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