Looking for a New Job or Career

Looking for a new job or career? Whether it is due to a corporate layoff, or just a change of interest on your part, you will find yourself starting over and following a new path at some point during your career. Most individuals will change jobs or careers several times in a lifetime. Starting a new job or career does not need to be a stressful event. With a little bit of planning, your transition to a new job or career can be a successful one.

Self-Evaluate and Identify Transferable Skills for that New Job or Career

This is the time to ask to yourself what you enjoy, what you are good at doing, and how that will transfer into a marketable job and career satisfaction. Several career websites exist to help individuals figure out the best career choices for themselves. MyNextMove is a career website that allows users to explore career options. They also have an online profiler that helps a user pick a career based on work experience and interests.

MySkillsMyFuture finds careers that are similar to your current career. They also list job listings, salary information, and business that offer employment in related fields. Information on schools that offer training related to those careers is also offered.

ONet Resource Center is a nationwide database of occupational information. ONet also has career exploration and assessment tools such as an ability profiler and interest profiler to help workers research careers that best fit their skills and interests.

Network, Network, Network to Find a New Job or Career

The best way to find a new career or job is through networking. Take advantage of social media, professional organizations, volunteer work, and college alumni organizations to form potential work opportunities. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter can help to promote your new career and to market yourself as an expert. CareerBuilder.com is one of many job sites that allow individuals to search for jobs and for businesses to connect to prospective candidates. Always have business cards on hand so that new introductions will remember your name and have a way to contact you in the future.

Find a Mentor to Help You Succeed at Obtaining a New Job or Career

It is never too late to learn. A mentor, someone was has the inside track and can guide you, is one of the best ways to jump start a new job or career. Many colleges, businesses, and professional organizations have mentorship programs. Make sure that you pick a mentor who will help you enhance what you want to improve and who will help you succeed at your goal of obtaining a new job or career.

Upgrade Your Skills to Make Yourself More Marketable for a New Job or Career

Before you make that career or job move, consider seeking additional training. Technology changes at a rapid pace. Up-to-date training is an excellent way to become more marketable to a current employer.

Update Your Job Hunting Skills to Compete for a New Job or Career

The rules have changed regarding job hunting. An individual seeking a new job or career should expect to use social networking sites, online discussion groups, professional organizations, college alumni associations, and traditional methods to find a new career or job. Traditional job methods still exist and word of mouth is a great way to find out what opportunities exist. But, one should not limit themselves to only one method for job hunting.

Keep Trying for a New Job or Career

Finding a new job or career is time intensive and requires a lot of effort. According to the nationwide outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, it takes about four months to find a job. For some, the job hunt may take longer if demand is low for your skillset or if the economy is not doing well. Volunteer work in your field of choice may help to keep you motivated. It also helps to talk to other peers if you are discouraged. Failure is when you stop trying so never stop trying to achieve your goals.

Updating Your Resume for a New Job or Career

The old rules regarding resumes have also changed. The standard one page format has given way to a resume that fills two pages if experience and accomplishments merit. Today’s resumes are scanned into applicant tracking programs that match applicants to jobs according to keywords in the resume. The objective statement has been replaced with a personal summary that allow individuals to market themselves more effectively to a company’s goals and objectives. Market your achievements on your resume instead of using the traditional summary of job duties. Include relevant experience that will help you get the job you want unless omitting a job will leave an employment gap. Also, think out of the box and consider sharing your resume in formats that aren’t paper based. Infographics, QR codes, video, PowerPoint, or a website that hosts your resume are some of the non-traditional formats that you can use to market your skills. Make sure to follow-up with your prospective employer after submitting your resume. Take care to not annoy your perspective employer when doing following-up on your resume submission.

Conclusion

Although looking for a new job or career is never easy, it can be a fairly painless process if you follow a plan and persevere. The rewards outweigh the hard work and effort involved in accomplishing the goal.