Career Archives - Page 30 of 43 - The Voice of Job Seekers

How to Plan Wise Career Changes

Editor’s note: Steve Armstrong is the contributor today. His bio is at the end of the article.

New Career?

Tired of being misunderstood, ridiculed, or feel exploited at work? Or do you just think that your skills should be developed further, and that you have already reached the point where the joy of work transforms itself into everyday routine?

It is time to change your career path, or simply find another job, unless you want to work hard without being respected or appreciated.

Career Planning

You need to make a decision about your desire for career changes. If you change your career path, it means doing something completely different. For example, you are a journalist, and now want to work in the field of engineering. Otherwise, you could take your chance to find such a job similar to the previous one (switching from journalism to teaching English Literature). Everyone has his own career path.

Career path may be defined as the way to develop yourself professionally, based on your current personal skills, professional competencies, education and work experience. In order to plan your career wisely, you should analyze your skills well (e.g. responsibility, punctuality, ability to work in dynamic environment, etc.) and to use them for enhancing your professional competencies (for a teacher they could be: knowledge in the specific field of teaching, pedagogy, work with specific documentation, etc.).

Most people do not realize their career plans or do not feel free to choose career paths. It leads to frustration and low self-esteem. Therefore, if you want to change your career path, first you should know more about it. Analyze yourself, ask friends and relatives, ask career counselors. They will help you. After that, start planning your career: its goals, actions you should take to achieve them, expected results.

More specific steps that a person can consider while thinking about changing his or her career include:

Think of whether you are satisfied with your current job or not
Decide if you need to change your career
Try to assess yourself: interests, skills and values
Brainstorm on the list of alternative occupations and explore them carefully
Set your goals
Prepare a career action plan
Train yourself for a career you want to pursue

When to Change Your Career

Now, it is time to reflect on the question: are you satisfied with your current job? If no, why? In what respect do your expectations differ from the reality? Maybe you have planned your career in a wrong way?

Look at your skills, competencies and (especially!) work experience. What kind of job could give you the pleasant feeling of working hard, being respected and well-paid?

Remember: If you are a thesis writer, working as an accountant could put you in trouble (providing you don’t have education or experience in accounting). Thus, look for a job that would be easy for you to adapt to. It’s never late to do it.

Plan and Educate

In conclusion, it must be said that in order to change your career wisely, it requires a lot of critical reflections and self-analysis. Plan your career as precisely as possible, formulate your expectations and work on developing your skills and competencies, to be sure that you will find the right job for you in the easiest way.

Author Bio: Steve Armstrong works part-time for a college paper writing service at http://www.solidessay.com/our-services/thesis-writer, where he consults students on how to format and structure their research papers and dissertations. Read more here.

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About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Career Advice From a Tech Expert: Interview with Forough Ghahramani

What career advice can you give to engineers that hope to reach management levels in managing their careers?

Top ten tips include:

1. Obtain management and project management skills both through education as well as professional experience – technical skills coupled with business/management skills are critical to success in management.

2. Understand how to gather, analyze, and manage data – data analytics is a very important skill for all professionals, especially for managers. Information is power and therefore, understanding the significance of data and having the expertise in data analysis to convert data into information to make knowledgeable decisions is the key to successful management.

3. Develop strong verbal and written communication skills.

o To be effective communicators, engineers, scientists, and researchers must learn what it takes to translate – the language of technologist/engineer/scientist into concepts and analogies that can be easily understood.

4. Work collaboratively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

5. Employ a novel and adaptive thinking approach to your role, and continually create new solutions and ideas beyond that which is rote- or rule based.

6. Become skilled in cognitive load management. Become adept at sifting through large amounts of information to eliminate “noise” and focus on what is most pertinent.

7. Recognize the importance of an organization’s ability to be nimble and therefore, continually try to get the team out of doing things the same way just because that is how it has always been done to “how can we do this better and more efficiently.”

8. Capitalize on the strengths of each team member and try to mix up the different groupings of team members. This helps make the team more dynamic as well as promotes individual development.

9. Develop the ability to see the organization in relation to the wider environment and stand outside the organizational culture to come to conclusions and actions that keep the organization responsive and healthy.

10. If you believe in the work that you are doing, you will be motivated to work hard to accomplish the goals.

Should students starting out in school or their careers focus on a specific technology or take a broader approach to the industry?

It is important to pursue an academic field that will make one marketable to get a job. Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, students who pursue “STEM” (science, technology, engineering and math) related disciplines are in high demand right now.

