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Three Keys to an Effective Career Change

2022 is here! As the year begins the COVID 19 pandemic is still very much in play, and new variants continue to pose serious challenges. There is a small glimmer of light at the end of the of the tunnel. While there are still restrictions in place, we can still return to doing some of the things we enjoy. In terms of the job market, things are also beginning to pick up. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has the current 4.6% unemployment rate at its lowest point since the outbreak of the pandemic in March of 2020.

However, one interesting occurrence in the job market was the number of people who decided not to return to their previous occupations. The BLS estimates approximately 4.4 million people have quit their jobs, and contrary to what some believe, this is not due primarily to anti-vaccination, or mandated vaccination issues. That is a small part of it; but there are deeper, more personal issues at play here.

Photo By: Gatot Adri

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we work, and as a result, enabled more reflective time to consider meaning, value, and “work-life” balance. It gave people a different experience, and time to slow down and reflect on what is important to them. Yes, some jobs did not return after businesses closed due to the pandemic, but millions decided that they no longer wanted to return to their previous way of life especially in terms of their work lives. Some will pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, while others will seek to make career changes and make a fresh start. They want to find and do work that provides meaning and value to their lives and the lives of others.

I want to share a few thoughts for career changers to consider as they embark on making that fresh start. There are at least three things I think you should make a part of your career change process.

First, consider your passions. Think about the things you enjoy doing in your own time, such as hobbies or things you do just for the pure fun and enjoyment of doing it. I believe this is a critical part in setting a direction for career change. For example, I am a tech enthusiast. I enjoy building gaming and business productivity PC’s and learning about new technologies and how they impact our lives. What you enjoy may be entirely different but identifying what you enjoy and have a passion for is important. You can have one passion or multiple passions; it doesn’t matter. Taking those passions into consideration as part of your career change is what is important.

This leads to the second thing to consider in making your career change. Ask yourself some key questions regarding your passions. They would include: What are the things I am skilled at in my passion? Am I learning new things and developing new skills in the areas of my passions? These types of questions are essential to the third aspect of the effective approach to career change.

The third piece would be to identify what industry your passions fall under. Is it the tech industry? Maybe its culinary, fashion and beauty, botany or the environment, retail sales, automobiles, just to name a few. By identifying your passions, skills, and industry, you have the foundation on which to build a satisfying and meaningful career shift, instead of pursuing a “job” because you need to pay bills – as so many do – finding yourself working but stressed and unhappy.

I have encountered many people who have jobs they hate but go through the motions every day because bills got to be paid. Impactful career change is about finding that right match of passions, skills, and industry. The career change search begins with establishing which companies are in the industry where your passions lie. You are probably already a customer with one or more of these companies. After you’ve assessed what your key skills are in your passion, you explore to find if there are positions available with companies in the industry that match your skills, and if not find out what skills are in demand that you may need to develop. Learning new skills centered around things we are passionate about comes naturally, so that’s an easy obstacle to overcome.

The key takeaway here is that career change is more than just searching for a new job. Doing work that brings meaning, personal satisfaction, and benefit to others involves finding that right combination of passion, skills and industry.

Of course, paying the bills and meeting the needs of life are important, but if you can do it in a space that has these three elements, you are more likely to experience career growth, rather than seek career change. I hope that 2022 will be the year that more people find careers that bring these three elements together. We will all benefit as a result. Namaste.

This article was first published on Transformation.net

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Greater Paterson OIC, its Board of Directors, or any other group or individual affiliated.

Earn More Money with New Skills

Earning more money can be as simple as assessing ALL of your skill sets. Most of don’t list all skills like typing, clerical, our ability to exhibit great customer service, we leave out things we think are irrelevant. However, it when you assess your skill set that you can begin to compare your skills to what is in demand. Then you can develop a plan to acquire the new skills you want. There are many way to acquire new skills without having to pay thousands of dollars. Let me know your thoughts about this topic I am interested in hearing your opinion?

Developing One of Our Most Important Skills.

Most of the people I know had a great sense of relief and renewed hope when 2020 ended. I am confident that I am not alone in saying it was one of the most challenging years of my life.

Of course, the elephant in the room was the COVID-19 pandemic, but there were other issues that made the year so challenging. Racial and social injustice, excessive force by police against unarmed citizens, economic downturns, and warring political ideologies brought to the surface the division that is present in the country.

