family, friends and the public to the career-changing doctor, and (iv) what options doctor's have in non-medical areas.

As a medical practitioner you have some of the most highly 'transferable' skills sought after in business and commerce. Your medical degree connotes professionalism, team-work experience, problem-solving and analytical skills, hard-work, education, intelligence, wisdom and life-experience.

What motivates career change?

If you do a search for 'doctor AND career change' on Medline it will return to you numerous articles about factors influencing career specialisations that doctors choose within medicine; but you will find very few articles for doctors considering a change to career outside of medicine, and no articles discussing the process of making this difficult decision. In this article I attempt to summarise my own anecdotal findings from conversations with other doctors and my own experience. A motivation to change careers often develops over many years (if not decades) and may even start while at medical school. For many, a dissonance grows stronger over this time period from a general sense of unease to a strong desire to 'just quit' and 'take my chances'; balanced against this is the sense of responsibility and commitment we feel to our patient's and a hope that one's lot may improve with more advanced specialisation or professional status. This conflict many generate many problems affecting work and social life.

Factors influencing doctors to leave medicine

1. Personality-job role conflict

Sometimes there is a clash between key personality traits and the expectations/pressures of a doctor's role. Although, the practice of medicine is flexible and their are fields that require varying degrees of particular attributes, for some people there are no common medical specialties that satisfy them. Personality traits that may conflict with the doctor role include:

• narcism eg. "I'm too good to waste my time on these #%!@ people", "I'll only see y and z patients; you see the rest"

• high novelty-seeker e.g. "I'm so bored doing this all the time", "How can I spice this up?", "The first 2 months of a new job are fun, but then I need to move on"

• anti-social e.g."I really don't like being around people", "leave me alone"

• laissez-faire' - an attitude of bare-minimalism that places patients and yourself at excess risk e.g. "whatever", "yeah yeah", "it's not the best I could do, but it'll do".

• indecisiveness e.g. "I can't do it, it's too risky", "I can't decide - let's do a TRM MCT scan", "You decide"

2. Disappointment/failed expectations

Most pre-med students have over-valued conceptions about what it is to 'be a doctor'. Media, societal concepts, and the health profession itself create a very simple and biased schema of a doctor being 'a person who heals people'. The realities of medicine becomes more apparent further into medical training as one receives more clinical experience. There are several areas that doctors frequently feel disappointed by:

• cure-rate is very low for many diseases

• unreasonable expectations from patients to be cured

• unappreciated by patients

• excessive administration and 'red-tape' requirements in practice. Often these form the basis for a feeling of being dis-illusioned, incompetent, and/or ineffectual.

3. Initial 'wrong' career choice I love computers.

If I had done some formal computing studies at secondary school I most likely would have made a career from computing, however, when I arrived at University I had been groomed by family expectations to study a professional degree - so I did. I made a 'wrong' career choice. Now to be truthful, 'wrong' is not the correct word to use, as at the time it was right choice for me (medicine suited my need for assurance of job and income security, and boosted my low self-confidence); however, medicine is not the right career choice for me anymore. For some other doctors, they may discover strong interests in other fields such as music, writing, journalism, politics, I.T., research, or have hobbies that develop into businesses. In these circumstances, doctors may find that their non-medical interest exceeds their interest in medical practice. You don't have to dislike medical practice as a reason to leave it!

Thirty years ago once a person entered a profession it was expected that they would stay in that profession until they retired. Fortunately, the paradigm shift over the past decades has been for people to change jobs as they see fit and that a decision to change careers has become an acceptable option - at least in the commercial world. Leaving medical practice is probably one of the last areas that this concept is becoming acceptable, perhaps because of the special role that doctors have in society. We discuss this some more on the next page.

4. Existential crisis:

Maybe whatever job you are employed in you will always feel 'dissatisfied', because you are searching for fulfillment that is not obtainable by what job you do! People have varying degrees of need for existential meaning, most workers can find a sense of fulfillment from their jobs, doing the job they do well etc. However, some people frequently change career (or consider it) because they feel that the career they are doing is not 'meaningful' enough. For such people, they find they keep saying to themselves, "why am I here", "why am I alive", "I need to leave a mark on the world", "I want to be famous/ well-known/ important". For some people, the drive to 'find' existential meaning continues throughout their entire lifetime, with numerous job changes, travel, hobbies, religions, relationships, and/or careers. It is critical that you identify if this is you or not, because changing careers may not help. Maybe you need God, not a job change.

5.Lifestyle:

When work interferes with your family or personal relationships, there is often a motivation to cut-down on work or change jobs. In medicine, the competitive training environment can make part-time work/training untenable even though the effects of late hours, missed anniversaries, work stress can be disastrous on your personal life. For these reasons, some doctors look to self-employment, home business or career changes as an alternative, to allow them to accommodate family and lifestyle far more readily.

6. De-registered:

Unfortunately, the vagaries of medicine are that sometimes after years of education and training, events occur that do not allow a doctor to continue medical practice even though they want to. Sometimes a charge of medical negligence or bad decision-making ends a career. Sometimes, doctors move to new countries hoping to continue medical practice but are impeded by registration procedures. Sometimes, ill-health (blindness, injury, GBS, CFS, depression) means that the body or mind will not do the job you want to do.

As you can see, there are many different reason why doctor's may be motivated to change careers. In reality, most doctors will find that they are driven to change by several factors, although one may be more salient than others. Identifying what is driving your need to change careers is crucial. In the next section, we look at factors that motivate us to stay in the medical profession.

