ISBN: 1-57023-216-4
By Ron and Caryl Krannich, Ph.Ds
A job or career should not be a life sentence. You should have the freedom to choose what you want to do, where, and with whom. The power to do so lies within you. But you first need to know what you do well and enjoy doing and then target a job that's fit for you.
That's the central message of this revealing self-assessment and job search book. It addresses a growing phenomenon: more and more people are interested in doing something else with their lives.
While they may not be unhappy with their current job, they often feel less than challenged and frequently over-stressed doing things that seem to have little purpose in their lives.
Many would rather be doing something more meaningful, but they are not sure what it is. Some look for a magic bullet, usually a test, that might unlock the secrets to renewed career satisfaction.
Two of America's leading career experts address these and many other important career issues. Examining the entire career exploration process, they outline proven strategies for discovering one's strengths and relating their values to new jobs and careers. The book:
- examines and critiques different self-assessment approaches
- identifies major interest, skill, aptitude, and temperament tests
- reviews the promises and pitfalls of using career services
- surveys key career assessment resources, both online and offline
- summarizes the best jobs for the future
- shows how to identify skills, abilities, interests, and values
- analyzes motivated abilities and skills (MAS)
- reveals how to formulate a powerful employer-centered objective
A special chapter relates self-assessment information to the whole job search process, with special emphasis on resumes, networking, interviews, attitudes, ethics, and implementation.
The perfect resource for anyone contemplating a job or career change related to their most important interests, skills, and values. 208 pages. 6 x 9. 2005. $15.95.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Is There More to Life Than This?
- Clarifying a Bewildering World of Approaches
- Working With Your Best Friends
- The Magical World of Tests and Inventories
- Develop a Vision of Your Future Job and Career
- Your Skills and Abilities
- Your Interests and Values
- Your Motivated Abilities and Skills
- Your Objective
- Putting It All Together
What to Do With the Rest of Your Life
Each year millions of individuals face a similar restless issue that questions their current job satisfaction and points to a possible job or career change "I want to do something else, but Im not sure what it is." They feel it may be time to leave whatever they are doing, but they are uncertain about what they really want to do next in their life.
Some see the signs and struggle with the fateful decision to make a job or career change by trying to formulate mission statements and career objectives and then develop a detailed plan of action - a job search - for realizing their dreams.
Others know what they don't want to do, which is their current job, and proceed to write a weak resume that often communicates the wrong message to potential employers they don't know what they really want to do.
And still others stay around too long and thus have such decisions made for them they lose their job for a variety of reasons.
If you've ever raised this issue, you're not alone. Most people know what they don't want to do, but they have difficulty articulating exactly what they want to do.
Knowing when to stay and when to go is tied up with the notion of knowing what you want to do next with your life. If you could answer that question, you would know when it's time to go.
Quit Your Job and Grow Some Hair
Jobs or careers should not be life sentences. You should have the freedom to choose what you want to do, where you want to work, and with whom you want to associate.
After all, we live in a highly mobile and opportunity-rich society where we have many job and career choices and where individuals are expected to have multiple careers and many jobs throughout their work life.
In other words, we are supposed to have unlimited opportunities, if we make smart choices. But making critical job and career changes is always easier said than done.
We could give you many examples of free-willed workers who made important life-changing career decisions. They quit their jobs to pursue other interests as well as changed careers.
But let's look at one instructive case that is both personal and well documented for cues on how to best answer our original question.
Gary was a very successful university professor and administrator who decided to quit his rather envious vice president job in order to pursue important community interests in the nonprofit sector (see his instructive story in Gary N. Rubin,
Quit Your Job and Grow Some Hair, Impact Publications).
Not surprisingly, he excelled in his new-found leadership position, which involved using his many community organization, fund-raising, and conflict resolution skills.
He had the perfect personality for this highly interpersonal and increasingly political job. Socially adept and a seemingly natural networker, he handled most people and situations with extreme ease; everyone seemed to love Gary, even those who might disagree with him.
However, after over 15 years in this once new and now tired career, he knew it was time to go. A very intuitive person, he perceived the signs everywhere.
