Human Resource Blog

Changing Careers – 5 Steps to Launching Your Dream Career and Living Your Passion

Kathy Austin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:42:44 +0000

Many people who have been laid off are taking advantage of the recession to retrench and learn a new skill, or follow a lifelong dream. But whether you’re an investment banker who’s always wanted to be an interior designer, or a laid off civil engineer dreaming of finally getting in fashion design, transitioning to a second career requires more than just passion. It requires planning.

1. Research the different jobs available in your dream industry. By learning the range of careers that are available, you expand your possibilities. For example, even though you might be interested in fashion design, there are many jobs within the industry besides that of the fashion designer, like the buyer, the fashion merchandiser, or the technical designer. The more options you have, the greater chances of a successful transition.

2. Network with professionals in the field. Set up informational interviews with people who are working in the careers you’re interested in. They can tell you what the job is really like, and what you can expect in terms of work hours and responsibilities. They can also give you insight as to the training and education you’ll need to break into the industry.

3. Connect with social networking sites. Online social media sites can put you just a few clicks away from people who can help you. If there’s a company you’ve always dreamed about working for, you can do a company search, find people who work there, and then ask your mutual friends to connect you. Search the bios of your friends and connections, and see if any work in the industry or career you’re interested in. And search all your friends’ friends as well.

4. Get the necessary education. Before you launch a new career, you will probably need some training, and even earn a degree. Fortunately, many schools offer professional designation programs that can be completed in a year. Even if you think that you can transition to a new career without additional schooling, remember that enrolling in a degree program will provide you with valuable career placement opportunities you otherwise would not have. For example, fashion design schools are plugged into the industry, and can help their students and graduates with internships, mentorships, and job leads.

5. Plan your finances. If you’re going back to school, you don’t have to shoulder the financial burden alone. Seek out financial aid packages from your intended school, as well as independent sources; there are no age limits. And the Department of Education has initiated a program that greatly increases the amount of financial aid available for unemployed workers who want to go back to school, without losing their unemployment benefits.

Career Choices- What Do You Prefer

Henry — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:32:19 +0000

Your personality weighs significantly as a factor that will steer you toward particular careers. Career choices must be based on your mind set and where your heart is. Whenever you start into the work force, your preferences are even more important than your pay. What kind of an individual are you? Are you a people person? Or, would you prefer to be left alone. Are you prominent in your motor skills? Or are you a thinker, rather than a “hands on” person? When you were in primary and secondary schools, did you have a mathematical or scientific mind such as an accountant or chemist? Or were you driven by poetry, grammar, expression and the like? What I am driving at is this—you may learn from research that an engineer makes a great deal of money; but, if your mind is not geared toward technology and new, innovative ideas, money or no money, don’t go down that avenue. Any job that makes you miserable will become a liability and a painful obstacle in your life.

The military life is one of the great career choices. It is especially rewarding for those whose mind is geared in that direction. There is much room for advancement in the Army, Navy, Marines, or Coast Guard. Some find it important to keep up a family tradition and follow in their parent’s footsteps. However, there is something to be said against this scenario. You are who you are and not who your parents want you to be. Now, in making career choices, whenever you find the area of work that you prefer, invest your all into that career.

Whatever career you choose, you will not excel unless you put yourself into it whole-heartedly. If you are not the outgoing type—you will not but 100% of yourself into a career that requires working with people. If you are happy in your field, then you will find the drive you need to succeed. You should be comfortable enough with your career choice that you have no problem taking on any change in that field—go with the flow. If you intend to grow in stature and in salary, get the best education possible, explore many avenues and career options, go into the work world ready to compete, and most importantly, know yourself.

Flight Attendant Job – Career with a difference

Fred Peters — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:11:05 +0000

Flight Attendant Job demands the airline employee to be responsible for safety and personal comfort of passengers traveling with an airline they work for. Duties in a typical Flight Attendant job is regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration , however the same may vary slightly from airline to airline depending on the type of aircraft flown by them.

Each individual undergoing training for flight attendant job are trained in emergency evacuation procedures, crew coordination activities, security procedures and first aid, they are also briefed on weather and flying time by captain of the flight before the journey. There job demands them to check passenger safety devices and to oversee that the aircraft is well stocked with supplies.

Flight attendants welcome passengers while boarding, check the tickets, direct them to the seats, and assist them with their coats and luggage. Flight Attendants during the course of their job also briefs the passengers safety procedures before takeoff. While at cruise level, the attendants ensure that passenger seat safety belts are fastened whenever required; serve drinks, light refreshments, or precooked meals; distribute materials for reading; and answer general queries of passengers’.