Dr Jonathan Moy is a professional career coach at Careerology. Please visit http://careerology.co.nz for more information about and tips for your continuing career development.

Hey College Students! Check Out These Best Future Careers

Not surprisingly many websites nowadays will try to say which the best careers offer the best prediction in the years to come. They based statistically on growth percentage in the recent years. However, other people never reflected this concerns base on which careers get the payout, which job are easier to acquire and so on. As long as they have a proper and organized career management though sometimes they need to have career transition inevitably. Despite of all of this, there are some general trends proven true.

Future career fashion

One of the fastest progressing areas of business, employment and communication in recent years are all because of our computer technology. Continued assimilation of IT and digital communication into one package throughout different sectors ensures that this fashion will go on longer. Web developers, systems analysts, computer programmers, designers and developers, consultants and information managers show something of these career spot.

Included also in the career spot are engineers including fiber, cable, satellites and more.

Healthcare career

Health care job also guaranteed in demand due to increasing population - particularly those people belongs to older age groups in which health care services and treatments available extended to farther places. Number of administrative jobs expanded and support roles needed.

Other potential "hot" career in the future includes the spot of scientific advance particularly in "biotechnology". Highlighted on this area are tissue engineers and gene programmers - but all skills on this area are included. Another new technology added is nanotechnology and energy technology.

Due to population changes lots of career arises in addition to healthcare. To name the few are:

Teaching and Tourism, Training and Development and care of the elderly or Care-giving these careers are predicted to be in demand and would increase more as also with Financial Advisors.

Current services would increase as population grows older. Legal sector, Military career, Educators, tutors and a lot more. Consider also the massive return of income sectors of paying for domestic support like house helpers, maids, cleaners and drivers etc. This could not be avoided due to higher level of divorce yield mostly on single-parent families.

New services are developing recognize to another career spot. Many of these services are directly serve to the end users or the consumers itself. Few of those are Counseling, different Complementary Therapies also includes Coaches and Physical Training Instructors.

Fresh Graduates: What is the best career for the future?

One of the biggest problems of the society is the high percentage of unemployed sector.

Obviously this includes the fresh graduates who are still looking where to land a good job.

Lucky are those who properly organized their career management program before graduating because obviously they are first one to succeed in the pool of job searching.

Although some of demand careers already mentioned above, here are some that offer most new job as opposed to future career fashion.

* Accountants and auditors.

* Applications software engineers.

* Computer systems analysts.

* Secondary school teachers.

* Systems engineers.

* Systems analysts.

* Network administrators.

* Employment and recruitment specialists.

Finally, your choice of career may vary on your skills, capacity in whatever field you are confident of delivering it. Create a career management program to let you organize what you must do in your career choice.

You will be confident if you have to assess first yourself knowing your weakness and strength, tolerance level and limitations. If you surely are the master of yourself, no doubt you would be successful in your career.

Take Care of These When Switching Careers!

Most often, we get to meet people who are unsatisfied with their present career. Some don't like the low pay package and want more, some other don't like the work culture of their career and many more still don't prefer to part with their values that is demanded in their job. One of these reasons might be enough for individuals to switch their career. And many other special ones are their again who just switch their career to do something they love - something they have thought to do since they were kids unknown of these tough choices. But the decision is truly a tough and risky one, and must be taken with utmost care. Given are a few points to consider when switching careers:

Never make decision with money as the basis: Less pay package can rarely be the deciding factor for a career switch. And if you feel so, have a deeper study into other significant factors like workplace, career path heading nowhere, your interests, etc. to know the real reason of boredom.

Never get into something that doesn't match with your skill set: God has given some skills and abilities to all of us. Some others are there that we build up during our journey of life. Now, don't ever get into something that doesn't match with your inner skills and abilities. Many people try out a career that has no relevance with their skills, just for the reason that the career is booming or has large number of vacancies.

Study to depth and, only then should you jump: Don't take a decision to switch just because you heard from someone about the career, or just by a superficial study of the career. Or you'll again have to meet dissatisfaction Have an in depth analysis of the career and yourself and only then should you change the path.

Never go only by a counselor: Career counselors just follow a few interpretations from your answers and accordingly suggest a career. Try to question their suggestions and make out whether the career suggested suits to you or not. These counselors are just guides who can facilitate your decision making process.

Never go after somebody: Only seeing one of your friends or relatives getting into a particular career and being successful in it is not a sufficient cause for you to take up that career. Somebody achieves success in a career just because they are passionate about that. Now if you know a little about that career and probably have a bit of interest too, doesn't necessarily imply that you'll also be successful there.

Don't stick rigidly to known information: Things change. There might be some career that was having rules unsuitable to you but, with the passage of time, there have been changes in it that have made it very much suitable for you. Therefore, you should try to know the unknown and take a decision only after that.

Remember that perseverance is the key: You should always keep in mind that you won't get a success overnight and you have to stick to the career you choose. Or, you'll meet failure there too. A career switch is really time consuming process and, at times, you might feel like returning to the previous field. But, give time to yourself to adjust to the new job.

But finally, don't hesitate: Lastly, if you have made the decision after studying every possibility, you should kick off all hesitation. Look around and just plunge. Be sure of your abilities and the fact that you'll achieve success in whatever career you are about to try.

A good knowledge of our likes and dislikes can always be helpful while switching careers. It is very significant step of our life and must be taken with utmost care. When taken keeping the above points in mind, a career switch proves to offer long lasting benefits and immense pleasure to you.

