New year, new career?
That’s the strategy of the majority of jobless Americans. According to CareerBuilder, 71 percent of workers laid off from full-time jobs are considering new areas of employment.
How can they find the right new direction? “Become quiet and get in touch with your authentic self,” advised Denver life and hypnotic coach Zoilita Grant. “The need to change careers is an opportunity to find a new one that will bring lasting happiness. This is a wonderful opportunityto find something you are passionate about.”
Career-changers may need help identifying their strengths, values, needs and passions, but this is critical to finding satisfying work. “When you find your life purpose with what you do for a living, you find lasting career satisfaction,” Grant said. Unfortunately, “The majority of people don’t have passion for what they are doing,” she said.
Here are some assessment tools that can help job-changers draw an authentic picture of their skills and desires:
• Dr. Seligman’s Brief Strengths Test at http://www. authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/questionnaires.aspx
• Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood’s Passion Test at http://www.thepassiontest.com/TPT/Home/index.cfm
• Values Clarification Exercise, Needs Assessment and Life Purpose exercise. (Contact Grant at info@zoilitagrant.net).
Denver real estate broker David Engleberg seems to have made a change aligned with his passion and abilities, with good potential to bring him success and fulfillment. When the life-long cigar lover had the opportunity to buy the Capitol Cigar shop in Denver, he ignited a new passion for work. He made the change during a time that his real estate career was slumping with the market.
Theresa M. Szczurek, Ph.D., and CEO of Technology and Management Solutions in Boulder, likely would agree with Engleberg’s career move. “Passion is important because it’s the fuel for the pursuit. It makes a huge difference in the level of engagement, enthusiasm and energy directed toward the purpose,” she wrote in her Pursuit of Passionate Purpose online newsletter.
Along with her focus on passion as a way to enjoy working, she recommends pursuing the purpose with a plan and people, and then assessing your progress. “Evaluate progress, recognize success, appreciate and determine what’s next,” she wrote.
*Choose psychic rewards*
Ezine careers writer Tony Jacowski has some simple warnings for those weighing a new occupation:
• A career change *cannot be spontaneous*, but must be the result of a well-planned and well thought out decision. Do not plan to change your career in just minutes.
• Do not change your career *just for the sake of big/instant money or glamou*r; rather, give some real thought as to whether you are really interested in switching to another career.
• Do not have *unrealistic expectations* for the career that you are going to choose.
• If it is sheer frustration or stress, and all other aspects are fine in your present career, then *target these two problems*, rather going for a career change.
It also is important to gather information before committing to a new employment field. Do this by:
• *Volunteering or finding an internship*. Volunteering is a great way to experience a potential new career. Many volunteer programs offer training, too. In addition, this provides much-needed work experience.
• *Joining associations and job-hunt clubs, meeting workers and employers, reading how-to books and more*, can add insight into a new sector.
• *Expanding your knowledge* and going back to school. It is not uncommon to need more education to pursue a new career. Some employers help with the cost of going back to school to learn a career, in exchange for an employment commitment. Job-changers may be able to continue their unemployment benefits while they are back in school.
• *Recalling and enjoying your passions*. Having more free time during unemployment presents an opportunity to reconnect with hobbies. Spending time doing the things you love to do can help you relax and discover a way to profit from your hobby. If you want to pursue a business idea, prepare a business plan, regardless of whether you require funding for your idea.
• *Creating a business plan* will help you be realistic about your idea and your finances. You can find help with preparing a business plan through the Small Business Administration; some states also offer free seminars and classes for starting your own business.
Two CareerBuilder tools can help searchers find jobs outside of their current field. See Jobs by Salary at CBsalary.com to identify positions by salary; Job
Discovery Wizard at CareerPath.com. identifies opportunities based on a candidate’s skills and knowledge. They also list any additional skills and training required, as well as long-term growth outlook.
The latest _Occupational Outlook Handbook_ online or in bookstores also details skills, salary, education, duties and job-growth outlook for hundreds of jobs.
_Linda Gaber is a copywriter and coordinator of JobsWeekly with The Denver Post._