Tracey, you have an interesting but doable challenge in front of you. First, you should abuse yourself of the notion that your resume is the only marketing tool in your toolbox. Many career changers make that mistake and leave the job of interpreting their resume to a potential employer or more readily, an uninspired human resources underling. A far more effective path is to define, from the inside out what you really would like to do professionally, then networking in to organizations that appreciate and could use your skills and passions. A trip through Richard Bolles’ What Color is Your Parachute? will help you:

Define your assets and develop a passion-based resume.
Develop a succinct, but powerful “elevator pitch” about yourself and how you can help a company or organization meet its challenges.
Demonstrate yourself as an attractive candidate to many employers.

Aubrey, there are many non-traditional careers you might research, but we would need more information about you to determine this information, i.e. your skill sets, most enjoyed skills, personal and work values, psychological type and temperament and the content interests, in addition to clinical and counseling psychology. However, the new world of technology offers exciting opportunities to bring the therapeutic and spiritual impacts of traditional psychological services to many people who either do not have access to such services or could not afford such services if they were entirely delivered face to face. The challenge of using the Internet and DVD technologies in new and powerful ways to make life better for more and more people, that is, to democratize quality services is going to be a great challenge to those of us in the helping professions.

Snezana, the best way to decide the right career is from the inside out. Learn who you are as a person and then find the people and organizations who will value what it is you have to offer. In my career planning process, I have the client ask himself/herself six fundamental questions:

Who Am I? Or what is my mental and emotional hardwiring? What are the personality and character traits that make me a unique human being?
How did I become who I am? What were the family, community, educational, personal and life   experiences that caused me to be who I am and either helped or hindered me from having the self-esteem and self-respect I need to be successful in life?
What are the assets I bring to the world of work? What are the skills, passions and talents that make me a desirable employee?
What kind of life would I like to lead? What is the future vision of my life that I believe will give me the greatest personal and career happiness?
What are the tools, strategies and contacts I need in order to find the work opportunities that will allow me to work at my best?
Who needs what I have to offer? CareerDNA will make this online offering in April but in the meantime, reference the book I mention in my answer to question number one, which is available at most bookstores and is an excellent guide to answering these questions.

Wayne, by “where I should begin?’ I assume you mean in starting a human resources consulting practice? Two paths seem most important. First, you should read about other human resources professionals who have either become a free agent or joined a consulting firm. Both options are potentially rewarding paths but joining a firm may or may not require having to market services while being a sole practitioner means that you have dual responsibility of servicing clients while developing new business to replace projects or engagements that end. The other key action is to find your local Society for Human Resource Management and American Society for Training and Development chapters and start to network with other professionals. There is nothing like making yourself known for enhancing your chances of either joining a consulting firm or finding business for a sole proprietorship.

Tom, Career Strategies/JVES at 1845 Walnut Street in Philadelphia is a recommended resource by nationally known career change author Richard Bolles. Their number is 215-854-1874. Good luck with them.

Deborah, the job search and self-marketing, as well as the sales pitch about your prospects as a salesperson are quite a laboratory for potential employers to determine whether you have the personality and transferable skills to make the transition from teaching to selling as a profession. I suggest you review your life history and develop a personal “highlight film” of the events, experiences, accomplishments, achievements and relationships that have been the most significant and satisfying to you and then deconstruct each one to see what transferable skills you not only used but used and enjoyed in each one. Then select the top ten skills that have made your experiences significant and enjoyable to you. This should give you a good idea of whether your skills match the skills required for a successful career in sales.  You can find a very helpful definition of transferable skills in the book I mention in my answer to question number one. However, there are personality attributes that are often necessary for career success in sales and you can research this online or with the help of your local librarian. The work you do in understanding who you are and the value you bring to an organization will go a long way in making a successful career change.

Jonathan, I don’t know if you are privy to the advice I gave Vince from MN below but I hope you are as the same applies to you. Reference the resource I mention in my answer to question number one, do the exercises mentioned in this book and figure out the ideal work that will make you fulfilled in your career. Then identify the organizations or people that need what you have to offer and pursue them with a passion-based job search that will yield work opportunities in order to make your professional life more fulfilling to you.

Vince, in the government sponsored O*NET, there are more than 300 occupations, with 15 job titles for each occupation, for people with at least an undergraduate degree. The best way for you to figure out the most fulfilling and appropriate career direction for you is to do the work necessary. May I suggest that you determine your life direction from the inside out by first inventorying who you are…your psychological type and temperament (see Dr. David Keirsey’s Please Understand Me II or visit www.keirsey.com), your work personality, most enjoyed transferable skills and the values and interests that most move you. Reference the book I mention in my answer to question number one, it’s a classic resource in the career planning field and would be a great guide to helping you determine your next career move. Once you have a clear direction and an articulate value proposition, you will be able to determine what company needs the skills & knowledge you want to offer through your work. A passion-based approach to the world of careers, in my experience, has been the most powerful one for the more than 5,000 people I have counseled in individual, group and classroom settings.

Mary, what an ambitious woman you must be to have completed so much higher education work over the years. While I don’t know enough about the coursework you completed for your Bachelor of Science in Legal Health Care, you certainly seem poised to explore work as a paralegal specializing in your field of expertise. With your determination, I wouldn’t be surprised if you then went on to a law school degree at night! While your age is a factor in many corporate jobs, the specialty world of law firms might not be such a hard nut for you to crack given your expertise and credentials. Have you talked with a career counselor at your school for more specific guidance? Since your school offers this specialized degree, it seems they have a moral responsibility to help you transition into your field and I suggest you hold them to that responsibility.