For reading more of similar articles and finding jobs of your choice, visit localjobsindia.

Sunny Suman is a content writer who has been writing contents for UG Software. The company plays in various fields like web development, seo works, content writing, logo designing and more. You can visit and contact us at http://www.ugwebmart.com for web designing, development and other site related works.

Careers and Job Search - Should I Get Help?

How can you make the "right" decision about using professional assistance to enhance and accelerate your career change or job search?  This article defines the main questions you need to ask yourself, and provides clear criteria for assessing your needs. To further support your decision-making, the article offers a simple cost-benefits analysis for using a career coach to increase both the probability and the speed of a successful job search. Since this step may influence your direction and career goals, as well as the "landing time" to reach your next job, it is clearly an important decision, with both short and long-term impact on your life.

 

If you are in transition to a new career or a new job, for whatever reason, you may have asked yourself the question: "can I do this on my own, or might I benefit from the advice and guidance of a professional career coach and resume writer?" Even knowing that the job search is a difficult task in today's treacherous economic environment and high unemployment with few new jobs, our sense of independence, self-confidence and the desire to conserve cash all urge us to do this on our own. But for a more reliable answer to this question, set aside your gut reaction and consider the key factors below with tough, business-like objectivity, and decide how they apply to you and your situation.

 

Are you equipped for this potentially difficult battle with:

Clearly defined career goals and objectives?
Significant experience in successfully transitioning to new careers or jobs?
Good networking skills and contacts in the field of your interest?
The skills to promote yourself, conveying your accomplishments effectively, but without boasting?
An understanding of the recruiting process and the opportunities in your field of interest?
Strong resume writing skills?
Clear, concise and persuasive verbal communication skills?
Several job-leads/opportunities that would meet your career goals and needs?
A resume that has generated several job interviews in your current situation?
Interviews that have generated at least one job offer?
Family, financial and geographic flexibility, without limitations on career or job selection?


 

 If you can answer 8 or more of these questions with a firm "yes", you probably have the resources and skills to drive your job search without external help.  But if you answer "no" to  4 or more questions, then you are lacking some key attributes or resources for an effective job campaign in today's unforgiving and competitive jobs market, and should consider some professional assistance.

 

This is not to say you cannot be successful on your own, with a great deal of perseverance and some luck. However, a capable career coach can dramatically improve the odds of success and greatly accelerate transition to new careers or jobs by:

 

 Helping you think through your situation and options in a caring but very objective way
Guiding you to develop a personal career and marketing strategy and an action plan
Helping you to fill in some of the gaps in your "arsenal"
Coaching you to present yourself in the best possible and most competitive position: armed with a powerful resume and well-prepared for job interviews and negotiating job offers
Helping you achieve your defined goals, based on a well-thought through strategic plan

If you decide that external help would be appropriate, then you still need to ask one more basic question: "are the benefits of professional assistance worth the cost?" To answer this, first recognize that using a career coach can often be the key to defining your career goals and strategy, and then in getting the "right job". The great value of this to a job seeker is incalculable, because it tends to enhance initial salary, ultimate job satisfaction, promotability and long term career success. However, beyond this great but qualitative benefit, consider the following more quantitative analysis:

 

Statistical evidence summarized from several sources* indicate that 1) 33.3% of the unemployed are now out of work for 27 weeks or more - a higher level than in any recession since 1950; 2) the average unemployment duration is now about 6 months, with a range of 1 to 12 months, twice what it was a year ago; and 3) higher salary levels and older  age statistically increase "landing time" to reemployment.   


 

 Anecdotal evidence from numerous articles and presentations suggest that a good strategy, a powerful resume and solid interview preparation - benefits that can come from the assistance of a career coach - can accelerate the job search and significantly reduce your personal "landing time", though individual success cannot be guaranteed.


Since "hard" statistics on the benefits of career coaching is unavailable, for the purpose of a simple and very conservative cost-benefits analysis, assume that the result of career coaching is finding the right job just  one month sooner than you would otherwise. If, for the typical coaching cost of about $1,000 (for a strong resume and 5-6 hours of consulting), you find a suitable $60,000/yr job just  one month sooner, then you get a $5,000 return on a $1,000 expense - which is far better than any conventional investment performance! And at higher salary and/or shorter landing time in the job search, the return on your investment is even better! This return is so good, that even if the coaching costs were significantly higher, the benefits would still remain very attractive.


 

After considering the key criteria discussed, if it is clear that you do need professional help, then do your own cost-benefits analysis to convince yourself that the investment in your career, to accelerate your job search, is truly cost effective. As the saying goes, the "view is worth the climb"!

 

 *References

Bureau of Labor Statistics; Household Data, Table A9, September, 2009
Wall Street Journal; Conor Dougherty, The Long Slog: Out of Work, Out of Hope, September 25, 2009
National Public Radio; Planet Money, August 7, 2009
Impaxis - Job Search Duration, May, 2009
Dirk Van Dijk; Daily Markets: US Unemployment Duration Stays Up, June 6, 2009 

Estelle Rauch and Paul Kende are the principals at Career Strategies Unlimited, a career coaching firm specializing in helping people change careers and conduct their job search campaigns effectively. Visit our website [http://www.careerstrategiesunlimited.com] for more information on career and job transition services, including workshops, strategic planning, resume writing, job interview preparation and career coaching. Email: paul.kende@gmail.com or estellerauch.csu@gmail.com

Five Myth Busters of Changing Careers - Breaking Free to Reach Your Dreams

Aside from the statistics about the sheer number of careers across our lifetimes in 2009, there are a multitude of new perspectives on career planning, and career options. Was it an option to be a network engineer in a small office when you were a youngster? How about a nanotechnology researcher? Had you ever heard of international micro-loans? These are a few illustrations of newer trends in occupations and career path options.

