10 Tips for Career Changers

10 tips for career changers published in the Chicago Tribune January 15, 2009, www.chicagotribune.com/educationtoday/ on page 3.

Maria Malayter, assistant professor and director of the Center for Positive Aging at National-Louis University, offers 10 tips for those contemplating a career change.
• Identify your strengths and interests by exploring career books. I rec­ommend Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron Tieger’s “Do What You Are,” which connects your preferred personality temperaments to various careers.
• Explore a new career field by taking a course in an area of interest.
• Identify your ideal work environment. Do you want to work for yourself or others? Are you an independent worker or do you prefer teams?
• Utilize the largest occupational resource on the Web, O*NET Resource Center, to learn more about specific careers and individual work strengths. www.onetcenter.org
• Enroll in a career assessment course at your local college.
• Interview your family and friends for their perceptions about potential career fields based on your skills and strengths. If you are the favored family reunion planner, perhaps meeting planning might be a good career change for you.
• Consider your passions and how you would like to impact the world.
These choices might enlighten you to pursue specific career fields.
• Conduct informational interviews of people in the career field you are considering.
• Create a professional network on LinkedIn.com .
• Life is short, do what you love. ~doc Maria

Welcome to the Center 4 Positive Aging Blog!

The Center for Positive Aging has really been a wonderful adventure as we have been carving out the niche of midlife and beyond as a focus versus the Center only being for older adults. The Center has been a joy with large community involvement and many positive results. We have been blessed to partner with some fabulous people and organizations: AARP Illinois, Women’s Bureau U.S. Dept of Labor, IL State Treasurer’s Office, Brookdale Senior Living, Lisle Chamber of Commerce, DuPage Workforce Board and the Trust Company of Illinois. Together, we have touched many lives. We have been drawn to the topics of financial security, positive aging, and employment strategies for the mature workforce. It has been an amazing time of movement.
When thinking about Positive Aging, I wanted to share this topic about impact and meaning in life. This morning when I was in church at Faith in Aurora, IL, the message was “How do I make an impact?” I have heard some people midlife and beyond say, “Is this what my life was supposed to be at this age?” Although we may be measuring our lives against the expected, prescribed normal standards of our culture, we must always ask, “Do I feel good about my impact on the world?” We are not all destined to be world leaders but our lives definitely impact those who we love and our local communities. Perhaps, it is not that we are to create major peace talks or find the cure for cancer, but to know our small gesture, our personality, or our actions make a difference. You are part of the wonderful mosaic of this world. When you come to the question, “Is this it?” look around your life and know your piece of the mosaic matters. The little things make a difference.
The Center’s web site is www.nl.edu/positiveaging/