1. A post I came across on the Serial Reinvention blog mirrors something I tell my clients: “Don’t make the mistake of thinking that something you’ve gotten good at because you have to do it for work is something that you really like.” Author Rebecca MacDonald describes exactly what I mean in her post - Don’t Confuse Competence with Desire. Great insight:
…if you want to make a change, you have to break out of your competent zone. You have to push the boundaries and look for opportunities that don’t necessarily line up with your existing skills and experience.
2. Are you updating your resume in preparation of a career change? Check out Five Best Bets for a Career Change Resume on the Doostang blog. The first suggestion – “Shift Your Paradigm” is great for setting a mental stage before you even begin to revise your actual resume. As with any successful change, the internal adjustments come by clarifying your goals,values, and priorities.
3. In a tight job market, it seems logical that one of the ways to stand out as a candidate would be having more experience than the other potentials. Instead some employers are hesitant about hiring candidates that may become easily bored in an assignment less challenging than their previous role. Or they may consider an “overqualified” job seekers as a flight risk who will leave them as soon as the job market opens up. If you feel like you’ve been running into a roadblock in your job search because you are “overqualified,” here’s an article you’ll want to carefully read – Five Ways to Overcome Being Overqualified.
4. I couldn’t agree more with the expert cited in Loving the Job You Hate (I found this in the archives of Forbes.com Business Basics). Jane Boucher, author of How to Love the Job You Hate: Job Satisfaction for the 21st Century, cites three motivations for employees and I am not surprised at all that the #1 motivator has nothing to do with money. According to Boucher, employees are motivated when they like and respect who they work with, when they feel like their work has value, and when workers feel empowered and are given autonomy.
5. If you’ve had a chance to download my free report, 7 Ways to Makeover Your Career, you know that one of the ways to make your career over is to upgrade your professional image. More than just your physical appearance, your professional image includes your work habits, work ethic and your reputation. In The Three Qualities You Need to Get Ahead at Work, Avril David outlines three characteristics you need to build your career: competence, attitude, and potential.
Happy Browsing!
If you have a site you’d like to recommend to the list – add it in the comments section.
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Really helpful information. I have passed on your site to friends. I have been in the same career for 20 years. Would my best course of action be to have a professional resume written for me?
That would be a step in the process – a good resume writer or coach could help you articulate the skills and experience you have now that are best suited for your next career. Before you do that though, I suggest browsing job descriptions in the field you are interested in. That will go along way in figuring out how best to position your accomplishments and work history to potential employers.