Even if you are not changing careers this month or this year, you will still need to adapt to changing job demands and responsibilities. Moreover, you likely know someone who will be helped by this informative and freeing approach. Let's break down the threats of the Changing Career Myths together. Read, consider strategies and options for your future, and share this timely information with your friends and family.

1. Career Bondage: You have to pick one career and stick with it. I did not realize anyone still believed this until I started polling high school seniors and college students. Sure enough, these young adults are convinced that their career choice is an irreversible decision. What pressure they experience in Career Bondage. When people look at the statistics and realize they will likely have several careers across their lifetime, it is a liberating experience. Suddenly they are free to step into the first opportunity. Phew! I have seen this excruciatingly long awaited step happen to 17 year olds and 55 year olds. They have similar issues despite being at very different life stages of course. The freedom to step into your future is always a good thing.

2. Closed Doors: Many careers are closed doors for me because I don't have the correct academic degree. You know I have to use the example of Thomas Edison here, correct? He did not have a college degree and look at the influence he had on our world! It is innovation, dedication and inspiration which make a significant difference in many situations. Today, USA culture expects not only a high school diploma, but also a college degree for professional careers. However, once you have tagged that base, you have a multitude of options available to you. Most careers have entry level positions; consider that as you gain more experience and work up further in the organization and industry it may become even better paid and more exciting.

3. FULL TILT, or not at all: If you are going to switch careers you have to go into it full tilt, or not at all. Indeed, a much more successful approach is to try out your new career as a part-time position while you maintain your current career. If you really enjoy it and find it profitable, determine the best strategy for additional training and career opportunities. Another strategy is that if you are thinking of starting your own business, use the same strategy and research the details, plan your ramp-up to test the waters while you continue your full-time work. This approach often works for consulting services, mail-order, web-based fulfillments, and other home based businesses which can fulfill the needs for products or services during nontraditional work hours. Just be sure your full-time work does not suffer at the feet of your new career exploration. The references and relationships you have now will allows follow you and it is much more advantageous if they are always positive.

4. The Lone Ranger Rides Again: Nobody can help you with your career; you have to go it alone. From the country of the ostensibly self-made person, this myth seems to have become a Golden Rule. Truth be told, it is a Golden Failure when followed.The most successful people realize that they cannot know or do everything themselves and instead surround themselves with sharp, supportive advisers, coaches, and assistants. Use recommendations from colleagues, friends or research people who can assist you. Whichever avenue, be sure to run, not walk, as you begin creating a crackerjack support team. Critical members for this network include a financial adviser, career coach/adviser, proofreader (for cover letters and correspondence), and a lawyer (to review employment contracts, agreements, etc).

5. It's a Matter of Luck. Successful careers are a matter of luck, you have to wait for the right door to open. Upon closer examination,it seems that many people who espouse this myth are not very successful. Successful people have shed too much sweat in their efforts and know better. Early in my 2nd career, I thought I was experiencing a lot of luck; however, when I said this to my supervisor, he said, "You create your luck, Kathy. I watch you do it." I am often reminded of this comment because I find it natural to scan the environment for trends, look for opportunities and seek ways to move ahead. Moreover, I take initiative: I love what I do; therefore, I keep wanting to learn more about it! To the outsider it might look like I am working really hard to create luck. I think it is much simpler. The key to creating successful career opportunities may be initiative.

Whatever your current situation, consider how you can destroy the myths which are holding you back. Reevaluate them, gather new information and slay them one, by one. Where are there opportunities to move ahead? What would you like to be doing for work and recreation in 5, 7 or 10 years? What do you need to do to reach those dreams? Gather your support team and ride on into the world of career change and freedom!

Written by
Dr. Kathleen P. King (EdD)

Certified professional coach, Award-winning author, Professional speaker, Professor of Education Transformation Education, CEO

Transformation Education LLC:Helping Professionals Reach Their Dreams - http://www.TransformationEd.com

About Dr. King
Dr. King is a dynamic, interactive keynoter, and accomplished author who invigorates and empowers audiences on a variety of topics. She specializes in guiding professionals in dynamic and rewarding professional journeys: from coping with changes in the workplace, developing leadership, speaking, writing and time management skills, to navigating organizational demands, meeting the needs of 21st century learners, designing and facilitating distance learning, and "Helping Professionals Reach Their Dreams."

Contact Kathy to discuss availability for in-person and virtual speaking engagements, personalized mentoring/coaching services and educational consulting services.

About TELLC Transformation Education LLC is an educational service organization providing keynotes, seminars, training and faculty development, mentoring, and coaching for groups and individuals. Building upon our extensive experience and success in professional settings, since 1992 we have served a global, but always personal client base. Our primary concern remains to bring the highest quality of work and attention to professionals' learning needs. How? We provide cutting-edge, relevant, and critical support for mastering lifelong professional learning in a virtual age!

ISTJ Careers - 5 Career Change Tips For ISTJs

Are you an ISTJ?  Are you wondering what the best ISTJ careers might be for you? Well, I guess if you are reading this, you are already a fan of MBTI - or the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, as I am.  As a career change consultant, I have found it to be a great tool when helping career changers work out what direction they should go in next.