The turnover of flight attendant job which used to be traditionally very high has shown a decline in the last few years as more and more individuals are getting career conscious. Year 2007 should show an increase in flight attendant job openings due to the higher replacement needs of airlines. Replacement need arises due to flight attendants leaving career or just leaving the labor force for better airlines. Employment of Flight Attendants is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2007. Growth in population and income is expected to increase the number of airline passengers. Airlines enlarge their capacity by increasing the number and size of planes in operation. More flight attendant job vacancies are bound to arise with acquisition of new aircrafts and also since Federal Aviation Administration safety rules require one attendant for every 50 seats flown. Competition for jobs as Flight Attendants is expected to remain very keen because the number of applicants is expected to greatly exceed the number of job openings. The glamour of the airline industry and the opportunity to travel and meet people attract many applicants.

Your Job Abilities

Jenny Edwards — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 07:16:56 +0000

Learning how to access your abilities may not be something that is easy for you to do. You may find it difficult to get what you want with what you know. There are a few things that you will need to do in order to get what you want and have the career that makes you happy and gives you the satisfaction that you are looking for. The first thing that you need to do is to do your job well. You must take your responsibility to heart and use it to your best interest. If you cannot perform your present job tasks, how are you ever going to be able to get a promotion and move on to bigger and better opportunities in your life? You need to do a good job no matter what you are doing and give it a hundred percent. You need to let others know that you are doing your job well and that you are proud of your work. Let your supervisors know how well you are doing. If you are good at your job you should not keep it a secret. Let them know when you are doing things right so that they know that they hired the right person for the job. Make sure that those above you know that you are a good choice and that you are doing everything that is expected of you. If you do not let them know then what are the chances of someone else telling them that you are doing a great job? Another way to access your abilities in order to get a promotion is to identify key decision makers in your organization. If there are other people that make decisions in your company then you need to get to know and understand them.

You should only take on what you can handle and nothing more. If you find that you are not going to meet a deadline, you should talk to your supervisors so that they know that you are running a little bit behind. You are going to feel better telling them upfront rather than waiting till the last minute. You need to also make sure that you work hard to meet deadlines when possible. The more that you impress your bosses and supervisors, the easier it is going to be to get a promotion. If for some reason you are passed over when it comes to getting a promotion, you should defiantly find out why. Go to your supervisors and ask them if you are doing something wrong or if you can change anything. The more that you know means that the more you can be prepared to fix things and get the desired promotion that you know you deserve.

Services Offered At Career Employment Centers

Kathy Austin — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:51:52 +0000

The process for applying to recent job openings is automated at career employment centers and many job seekers have a reply from the prospective employer in the email inbox before it is checked at the end of the day. This request for an interview could include the times the employer has open for interviews and interesting tidbits of information about the position such as what the minimum qualifications are. These career employment notifications can be stored for later reference. Job seekers enjoy the simplicity of searching for a job through the career employment centers. Enrolling in these programs is usually free of charge because the employer will pay the hiring fees when the position is filled. The job seeker can fill out an employment profile online and know that the personal information will be used in strictest confidence for many job vacancies in the employment center’s databases over a period. A job seeker can upload a resume to the career employment center at any time and edit the information when changes occur. One employer will see this up-to-date information when the career employment centers submit the job application or the career employment centers have the option of submitting the resume to hundreds of others employers if the minimum hiring qualifications for each vacancies is met. A job applicant could receive hundreds of replies in one day and start on a lucrative career by the end of the week.

A job applicant will have considerable success while using career employment centers as a resource for finding employment. The career employment centers are well connected in the business world and the exposure that job applicants get to these business contacts will have positive results for many applicants in a short time. The applicant can apply for positions based on a technical specialty or use the career employment centers search features and find vacancies that meet a certain salary range. Many applicants will keep the email addresses for all companies that they applied to that responded back to them. They will use these positive business contacts for future job vacancies and be ahead of the crowd that will also be applying. Their applications will be seen first because the employment information will already be in the databases. The applicant can ask for email notifications of any positions that come open and make sure that the resume information on file is always current.