It is important to note, however, that while having the technical skills required for the job is an important factor in getting the first interview and ultimately the first job, the following attributes and skills are significant factors in reaching career success:

* Novel and adaptive thinking

* Analytical skills

* Computational thinking – ability to translate large amounts of data into abstract concepts

* Understanding and communicating across multiple disciplines (known as transdisciplinary)

* Virtual collaboration

* New media literacy – visual, audio and virtual media are surpassing traditional text-based media

* Demand for blend of project management and technical skills

* Cross-cultural competency – be able to operate effectively in different cultural settings

* Communication skills (oral and written) – employers recruit those who are articulate, concise and have strong written skills. Verbal skills are important, while the new generation does most of their communicating without talking, “talking” has not gone away in business

* Leadership and team skills

* Time management

* Conflict management and resolution

* Facilitating and managing change

* Social intelligence and empathy – connecting to others in a deep and direct way

Therefore, it is important to develop the broad base of skills to complement the specific skills for the student’s’ discipline. Soft skill traits can be just as crucial as the technical skills.

What opportunities are you seeing most unfilled in the industry, and any insight into why?

The opportunity for a better collaboration between industry and academia to enhance student’s and educators’ learning/teaching experience.

* Mentoring opportunities from industry to educational institutions – involving both students and teachers.

o For example, in healthcare and biotechnology, early partnerships with local pharmaceutical, medical, healthcare, and biotechnology institutions is key to developing the necessary workforce and successfully placing students.

* Promote summer education workshops for teachers and guidance counselors in the industry with the ultimate goal of raising awareness in major influencers of future generation of scientists and engineers.

* Given the gap between public understanding and public perception of biotechnology, genetic engineering or gene mapping, researchers should take an active role in helping to educate and inform the public.

o Not all scientists are in the teaching profession, but all scientists can teach by sharing their knowledge and expertise with others. Whether it’s giving a presentation to students in on ‘career day,’ serving as a mentor for an aspiring biologist or talking to a local civic organization – being able to communicate effectively about your research and your scientific discipline is essential.

What type of work should students look to perform as part of internships?

I believe any type of exposure to a professional setting will provide valuable experience for the student. It is important that the organization has made a commitment to dedicate resources to spend time with the student, provide meaningful work to the student, and therefore, there is a specific outcome expected of the experience so that the student has something to show for their time.

Keep the following in mind:

* Goals are defined

* Work experience is varied

* Experiential learning is accompanied by discussion with professionals

* Access to mentors is available

It is when learning is infused with examples from the biotechnology/engineering/scientific/business setting, and students are able to practice hands-on technical/management skills on a regular basis that a program has the greatest impact on a student pursuing a job in their field of interest.

Biotechnology has been one of most popular fields when discussing job growth and opportunity. In your role as an educator, have you seen a large number of career changers entering the field? Are they finding opportunities after school as readily as traditional students?

We have several health sciences programs at DeVry University, including health information technology (HIT) and neurodiagnostic technology (NDT), and those areas seem to attract career changers.

Other popular fields generally include healthcare as well as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and the types of jobs these offer range from a medical writer to a product/process developer to a bioinformatist.

Career changers oftentimes tend to be more mature, have more confidence as well as experience, while not in their current field of study necessarily. However employers are gravitating towards these types of students due to those characteristics described earlier that differentiates them from their less experienced academic peers.

Therefore, many times the career changers have a competitive advantage. In addition, the HIT and NDT programs engage students in practical settings and not only enable participants to develop high levels of competency in basic industry skills, they also provide participants with the opportunity to understand different aspects of the field.

How important are advance degrees in the biotech field?

Interdisciplinary skills including biology, information technology, mathematics, and analytics are all extremely important for success in the biotechnology field. There are few degree areas that offer all or a subset of these in one undergraduate degree, such as bioinformatics. Therefore, advanced degrees are necessary to acquire a combination of these necessary skills.

For those who aspire towards management, advanced degrees in management and business administration are also necessary for complementing the science/technology expertise with management skills.

How competitive is biotech for the mature career changer? If any, what challenges does an older group face?

As I mentioned, in response to a previous question, a mature career changer in many instances has a competitive advantage over traditional students in biotech and healthcare, based on maturity, confidence, communication and leadership skills.

The challenges include:

* Proficiency in use of technology

* If they have not used their math and analytical skills for a long period of time, this serves as a challenge for them

* Requirement for interdisciplinary skills

What are the top 3 things a 2013 graduate in this field should be doing now to prepare for his or her job search in this field?

* Develop a network of contacts (professors, friends, parents of friends, friends of parents, family, and neighbors, etc.)

o Inform people know that you are about to graduate and are looking for a job before you actually graduate

o Create a professional social media profile (i.e. LinkedIn)

o Look into professional organization memberships

o Good networking is about building solid, trusted relationships that are long-term, not short-term

* Develop and market your brand: what are your key differentiators, how do you want people to perceive you

* Think ahead – create a 3-5-year plan

For more information on careers of the future and ways to advance in your job search, visit www.devry.edu/know-how.

Author: Forough Ghahramani

A transformational business leader, engineer, and entrepreneur, Forough Ghahramani is an associate dean of the College of Business and Management and the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University and is the founding director of the New Jersey Center for Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship.

Prior to her current role, Forough was a senior systems architect at Hewlett-Packard. Forough’s diversified career experience includes higher education management, strategic planning, management consulting, business analysis and organization-wide information technology planning.