So how do you make a connection between your personality type and the careers you could consider? There is no doubt that you will be happiest in a career where you are able to use your preferred style of operating for the majority of the time. So when you are considering new career options, take your type elements into account.

Using your Introversion

Make sure there will be opportunities for you to work in a quiet and focused way and that you will have time to think and reflect on the work you are doing.  If you are constantly required to interact with colleagues and clients, thinking on your feet as you go you will probably find that a struggle.

Using your Sensing

You will probably be happier if your work involves handling concrete facts and processes where you can see an immediate practical application.  You are great with applying detailed systems and may feel less comfortable if your work demands constantly coming up with new ideas and approaches.

Using your Thinking

You are a clear headed, logical thinker and have great skill in weighing up pros and cons objectively.  You will probably prefer a work environment where everyone works to clear principles and standards and will feel less inspired by a setting that has a strong 'people' focus.

Using your Judging

You prefer a planned and orderly approach and you are likely to be methodical and systematic in the way you work.  You just want to know what you are meant to be doing so you can get on with it.  If a job requires you to constantly chop and change, or if the environment is fairly chaotic and unstructured, it is likely that you will find this draining.

Don't just look for a simple match

You are a wonderfully complex creature and many factors will be important in your career choice, so don't expect a simple one-to-one match where ISTJ = x is the perfect job for you.

Looking at the outlines above, it would be easy to jump to a simplistic conclusion eg that accountancy or law would be good ISTJ careers.  Now you will probably find there are more ISTJs in these fields than in areas such as performing arts and advertising, but don't base your career change decision just on your personal style.  Make sure that you take account of your skills, interests and values too as well as practical issues such as where you live or are willing to move to.

In the meantime, if you would like to read more about your personality and your career, then I invite you to take a look at the How To Change Careers website http://www.how-to-change-careers.com/career-change-test.html You can take a simple and free personality quiz to give you an idea of your MBTI preferences and read more about what your ISTJ personality type means for you and your career http://www.how-to-change-careers.com/istj.html You can also access my ebook, Know Your Personality, Know Your Career where you will find more career suggestions for each MBTI type.

From Cherry Douglas - Your Career Change Guide

Preparing For a Life With Multiple Jobs and Careers

In his ASU commencement speech this week, President Obama urged graduates to be prepared for more than one job or career in their lifetime. His recommendation was "to keep gaining new skills - possibly even new degrees; and to keep taking risks as new opportunities arise."*

Although our leaders in various fields have been expressing this for years now, I meet many people who haven't quite stepped into this career paradigm shift. The fact that many aren't sure how to prepare themselves for job and career transitions is understandable since we live in a demanding and transforming culture with few rituals, road maps, instructions, and support for people during or regarding change. There is a growing amount of information, expertise, and support for people IN career transition, but on a foundational level, how do we stand in this new paradigm powerfully so that job and career transitions start to become more organic and fluid?

Acceptance: To prepare ourselves as career marathon runners who'll likely make many stops, we first must step into accepting and absorbing that a career paradigm shift is happening within our culture as a whole. Although it can be difficult to imagine changing careers for many reasons, assessing whether this is likely to be a reality for you is ultimately the more empowering and energizing place to operate from. The problem with ignoring or denying something that is likely to occur is both that we loose the ability to steer our own lives and we often find ourselves ill prepared for change that comes our way.

Preparation: To elaborate on one of the essential points of President Obama's speech - staying in a place of learning and discovery in your day-to-day life is vital. This learning may mean an additional degree, broadening your skills within your desired field, or engaging in extracurricular learning activities. Whatever you choose to explore, the more you connect yourself to learning and growth-oriented activities you love, the more likely you will start to create possibilities for new jobs and careers in areas that you deeply enjoy in your life. In both my work as a business executive and in my work as a Life and Career Coach, I have met numerous people who's thriving careers sprung from a single extracurricular class, hobby, or life-long interest that was initially pursued by carving a small amount of time out of their schedule.

Flexibility & Openness: Getting comfortable with change is vital as well. If you've ever taken a first yoga class, you'll remember what it's like to marvel at the flexibility of others around you while you struggled to sit comfortably. Remaining flexible and open to career development opportunities and career change in general takes practice, practice, practice, but the more you practice, the better and stronger you feel. So, try and embrace new technologies and new ways of doing business, accept new work assignments, and stay open to job and career changes...the more you do, the more one thing will start leading to another naturally, and the more fluid transitions will be.

A Longer Vision: Start to think of your degrees and job experiences as important personal building blocks rather than things that define you within a singular career. In addition, imagine the kind of life and financial security you'd like in retirement and keep this image in mind when you make job and career decisions going forward. A long-term career vision that is rooted in what you really value and desire for yourself will help you plan and strategize for your life.

Risk-Taking: Take calculated risks when appropriate in your career. Whatever shape this takes for you, we frequently make our biggest leaps when we take risks. So, before you run from the risk, think of your long-term vision, enlist support and explore all the possibilities around this. There may very well be a way for you to take action with limited risk, and this risk may turn out to be the best opportunity you've ever create in your career.

*from the transcript posted on "The Huffington Post," May 14, 2009.

Maria McKenna is a Career Coach with the Institute for Coaching.

Careers and New Graduates - Advice For Moving Out and Moving on Even During a Recession

Stand out by writing and living your worklife mission and learn the new rules for careers. It also might help your parents if you moved out of your old room or the basement.

