Our network of professionals have over 30 years of experience in providing career coaching, leadership, career planning, business mentoring and writing effective resumes that gets results. We also provide life coaching and life management services. Our services are provided across Canada, the United States and in Europe.
2. Career Transition
Doesn’t Always Mean
a Change of Careers
If you cannot imagine your
career prospects flourishing
anytime soon, or perhaps you
can no longer feel your
passion for what you do, it
will be easy for you to think
that you need to change jobs
or careers. But you have to
realize as well that moving to
a new and different industry is not always the
solution to your dilemma.
Instead of looking for another place of employment
and doing a career transition, you should consider
taking another route in your present career first.
Learn how you can use your expertise in an entirely
different way just so you can further your skills and
explore more opportunities for career growth.
Ways to Reroute Your Current Career
By Teaching It
You can find teachers virtually everywhere. Teachers
are present not only in universities and schools, but
in companies as well. Even big private corporations
take advantage of trainers to teach and train
employees regarding company procedures, use of
software, and so on. If this is the path you would be
interested to pursue, consider taking additional
coursework in teaching.
By Communicating It
There are several ways you could communicate and
share with others all your knowledge and expertise.
Technical writing, for example, is becoming a popular
field for those coming from the industries of
engineering, software development and computer
design. You may take courses as well to develop your
writing skills, which you can use even for home based
online writing jobs.
By Selling It
If you are too familiar with how your industry works,
you can use this expertise to attract people to engage
in the same. You can work like a broker who will
make way for buyers to meet sellers. The good thing
about getting a sales job is that it doesn’t require any
college degree on your part. But you need to be
resistant and persuasive enough to become an
effective broker or seller.
How to Prepare Yourself
Making the changes in your career within the same
field is always practical and easier to do than to have
to start another career from scratch. But as you can
expect, this requires a lot of work on your part. You
will need to gain enough experience, knowledge and
familiarity with the new career you are to pursue. By
investing enough time in improving yourself and
honing your skills, you will definitely benefit a lot
from this change. You can check out some online
tools for free career assessments so that you will
have an idea about how you can maximize your
potential to reroute your career.
The Value of a College
Degree in Career
Planning
With the economy that’s just recovering from the
recent economic recession plus the scarcity of jobs
available, job seekers in different fields are realizing
the importance and great value of a college degree.
Although the level of education you attain will not
define what opportunities will be open to you, the
kind of degree you have surely matters. In fact,
because of the huge number of job seekers these
days, applicants who do not have a Bachelor’s,
Associate’s or a Master’s degree may easily be
marked out of an employer’s list of prospective newhires. Thus, it is vital that you take into account your
college degree as you start your career planning.
3. Degree Completion
and Unemployment
Government records
show that the
completion of a higher
education degree is vital
for any job seeker. In a
particular report in 2009, for instance, it shows that
the unemployment rate was over two times higher
for those who have a high school diploma compared
to individuals who have obtained an Associate’s
degree. This difference increases to almost three
times when comparing unemployment to the number
of people without a bachelor’s degree.
Degree Completion and Salary
Aside from giving you an edge over other job
applicants, an undergraduate or, better yet, a
graduate degree has been proven to help boost
workers’ salary. This is no surprise, actually, because
higher level of education indicates an applicant’s
education background, training, and overall
knowledge in the field. This makes him preferable
over others who only have work experience to show.
Achieving Your Goals in Your Career
Money is the main reason we all need to work, but for
many of us, credibility is another big reason for
making a career. As an employee, you would also
want to be respected and your ideas and input be
valued. With a higher degree, you are definitely
deserving of such respect. It is worth mentioning also
that employees who have a good educational
background, right attitude, and great talent are the
ones who are often given promotions. Although they
are then given more responsibilities, they are also
given higher pay and more perks and benefits.
Opportunities for a Wider Network
Another important benefit of earning a higher degree
is that the time you spent in college or university
gives you a lot of chances to meet people and develop
your own network. This is vital as you start searching
for a job. Therefore, before you finally decide what
college course to take or degree to pursue, make sure
you consider what your career goals are. It is a must
also that your college education be included as
among the important components in your career
planning.
Taking Advantage of
Free Career
Assessments Online
If you are asked during an interview what your
greatest strength is, you are supposed to explain
which of the three types of skills you have –
transferable, technical, and adaptive skills. Needless
to say, you should discuss what skills you have in
relation to the job or position you are applying for.
This is the same strategy that you need to use when
creating your resume and cover letter. You must
emphasize the skills you have which are also
required in the job you are hoping to get. With all this
in mind, you had better take advantage of those free
career assessments online to have an idea about the
skills you possess and how significant they are in
your application.
Technical Skills
Technical skills are without a doubt a must-have.
There is no way you can land a job unless you have
the exact skills required by the employer. For
instance you are applying to be a marketing manager,
you basically need to have skills in retail brand
management, product marketing, pricing
distribution, and so on.
Transferable Skills
If you think it is enough that you possess adequate
technical skills, you are wrong. In a highly
competitive job market that we have today,
employers are looking for job candidates who have
skills not focused on only one field. The more skills in
other industries or fields you have, the more likely
you are to be hired. This is why career development
experts always encourage job seekers to try working
in fields that do not relate to their degrees, as this is
an effective way of gaining more experience and
developing a wide variety of transferable skills.
Adaptive Skills
Your adaptive skills are actually what will define you
not only as a worker, but as a person as well. How
4. good do you think your work habits are? Do you have
what it takes to successfully fit in the company?
These questions are both related to your adaptive
skills. For employers, the personality and attitude of a
job candidate are very important considerations in
hiring them. So for you as an applicant, it is all up to
how you present yourself and what impression you
are going to make.
Conclusion
After knowing what skills
you need to develop to land
the job that you want, you
may feel overwhelmed and
even discouraged by the
possibility that you lack
these skills. This is why you need to try any of those
free career assessments on the internet. The results
of these tests will give you an idea as to what skills
you have and which skills you need to develop more.