Forough has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a minor in biology from Pennsylvania State University. She also holds a master’s in business administration from DePaul University as well as a master’s degree in computer science from Villanova University.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Who Says It’s a Man’s World: Interview with Emily Bennington

Book Review: Who Says It's a Man's World — Book Review: Who Says It’s a Man’s World

This interview with Emily Bennington is the heels of the review here. Before posting the final edit of the interview I notice there were several inspirational quotes. Bennington’s employment experience and perspective offers women inspiration to take careful stock of her career path and focus on being great to achieve greatness. I hope you are inspired after reading as much of this advice is applicable to all job seekers.

1. Did you ever think how different Who Says It’s a Man’s World would have been if it were written in the 1980’s? Why not or how so?

Ha! Great question. Despite the aggressive-sounding title of the book, Who Says It’s a Man’s World is actually about being a magnificent woman first and then building a solid career from that place. So, in that sense the advice is timeless and just as relevant in the 80’s as it is today.

2. Most authors who write career books do not include the worksheets and exercises that you did making your work much more valuable to the reader. What was your thought process to include such practical advice?

Thank you so much. I thought it was important to include these tools because I’m interested in learning that goes beyond just educating – I want readers to actually change habits that aren’t serving them. But in order to do that, there has to be a framework for applying new skills and knowledge.

3. What lessons should job seekers take away from a primarily workplace book?

At the end of the day, Who Says It’s a Man’s World is about discovering WHO you would be if you were working at your best and mindfully taking action each day to reinforce those values. So from that perspective there is no line between “job seekers” and “employed.” It’s about working from your authentic self regardless of what you do. That said, if you are a job seeker and you’ve gone through the process in the book of identifying your virtues (what matters most to you), your intentions (specific behaviors that underscore your virtues), and career goals (what is your general direction), you’re going to come into interviews with a much clearer sense of what you bring to the table and a confidence that’s attractive to potential employers.

4. Are messages like yours reaching new graduates? Why should they be concerned at the beginning?

Many employers are totally enchanted by the enthusiasm and skill set that new grads bring to the table. Still, if there is one challenge I hear over and over again it’s that these same employers sometimes find it difficult to assimilate the energy of new grads into established work teams. There’s a chapter in Who Says that addresses the top three skill gaps surveyed employers cited that are specific to new grad hires and so I think the more students can become aware of these perceptions before they enter the workforce, the more they will be able to address them proactively.

5. What do graduates understand about career value now that more seasoned professionals didn’t understand at the same age range?

I think the author Marianne Williamson summed this up best when she said younger generations know more about things that change while older generations know more about things that don’t change. In other words, young adults may be on the cusp of all that is trendy and innovative, but seasoned professionals deeply understand the importance of core values. Great teams have a mix of both.

6. Do young career women and mature career women value the same career goals, skills, or attributes? If they differ, where in the middle can they meet?

There is a middle ground for everyone and it is this: You must be a magnificent woman first to have a magnificent career. Goals and skills will come and go, but defining the values on which you stand as a professional should be your north star always.

7. Out of the five professional development areas, where do women excel the most, and where do they fall short?

I can’t speak to the areas in which professional women excel or fall short overall because that’s so subjective to each of us as individuals. I will say, however, that I believe this is an unprecedented period in business where many executive teams are taking a very serious look at what their companies stand for beyond just making a profit for shareholders. This is great news for women, of course, because the notion of leadership by nurturing the collective is so central to who we are.

8. Are women in leadership (Directors to Executives) who wrestle with family commitments thinking in terms of being an example to the people they lead?

I certainly hope so. The pressure to be available 24/7 in business today is destructive to families because when you’re on your phone, you can’t truly BE with your spouse and children. If real change is going to come in this area, it has to start with women who draw boundaries for themselves and model that behavior for their teams.

9. Within the survey/study, is there any evidence or pattern showing how professional development is viewed by management? It seems that many employers are leaving career development in general up to the employee.

Professional development is a real grey area in business. Some companies are outstanding at it while others totally suck. The ones that excel have full leadership buy-in and actually put their resources where their mouth is when it comes to “people first.” Still, I strongly believe it’s up to each individual to take charge of your own professional development and fill in any gaps between where you are and where you want to be. No one will ever care about your career more than you do.

10. Occasionally, authors write advice books finding that there were lessons that affected them as much as the reader. Did you have a moment like during or after writing? If so, what was one thing in retrospect that was an “aha moment.”

Actually, my whole definition of success was redefined with this book. When I first started writing, it was all about helping readers get to the corner office. By the end of the process, I figured out that a white-knuckle grip on “goals” was actually a recipe for unhappiness in our careers. This book taught me that real success is about putting the WHO before the WHAT I will forever be grateful for that lesson.

EMILY BENNINGTON is a frequent speaker on the topic of career success and has been featured on Fox Business, CNN, and ABC, and quoted in publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and Washington Post Express. She is a contributing writer for Monster.com, a featured blogger for The Huffington Post, Forbes Woman, and US News and World Report, and coauthor of Effective Immediately.