Start with a new paradigm, a new mindset. Find organizations that support your worklife mission and fight to join them. Generations ago it was your parents and even grandparents that thought they would be in one career path and maybe with one company. That was the dream of dreams. Then you could settle down in life. Well, forget that mindset. If that's the lottery you want to hit you will probably have lottery odds to get into one career path, climb the corporate ladder and retire that way. Who checks time with a watch anyway? It's on your IPhone or PDA or whatever. In many ways, you need grasp the idea that you will have some major career shifts and, most likely, change careers during your career. A career must be viewed as a sequence of jobs and probably a sequence of career paths. How can I make this claim? All industries change and as the industry changes then you must change with it. It's Internet warp speed. No industry remains stagnant and if a business that serves that industry does not change then that business faces changes of its own.

Look at the way the construction business or housing industry has changed in the last year. Look at the technology and software industries. Have they changed? How about the music and entertainment industry? Any changes you noticed? They change daily. How about the oil business, the airlines and others? Okay, you have the point. Either the business, technology, people and economies change or something shifts. For those shifts any jobseeker or person who intends to have a long career must embrace change.

Now for a healthy outlook on your career path I recommend you:

1. Accept Change. To open a door to a new career jobseekers must focus on accepting change as reality. So look at the ways you have learned and enjoy learning. Express this in achievements and keywords in your resume and career marketing materials. Be ready to respond swiftly to the needs of corporations by offering different aspects of your background. No longer are resume just dry ways to demonstrate your employment during high school, college, through internships, military or other experiences. You must give line and verse about what you have done and how it applies to the position you are going for next. That means get ready to edit your resume for each position you apply for online or offline. Change happens abruptly in business. It happens abruptly throughout many a career path. What's in our control? You control your actions and your attitudes; that may be about all you can control. Control the content within your resume. Develop your volunteer experiences, key class projects, athletic or other achievements. Everything must be looked at, developed and considered. Some new graduates think they have nothing to offer. You do if you market it properly.

2. Look Beyond the Surface. According to career authors and other representatives from the major search engines, something less than 5% of leads are advertised on the big job boards. So where does the typical jobseeker or the typical new graduate spend their time looking for jobs? I would argue they spend 95% of their energy focused on Internet job boards. This is a good starting point. In fact, sites like Craig's List offer opportunities and danger too. As a new graduate you need to search and find your target audience. Recruiters don't just look on the major sites for resumes. They are working the social networking sites like Facebook and the more professional networking sites like LinkedIn. Those are not the only ones either! So if you information isn't loaded there and you don't know why you need to campaign in that way then you are out of date. You are not savvy or sophisticated. Weddle's Guides and Peter Weddle himself an Internet guru stated personally to me that there are dozens of sites for niche industries being developed weekly. In fact, he suggested that recruiters are more interested in finding you doing something they might want to hire you for than downloading your CV from the big sites. So where could you go and what could you do to be seen as someone serious? Remember you must think this way even if you are in a path toward law school, med school or are not sure what you want to be when you grow up.

3. Go for Your Mission not Just a Job. Take an entrepreneurial approach to your future. How do I want my life to be in 10 years and what career path may be the best vehicle to that path? What do I want my reputation to be in five years? What is my Worklife Mission? Everything you do should be geared toward these goals and aspirations. If you are looking for a job and not a career a lot of this advice might not matter. If you are just trying to pay bills then who cares what you do or who you do it for. But if you can compose more than your 30--second commercial - develop a Worklife Mission statement. Pick career opportunities that may advance you toward who and what you want to be in five or more years. Current Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers suggest that 65% of people don't like their jobs. But what do they do about this dissatisfaction? Where do they go to take proactive, positive action on finding their professional calling, their next steps? To properly research new ideas you can use the big job boards like Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com. Other sources of information may come as easy as finding articles and information from a variety of sources: industry journals, company websites, blogs, volunteer organization sites, DOT, OOH, ONET and other resources. In a competitive job market, it's hard enough for job seekers on a steady career path to get their resumes noticed. If you are pursuing a new direction, it's all that much more difficult to convince hiring managers to take a chance on you. Study and read. Utilize insiders to help you network. Pick jobs that will give you part of what you want to be in 10 years. Move toward something specific. Also, please stop looking for a job and start looking for opportunities. Employers want people who want opportunities. If you want to stand out then take the attitude that you want an opportunity.

4. Lastly, start dealing with the gaps and mistakes you made during college. So you didn't get that internship that you wanted? You didn't really have that great of summer jobs? You didn't do all those volunteer things you thought you would do? Well then start doing them now. Start volunteering. Ask for the experiences you need and give away your time and expertise for free. No, don't wait. Do it right now. In the meantime you may have to get two jobs, three jobs or even put up with being underemployed until you make up this lost ground. Mistakes that new graduates make usually means that they want to utilize the same poor decisions they made during school as they attempt to compete in the marketplace. That just simply won't work. As professionals, many of my clients need a makeover and to understand they must self-study in order to research, define and emphasize key qualifications for these new goals and objectives. If you have not earned them start earning them now. With that attitude you will probably be hired into a position you want.