What is a real job? Certainly your work at different degrees was your job as a student and hopefully you have done that job well. The transition from learning to earning can be a huge challenge, but you will find that if you identify your skills, passions and interests and develop a “pitch” about your assets to employers who need what you can deliver, then the prospect of finding a job should not be so difficult. Consider using the services of your school’s career center and pick up a copy of the resource I mention in my answer to question number one, which is chock full of helpful information on executing a creative job search. Remember, at any given moment in time, there are at least 14 million job openings in the USA. All you need is one!

Olivia, it sounds to me like you have an embarrassment of talents, interests and energy. Perhaps you might consider combining your interest in psychology, graphic art and education and pursue a career in e-learning product development. Are you familiar with this field? One of the best e-learning companies in the USA is RootLearning in Maumeee, Ohio. There are many others and I suggest you research a field that can combine your interests before you narrow your career and educational track prematurely. Read and set up informational interviews with people in these fields and see if there is a good fit for you.

Patricia, you sound like you are in a great position to make the transition to the client side of your world. While MBA’s are often required for brand management positions, many companies are enlightened enough to see how your consulting experience is just as if not more valuable for success in that work. My suggestion is that you begin your job search and test the market for your value proposition. Many companies will happily hire you and reimburse your tuition if they would still require an MBA. Those companies that are more rigid on this issue may not be to your liking from a cultural point of view anyway. Since you seem to be highly results-oriented, you would best fit in with an organization that values performance over credentials.

Jeanne, career transitions are challenging but often very exciting journeys for those who are willing to do the work necessary to make successful transitions. In April, my company, CareerDNA, will offer a program online to help you to do that, but for now, please do yourself a great favor by reading and doing the exercises in the book I reference in my answer to question number one. The best way to make such a dramatic transition is to clearly identify the transferable skills you have and your competence level at each in order to justify a salary commensurate with what you will contribute to an organization. Additionally, you should not be going into a job you know nothing about as you should have researched the position and the company before interviewing and while you may not yet have the technical skills for the position, you should have a development plan, with or without support from the company, that will make you technically ready at the earliest possible time.

Lynn, you sound like quite the consummate professional who has much to offer an employer or to a client as a consultant. That last recruiter you talked to is, in my opinion, bowing too low to the god of age discrimination and jeopardizing your being able to present, in a powerful way, what you authentically have to offer to an employer. My advice is to accentuate the positive and be who you are as your experience and competence are the fruits of your age.

Lionel Trilling, the great American literary critic, wrote about the “twice born,” those who did not accomplish great things in the first half of their life but who had achievements that even exceeded the faster starters in the second half of their life. You sound like you might be one of the twice born. Hitting your head against the biases of large corporations is clearly not the best strategy.  The most likely place for you to get a break to show what you can do is with either a startup company or perhaps a turnaround situation. If you can afford working without pay for an equity position, startups are often exciting environments driven by risk-takers who are not impressed with the kinds of credentials valued by corporations but more by flexibility and ability to move quickly and smartly with few resources in order to get things done. Vision and strategy are usually highly valued and you say you have those qualities in spades. Check with local and state venture groups and business journals in your area for names of startup companies but also keep your ear close to the ground through networking.

Tom, your experience with this company does not bode well for the future as they took four weeks longer than they first indicated and they cannot extend an offer until months later. You are wise to question their commitment to hiring you but you gain nothing from politely declining their offer. Keep that possibility alive, but don’t count on it and get yourself back out there seeking another position. If you are without anything else in April 2006, then you might consider them. How much research have you done on their culture and commitment to employees? See if you can find out any information on them at www.vault.com or find some former or current employees to find out more about the company.

Rand, you are one of so many people who bounce from advisor to friend to family member looking to create the perfect resume. May I suggest you stop and think about what a resume is really for? Resumes are personal marketing tools and are best used as something you leave behind after you network into an organization you would like to be considered by. The best resumes is a statement of who you are in a summary profile, with examples (below) of how you have demonstrated your value proposition to others, both at work and in other aspects of your life.  For excellent examples reference the resource I mention in my answer to question number one, but remember that the majority of jobs are filled through networking rather than mailing resumes, etc.

Connie, while there is no formula for being a successful entrepreneur, perseverance and a passion for what you do are vital. My suggestion is that you start with a thorough assessment of your skill sets and your weaknesses so that you can see what kind of expertise and talent you need to supplement what you bring to an enterprise. While individuals might from time to time be successful entrepreneurs, most find that they must team up with others to bring an idea to reality. Sufficient capital, a good management team, a good idea for a product or service and marketing ability are all keys to success. You would do well to read some books on entrepreneurship and consult with your local Small Business Administration or SCORE chapter (retired executives) for advice and contacts.

Paula, since there is new management you have an excellent opportunity to start on a new foot. Most important is that you focus on two key issues. What is your value proposition as an employee and what does new management need that you can accomplish? Read Richard Bolles’ What Color is Your Parachute? and focus on the exercise where you identify your most important and enjoyed skills. At the same time, try to determine the challenges your company is facing and figure out how you can help address these challenges. This provides the basis for convincing new management that you know who you are, what you can do and how you can apply your knowledge to addressing the challenges faced by your employer.

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