Planning A Career Change

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Planning A Career Change

Posted by Dorothy Wilson on Thursday, February 11, 2010 Under: Developing Your Career

In today's economic climate planning a change of job presents a challenge. Planning a change of career may seem like climbing a mountain. However, the ability to manage change is a very marketable competence so demonstrating it in your approach to developing your career will have a double benefit.

And remember, a desire to change your career is a sign that you are still developing as a person so approach it in a positive frame of mind – even if you are feeling pretty negative about your current situation.

A starting point is to put together a structure around which your career change can be planned and organized. So here is an outline to help your thinking:-

Develop an understanding of yourself and what you have to offer in the job market. That will be a combination of the core attributes that come from your personality, learned skills and experience.
Group those attributes, skills and experience into Skill Sets that illustrate your competencies and expertise.
Have your eyes on the horizon but your feet on the ground and temper aspiration with realism. If your aspiration is to work in, say, deep sea fishing and you also dream of living on a Swiss mountain you might just need to recognise that you could have some complicated – and expensive – commuting challenges.
Carry out some simple market research to identify jobs that “spark” you. Then analyze what the people recruiting for those jobs are actually looking for.
You will then have some idea of the gaps between where you are now and where you would like to be.
Think in terms of stepping stones to enable you to bridge those gaps.
Now put together a CV. That will be a key marketing tool so make it a pointer towards the future rather than be merely a list of the tasks you have performed in the past.
You should now be ready to sort out your marketing plan. Tips on how to do that will form the basis of a future article so keep watching this site!

And yes, all this will take time and effort. But that time and effort will be an investment in your future. Surely you owe that to yourself.

[f you would like some help with this just send me an e-mail]

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About Me

Dorothy Wilson

Loughborough

So that you know who you are dealing with let me tell you a little more about myself. A broad-based business career, which includes working for both small and large companies, a spell in the City of London as well as running my own business has given me a deep understanding of the inter-relationship between people and organisations. The expertise I have developed in career development over the past couple of decades is under-pinned by a Diploma in Management from the Open University and an MA in HRM, with career development as the dissertation subject, from Nottingham Business School as well as a coaching qualification. Wearing another hat, I have had a long connection with an international exchange programme and am very proud to have served as European President of the alumni association. My connection with this programme has given me some tremendous experiences. One of those was presiding over a meeting held on the side of an alp in Switzerland - one step back and I could well have tumbled down into William Tell's lake. Another was giving one of the key-note speeches at a conference in Manila. Then there was being stuck on the side of a Swiss mountain, knee-deep in snow in the middle of a hailstorm not to mention being horrendously sea-sick on a trawler off the Swedish coast and being faced with a dinner of barbecued pig just after making to the shore. I also managed to beat a hasty retreat from some head-hunters in the Philippines. However, after all that, I'm now back in the village where I grew up, working from my home office where I can look over the fields towards the Wolds - gentle rolling hills - that straggle the borders of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. And from there I hope to share some of my knowledge and experience with you - and to have the pleasure of getting to know some of you.

Blog Archive

Planning A Career Change

Posted by Dorothy Wilson on Thursday, February 11, 2010 Under: Developing Your Career

A starting point is to put together a structure around which your career change can be planned and organized. So here is an outline to help your thinking:-

Develop an understanding of yourself and what you have to offer in the job market. That will be a combination of the core attributes that come from your personality, learned skills and experience.
Group those attributes, skills and experience into Skill Sets that illustrate your competencies and expertise.
Have your eyes on the horizon but your feet on the ground and temper aspiration with realism. If your aspiration is to work in, say, deep sea fishing and you also dream of living on a Swiss mountain you might just need to recognise that you could have some complicated – and expensive – commuting challenges.
Carry out some simple market research to identify jobs that “spark” you. Then analyze what the people recruiting for those jobs are actually looking for.
You will then have some idea of the gaps between where you are now and where you would like to be.
Think in terms of stepping stones to enable you to bridge those gaps.
Now put together a CV. That will be a key marketing tool so make it a pointer towards the future rather than be merely a list of the tasks you have performed in the past.
You should now be ready to sort out your marketing plan. Tips on how to do that will form the basis of a future article so keep watching this site!