5. Your Resume Must Be Outstanding. What do the potential hiring managers want to see in a resume? Here's a tip - they want to see what you can do for them now and how you will drive revenue and reduce cost for them now. What do they want to see in you if you ran a construction operation but now want to consider selling industrial products? Hire a professional to interview you and market you. Good writing, proper use of keywords and a marketing oriented resume sells in person and online. You need to ask yourself tough questions to come up with original documents. In a behavioral interview for major account management, how will you relate your transferable skills or the experiences you gained to date? What if you were in the military and you want to be in a federal job? That may make sense. But how do you relate your class experiences, jobs, internships, military experiences and whatever you have into a corporate assignment in finance, sales or operations? The list goes and could go on forever. They don't need to know dry work history or a listless listing of dates, times and responsibilities but they do need to understand the transferable skills, keywords and strategy you intend to take with them in communicating your specific and immediate value. Any savvy jobseeker and especially a career changer may need to clearly write down, analyze and synthesize raw data to feature why they are marketable and why they should be interviewed. A great resume or personal marketing material must brand you across many platforms - online, offline, personal, professional.

Congratulations on earning your degree. You must look for an opportunity not a handout. You want to earn your future. Now go out and fight with passion for your career life and your all important worklife mission. And get out of the basement room at your parents house!

John M. O'Connor is the President of Career Pro Inc. (http://www.careerproinc.com) which specializes in Individual Outplacement Solutions and Career Branding. He is available for questions and consultations at (919) 787-2400. He was the first private practice Certified Federal Job Search Trainer (CFJST) in North Carolina. John is also a Certified Electronic Career Coach (CECC). With a unique fiction writing pedigree with fiction publications as well, he obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. He has been featured in the Raleigh News & Observer, The Ladders Resume Writers Digest, The Gladiator, Execunet, Career Masters Institute Monthly Newsletter, Monster Career News and other national publications such as JIST. Additionally his diversified experience includes serving as a college professor and as a US Army officer.

Best Way To Change Careers - Use a Career Development Transition Model

Nowadays, career transition companies offer people who are thinking of a career change different programs and methods and are applicable for all ages of individuals. According to your needs, the career development company will provide a variety of adult career development models. These companies cater to the needs of middle-aged professionals, young adults and executives who are all contemplating a professional career.

Very often, people find that the career they have chosen is not right for them. They realize that they are better suited for something else. They start growing stressed and weary about their work. They do not feel any job satisfaction. And all this leads to them bringing home work stress and taking it out on their family and friends.

If all this sounds familiar to you, it is time you seek expert advice. You can win this battle by settling for an adult career development transition model. It is not so easy to change careers. You can easily think that you'd like to be a photographer and start searching for jobs of that description. But when it is time to send your resume or attend an interview, you do not get the desired response and you do not know what education or skills you need in order to pursue photography.

There are many different ways of approaching career transition. First, analyze the stages of development you are going through. A career search does not involve finding a desired work alone. Your occupational career and your life career should fit together.

One career development model says that there are four factors based on which a person is ready to change careers. These are support, situation, strategies and her/his self. Of them, the first factor is self. How ready are you to make changes and seek a different career? It is always difficult to face change and so help from a suitable transition expert can be very beneficial. Your situation is the second factor. Suppose you need to start off on a rank that is lower, will you be willing to makea change like that? Can your routines hinder you from making this change happen? Is there some reason you cant make this change easily? Support comes next. Does anyone among your family and friends object to you changing your career or are they in compliance? The last factor is the strategies. These include the actions and plans that you make for making this change happen.

The internet has a number of career development transition model available which can offer you many approaches. You can find a company or a coach in career transition and seek their help to develop and head into the correct adult career development transition model. Be sure to check the net for experts in your local area.

Abhishek is a Career Counselor and he has got some great Career Planning Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 71 Pages Ebook, "Career Planning Made Easy!" from his website http://www.Career-Guru.com/769/index.htm. Only limited Free Copies available.

Want to Change Careers? Then Get Curious!

If you are trying to make a career change, then curiosity is a great approach to adopt. Curiosity without being critical of yourself allows you to work out how you lost your career direction and how you can find a new route forwards. If you don't plan your career change with a curious and enquiring approach, you run the risk of finding yourself going back down the same well worn tracks.

So what do you need to get curious about? Here are my top tips for using curiosity to help you make your career change a positive one.

Be curious about yourself

How well do you really know yourself? What are you good at? What interests and excites you? What values are really important to you? What is your personality and how does that influence the work you will feel comfortable doing? If you don't take the time to get to know yourself better, then how can you be sure that your new career ideas will be a better match than the last ones?

Be curious about your experience to date

What has gone before is a great place to start. What led you make the career choices you have made up to now? Why did you think they would work for you? What have you enjoyed on the job so far and what have you come to thoroughly dislike? What were the high and low points of the work you have done? What have you learned - not just work skills, but about yourself?

Be curious about the messages from your childhood

What were the messages you got about what kind of career you should pursue when you grow up? What was expected of you? Name these messages, pin them down and then decide if you still want to go along with them. You can choose whether what you think you should be doing is actually what you want to do. If not, then its time to make a change.

Be curious about other people's jobs

Once you have looked in at yourself, take a look outwards. Look around you at what other people do. Become a curious roving reporter. Ask them about their work. Find out what a typical day involves, what do they love about what they do - and what drives them nuts!. The more information you can gather about a wide range of possibilities, the more ideas you will generate for yourself.

Be curious about other ways of structuring a working life

If you are in a 9-5 job, it can be hard to think of other ways of working. But there are many ways of structuring a working life. What about part-time, shift work, freelance, consultancy, short-term contracts and portfolio careers? If you are considering a switch to a less well paid job, what alternative income streams could you set up? Break out of the 9-5 mindset and be open to new approaches.