The job had become more and more political and stressful, and the personal and professional rewards were no longer evident nor forthcoming. While he knew he didn't want to continue in this job, he wasn't sure exactly what he really wanted to do next with his life.
He and his wife were very much involved with the community where they lived, and he had a family to support, including a daughter who was about to enter college. Quitting this job would most likely mean uprooting the family, leaving the community, and taking a salary cut.
Not many people voluntarily leave a high-level executive position with such a prestigious nonprofit organization. Indeed, some people might think he was crazy to make such a change.
After all, those who do leave such jobs usually get fired or are lured away by more attractive offers from other organizations. He just needed to do something else with his life, but he wasn't sure what it was.
Gary approached this issue the way he usually approached his job and personal life: he decided to achieve greater clarity by networking with friends and professional acquaintances.
He regarded this career change as an important introspective process - something that needed to be worked out by talking with many people about jobs, careers, interests, skills, and accomplishments.
He contacted numerous friends and professional acquaintances, some of whom he had not spoken with for more than 20 years. He asked lots of questions and let everyone involved know he was available for employment that would best fit his interests and skills.
The more he talked with others about his impending career change, the more he learned about himself and what he really wanted to do.
This was not something he could get from reading books, taking self-assessment tests, or consulting with a career expert. He simply had to talk it through with his colleagues, peers, and potential employers.
At the same time, members of his increasingly expanded network were well aware that he was in the job market looking for employment.
Similar to the conduct of research, this career change process would take a few months of serious thinking based on an active networking campaign. He would learn a great deal about himself and others - what he did and did not want to do and what others were looking for in today's job market.
But he had to go through this exploratory process in order to clarify and specify his interests and goals as well as make critical job search connections. Once he reached a certain level of confirmed redundancy, he would know it was time to make the change.
He knew he could always find another job, but at this stage in his life he wanted to find a job he really loved. While money was important, what he most valued were his family and friends.
Finding a job that enabled him to fully use his skills and pursue important professional interests, minus the stress, was what he was really seeking.
While it seemed like a messy process, unplanned and serendipitous, within three months it worked well for Gary.
Indeed, returning to his previous career, he landed a position as vice president with a university that fully utilized his community-based, fund-raising skills minus the intense stress of politics, at least for the moment. While university politics are ubiquitous and can be stressful, they are usually for low stakes and relatively manageable, especially when you are well-positioned at the top.
For now, Gary has transitioned to the perfect job. He took the risk of exploring a new job and he approached the process right - through networking and research. After two years of reporting less stress and greater job satisfaction, he even says he has grown more hair!
Where Do You Go From Here?
The following pages are designed to assist you in answering one of the most important questions facing millions of individuals each year: What should I do next with my life?
Through a series of principles, exercises, and stories, we outline a variety of approaches for dealing with this life-changing issue: "I want to do something else, but I'm not sure what it is."
What we reveal in the remainder of this book is nothing new or magical. The approaches have been used successfully by many individuals who regularly make job and career changes. We're not wedded to any one particular approach, only those that work for you.
For what you will quickly see are a variety of bewildering approaches that claim success, from primarily understanding your personality type to seeking divine inspiration and intervention.
What we try to do is bring a great deal of clarity to this issue by cutting through the many different approaches, questionable assumptions, and instant magic in the process of identifying strategies that will most likely work for you.
In so doing, we pull together the most useful approaches for making critical job and career decisions.
Whatever you do, make sure you address the next stage in your work life with both a probing and positive attitude followed by specific actions rather than just reflection and wishful thinking. Take a proactive stance by raising lots of questions, taking tests, talking with influential people, and networking for information, advice, and referrals.
This may initially seem to be a rather disorganized and messy planning process, but it will work for you in the end.
As you will quickly discover, there is no substitute for taking purposeful action that both educates and connects you to individuals who can make a difference in your life. It takes time and patience as well as a good plan of action.
Chances are your next job will come to you through a series of serendipitous events or lucky occurrences. That's the way it often happens.
After all, you can plan your good luck by being in many different places with many different people who know you are actively seeking a job or career change. We're here to help you through this rather chaotic and serendipitous process.
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