Career change Archives - The Voice of Job Seekers

Trying to Change Careers? This is the Time

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To change careers or jobs is the norm as it has been for some years now. One survey from Robert Half International shows 66% of professionals see changing jobs every few years as positive. Virginia Franco, the founder of Virginia Franco Resumes, wrote an interesting article about career change I wanted to feature.

Let me know what you think about this episode in one of three ways:

Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number

Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message

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Let me share more about Virginia:

Virginia is a five-time executive resume writer and been in business for the last nine years. She is also the host of her podcast, “Resume Storyteller” over the previous two years. She is also the current president of the National Association of Resume Writers.

Here are highlights of our discussion:

Career change is a popular subject and the right market to do so
Changing also make it a very competitive market
Make your case in front of a human being rather than applying online and competing with an Applicant Tracking System
Applying online is a false sense of security – three of 100 successfully get interviews
Referrals get 10x the response
Using the limited space for emphasizing years of experience wastes that space
Being a perpetual learner is a critical attribute, and showing your learning aptitude
Enthusiastic about learning is what employers want to see
Build a bridge by identifying transferable skills

You can also sign up for my weekly newsletter at the top right of my page to be on the first list of my free e-Guide, “300 Modern Job Search Tips for 2020!” This year, it will be free for a limited time. If you’re on the list, you’ll receive the tips at the beginning of November.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers," career consultant, job seeker advocate, career writer, and founder of this award-winning blog. I help the employed, unemployed, underemployed, and under-appreciated find jobs using job search strategies to navigate the new job market. I aim to give a safe place online to those with different needs, cultures, and ethnicities to find their voice in the job market. Thousands have read my career advice throughout the web as I write about everything from job search strategies to the mobile job search. I have published more than 400 articles on this blog and some of the largest career sites such as Recruiter.com, YouTern, and Come Recommended. I've been quoted in major online publications such as Monster, TIME/Money, Fortune, Business Insider and MSN. FlexJobs, JobMonkey, Aerotek, Career Pivot, and CareerSherpa listed my podcast as one of the top podcasts to help your job search. Love for you to sign up for the weekly newsletter. I share the latest articles I've written, new podcast episodes, and answer any questions you may have. The new job search is scary and if you need help, I am here for it!

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Your Career Trajectory, and a Business That Will Pay You Back

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This episode should equip your career in two ways:

It will stimulate your thoughts to create a business as an option to finding a job, and for some that aspire to be entrepreneurs it might be the best career option
You will be motivated to look way past your next job, add new critical feedback to your personal brand, and clarify your career trajectory

David Van Rooy (@dlvanrooy), author of Trajectory: 7 Career Strategies to Take You From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, is Senior Director of International Human Resources Strategy & Operations at Walmart. In his prior role at Walmart, he was responsible for the world’s largest performance management and employee engagement programs, covering nearly 2.2 million employees globally. David received his doctoral degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Florida International University (FIU). Much of his work was covered by many national and international outlets including USA Today and CNN.

David explains why career trajectory is an important element to everyone, and why will it affect the outcome for someone’s career
I ask David, “Do job seekers/employees discount the value of feedback? Where should people seek feedback?”
David shares about Think Big, Act Small, Move Quick (BSQ) strategies to one’s career trajectory from his book.

Laura Humphreys (@Liber8me) is the author of the nominated small business book of the year, “Liber8me.” Liber8me exists to help small business owner operators build a business that is not dependent on their time to make money. In essence, it’s a simple, practical formula that first shifts the mindset then puts steps in place to grow with confidence. She has been a freelancer/entrepreneur for the last 24 years, and believes that “… going out on your own with a view to building a business instead of being employed by someone else is a viable option for people these days.” Her book is a “2014 Gold IPPY Award Winner”, and nominated for a “Global Business Book Award.”

These are a few highlights of our conversation:

Laura shares that she started out as a secretary and learned a lot about running a business through that experience. She built a public relations firm from scratch and sold it for multi-millions (some sources said 15 million dollars)
She shares why it is important to build a business that people can be freed financially
I asked Laura to share about this article that perfectly is aligned with the ideas from her book that was published in Entrepreneur New Zealand magazine ( The 9 Don’ts of Business), 1) Don’t start a business without knowing what you offer or what is needed 2) Don’t be afraid to hire people 3) Don’t run a business without a budget 4) Don’t let them grind you down! (Love this!)
We also talked about another blog post, “Have you created a business or a life-long job?” that resonated with me. At the end of the article, there is an profound line that reads, “Are you choosing to build a business that will pay you back or are you choosing to work for a living?” She offers insight to the advice for others to build a business that would pay he or she back

Correction: I gave a shout out to Penny Sanseveri, whom I gave the wrong company. The website is www.authormarketingexperts.com. I apologize for the error, Penny.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

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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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Let me know what you think about this episode in one of three ways:

Let me share more about Virginia:

Here are highlights of our discussion:

About Mark Anthony Dyson

About Mark Anthony Dyson

About Mark Anthony Dyson