Be curious about just what you would do if there were no obstacles

Allowing yourself to do this kind of open minded star gazing can really liberate your thinking. This is not necessarily about having a dream and then expecting to just go out and get it (though you never know, you just might!). Simply thinking outside the box can help you come up with some great new angles that would not cross your mind if you are not curious enough to take off the blinkers.

Yes, but...

Maybe you are thinking 'yes, but didn't curiosity kill the cat?' Maybe it did, but that just freed the cat up to move on to its next life. So what about freeing yourself up to move on to your next career? Life is too short just to have one! Getting curious is the first step on the road to a great new career future.

And the next step is to take action!

If challenging to you to get curious has got you thinking, then I invite you to come and take a look round the How to Change Careers website, http://www.how-to-change-careers.com. It takes you through a step by step process that will help you make the career change you know you need. You can also download my free Career Change Blueprint which explains the 5 essential steps to career change success as well as offering you 5 great bonuses.

So what are you waiting for? Get curious and start taking action now!

From Cherry Douglas, Your Career Change Guide

Changing Careers - Should You Follow Your Head Or Your Heart?

Are you struggling with your career change plans? Do you know you need a fresh start, but you just can't work out how to approach the whole business? Is there just too much to think about and you don't know where or how to begin?

Well, you are not alone. Many career changers get stuck because they are not sure what information is relevant and how to use it to make the right career change decisions.

Two approaches to career decision making

Fundamentally there are really just two broad approaches to career choice and career change decision making.

1. The logical, let's reason it all out approach - follow your head.

2. The intuitive, let's go with my instincts approach - follow your heart.

Much of the general advice on career change that you will find in books and on the internet falls into the first category. Advisers suggest that you should collect information about your skills, interests, experience and achievements and then match that against factual information you have collected about careers. Your new career then emerges from a review of what you have already done.

The alternative approach encourages you to think much more laterally. The idea is to break free from your employment and education history and allow yourself to think 'outside the box'. You are encouraged to reflect on your values, on what is important to you and what meaning you are seeking for your life in the longer term. The idea is that if you can truly engage with something that you feel deeply about, then you will find ways of making it happen.

Which one should I use?

You may have found that you automatically favoured one or the other of these two approaches. That is not surprising, because your inborn personality will lead you to prefer either a more logical style of decision making or a more intuitive one.

So my first suggestion is to go with what feels right to you. If you start by using a strategy that you feel comfortable with, you will be more likely to stick with it and make some useful progress.

However, if you only use your preferred approach, you are likely to overlook on a whole bunch of possibilities - a bit like only looking one way up the street and not the other.

Get a different perspective

To make a truly balanced decision about your career change, you need to use both strategies.

You may find using your less preferred approach hard work. Following your heart may seem a bit airy fairy if you are a rational type and collecting facts and figures may seem dull and pedantic if you are more intuitive.

So if you are struggling, enlist the help of a friend who you know operates differently from you. Ask them to help you think through the issues affecting your career change plans and they will help you make sure that you see things from every angle.

Variety is best. We all have at least some capacity to be both practical and intuitive and the best life decisions are made by tapping into both.

Head and Heart

So when planning a career change, use your head. Ask what am I good at, what experience have I had, what training will I need, how much will it cost, how long will it take, how can I get my CV or resume just right?

But also use your heart. Ask what would I love to do if there were no limitations, what kind of work inspires and excites me, what do I want to look back on with pride when I retire, when I am at my best what are the skills and strengths that I am using, what is the biggest, wildest dream I can imagine and how can I make that happen?

With the answers to both these sets of questions, the route to your new career will be a whole lot clearer.

And if you'd like more career change tools and strategies that use both the rational and the intuitive approaches, I invite you to browse around the How To Change Careers website http://www.how-to-change-careers.com and while you are there, I suggest that you download my free Career Change Blueprint which explains the 5 essential steps to career change success.

So what are you waiting for? Get your head and your heart into gear and start taking action now!

From Cherry Douglas, Your Career Change Guide

List Of Different Careers

This article contains descriptions and list of different types of careers.

Unless one grew up in a very wealthy family, usually a human being has to earn a living at some point of his or her life. We can safely say that a very significant amount of our life time is spent on a job.

Knowing is, how can we make our career or work more fulfilling and enjoyable? An essential aspect for consideration is to find a job that is compatible and harmonious with our personal skills and interest.

For example, if you enjoy and are skilled in music, you may want to find a job that pays you to do just that. You may want to thrive towards being a musician because this job takes full advantage of your passion and musical talent.

Below is a generic list of the various genres and types of careers. These careers are listed according to the nature of work. We should be able to fit into at least one category. That means at least one categories will align with our personal interest and talent better.

1. Artistic careers.

2. Medical careers.

3. Cooking and culinary careers.

4. Sales careers

5. Banking and finance careers.

6. Business and accounting careers

7. Legal and law-related careers.

8. Sports careers

9. Technical and engineering careers.

10. Musical career.

11. Aviation industry careers.

12. Divination and metaphysical careers

OK, these are the main sections. There may be a few minor sections being missed out. But in a nutshell, most jobs will fit into at least one of the category.

That's all for the article. Hope that it is useful.

The author runs Job Lense - list of careers, a career website which features many career profiles. The Paralegal career profile and Financial Planner Job Profile are also included in the website.