The divisiveness that exists in America was on clear display in 2020 and increasingly exploited to a large extent by people in positions of leadership.

I firmly believe one of the primary contributors to the divisiveness that remains a part of American culture is a lack of critical thinking skills. The lack of critical thinking skills leads to being moved by our emotions instead of the facts, and to being manipulated to take actions we might not otherwise take.

Without critical thinking skills, we accept and act on beliefs that have no basis in fact, no evidence or proof, and sometimes, we can become so stubborn that we reach a point where we vehemently reject facts or evidence when presented.

The ability to gather, compare, examine sources, and test information before deciding on courses of action is an essential skill to develop.

Critical thinking skills are also essential in the workforce. This topic is important for educators and my colleagues in workforce development. In terms of the workforce, a recent report “Keys to the Future: Align Workforce Readiness Skills to Ensure Student Success” from the International Data Corporation (IDC) notes:

“The most required skills across all occupations include oral and written communication skills, detail orientation, marketing skills, integrity, and customer-service orientation.”

Critical thinking is an important part of all the skills mentioned.

In further discussing the sets of skills needed in the workforce, the report says:

“This set is more important than any specific technology skill, deep science or math, or even great business skills. This set represents skills that are both important and widely required across positions. And the vast majority of them are ‘soft’ skills that are applicable across a wide variety of occupations. Many of these skills aren’t foreign to most contemporary curricula. In fact, critical and creative thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and detail orientation are relevant across all knowledge and domains.” (underlines mine)

Restating an important point in the report; critical and creative thinking are relevant across all knowledge and domains. This includes both our personal and professional lives.

As a workforce development professional, I have committed to making sure we are including critical thinking skills in all our training programs. Not to tell people what to think, but how to think and make informed decisions. Both personally and professionally.

There will always be different points of view and disagreements on the issues and how to go about changing things; but we owe it to ourselves to seek facts, to find credible evidence for the positions we take, and remain open to changing if additional information becomes available. That is the essence of critical thinking.

Not only is this relevant in the workforce, but it will improve communication and relationships in our personal lives, our communities, and the country.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Greater Paterson OIC, its Board of Directors, or any other group or individual affiliated.

The Post: Developing One of Our Most Important Skills appeared first on transformationtraining.net

How to Know You’ve Found Your Ideal Job

When it comes to employment, increasing numbers of people are seeking more from their work than just collecting a paycheck. Finding work that has meaning and value is now high on the list of job seekers today. Having a process to evaluate a great job match is helpful in making that determination. There are 5 key factors that can be used to identify the ideal job. If you find yourself with less than 3 of the 5 it might be a cause for concern, and maybe time to look for a change.

The 5 keys are as follows:

  1. Love What You Do

The first criterion in determining the ideal job is doing work that you love, that you are passionate about, that drives, energizes, and leaves you with a sense of personal satisfaction as you go about completing the daily tasks involved.

  • Love Why You Do It

Having a cause that is bigger than yourself is another critical aspect in determining meaningful work. Why you do something is equally, if not more, important than what you are doing. Knowing why you’re doing what you do provides additional energy and clarity to your work.

  • Love Where You Do It

Fortune magazine annually puts out a list of the best companies to work for. Google, SAS, and Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., are a few companies that have been on that list for multiple years. It’s no coincidence that companies that people enjoy working for achieve high levels of success. When you love your place of employment, and when your work is done in an pleasant environment, the quality of work produced is consistently higher.

  • Love Who You Do It With

In any working environment you are bound to run into someone who rubs you the wrong way. But when you love the people you work with, it makes going to work every day much more enjoyable. Working with a group of like-minded people with a shared vision and purpose adds value and meaning to any work situation.

  • Love Who You Do It For

This alludes back to the “why.” Who are the intended beneficiaries of your work? Who are your customers, clients, constituents (whatever you want to call them); what is the impact you have on their lives? When your work is centered on enhancing the lives of others, every aspect of your work is filled with unbridled vigor and meaning. When all five of these elements are in place, you can feel confident that you’ve found the ideal job. Some might say this isn’t realistic, but I disagree. It’s not common, but there are people enjoying and experiencing all 5 of these key elements in their work, myself included. How many of these can you apply to your current work situation? I would love to know.

By Hollis Nelson

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