How To Make The Most Of Your Job Search

Tera Warner — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:01:10 +0000

Spending time writing a CV is both the most boring part of your job search and also, ironically, the most important. Get it right and employers will bite you hand off to get you to interview. Get it wrong and no one will ever want to meet you. Writing a good CV is not as daunting as it may initially seem. It is essentially very simple but it is often over complicated by agencies and websites that try and make you pay them to complete the service. The best way is to take an example CV of the internet and use it as a template. Firstly you will need to complete the tedious task of listing the dates and durations of all of your previous jobs. There is no two ways about it this can be very boring – but despair not it will be worth it. Once this is done you can do the more creative part of listing the roles and responsibilities that you undertook as part of these jobs. Remember that if you don’t find it interesting then don’t expect a potential employer to.

Once you have spent all of that time working on the CV then it is important that you get it out there. The best way you can get response back is to send it to as many jobs as possible. There is no point in being over-selective in the places that you send it to. It has to be said that in many cases agencies can be helpful in a job search. They will often have a list o jobs that need filling and if you send them your CV and sign up to them they will screen your CV and put it forward to the employer. But it is well worth peppering as many agencies as possible with your CV. It is also worth applying to jobs that advertise independently. Even if you are not a hundred percent sure that the job that you are applying for is exactly for you. You will often find that it is not until you have been to the interview that you can make a proper judgment on whether or not the jobs is for you. For example some jobs are made more interesting if there is a good atmosphere in the workplace and this cannot be judged on paper.

Do you need help with resume writing?

Fred Peters — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 07:13:05 +0000

When it comes to resume writing, there is a lot of conflicting advice. One area that people can often improve is how they set out their work history. While resume writing does not require you to be a Shakespeare, you do need to follow some simple guidelines if you want to be successful. When including your experience whether it be full time, part time, and internship or other experience, your method of resume writing should be logical. List all of your paid and unpaid work experience that is relevant to the position. You may also include experience that relates indirectly to the job (i.e. experience which helped you to develop leadership, public speaking, organization skills etc).

In your resume writing, you should describe your responsibilities on the job, being specific and using active verbs. You should always put these verbs in the past tense even though you may currently be performing these duties. Think of yourself as an employer who is hiring and 15 qualified applicants come for the position. Each applicant has the same basic educational and work history background. So how do you choose someone? The quality of their resume writing is a start. This can show your ability to communicate ideas in written format. These resume writing skills will be imperative if report writing or other similar skills are needed for the job. Your resume writing, whether accomplished or not as experienced need to show that you contributed more than expected in your past positions. Accomplishments are one thing that can set you apart from others, but your accomplishments must be quantified. Be specific about dates, time frames and outcomes. Regardless of the fact that you may not be the most qualified person for the job, sometimes the quality of your resume writing can determine whether or not you will get an interview.

Why Not Change Your Career?

Henry — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 08:36:37 +0000

Many people take wrong career decisions and do not change their career when they should. If you want to change your career, try to do it at a crucial juncture in your life. A career change is a very important thing and you need to think it out before going for it. When you plan to bring about a change in your career, think of the job satisfaction along with the job prospects. Generally, things like your career interests and job selection depend on numerous factors. Similarly, a change in career is also a result of certain psychological or professional changes. Many people are not happy with their current careers and that is a very common reason behind changing careers. Others change their careers due to situations that cannot be avoided or neglected. If you are thinking about better prospects and you want to change your career desperately, you also need to be well versed with the current trends in the job market.

The most important thing when it comes to applying for a job is your resume. You have to understand that when you want to change your career, you need to have thorough information about the job you want to do next. Different professions will have different demands when it comes to resumes so you need to find out what kind of resume suits the job you are applying for. You need to have a resume that is custom made for the job you want. When you want to change your career, you need to make a resume that will make you appear like the perfect man for the new job. Your resume has to meet with the demands of the industry and at the same time it should stand out amongst the numerous resumes that appear on the desk of your dream company.

Is It Time For A Career Change?

Wolfgang Jaegel — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 08:04:44 +0000

Before looking for a career change, you need to consider certain things. First of all, think of the reason why you really left the job. Be honest to yourself and you will find the reason. Do not crib about the conditions or whatever. Just be honest about yourself and then ask yourself about what kind of job you want. Ask yourself about what your interests are. And then look for a career that will help you pursue your interests and give you immense job satisfaction. Look for something that excites you, interests you and at the same time, gives you enough growth opportunities.

Once you find out what you really want to do, you will see that there is no dearth of openings in the job market. You will see that there are many companies who are looking for someone exactly like you. This is the best thing about a career change; it opens new vistas for you and goes a long way in boosting your self esteem. Be it working from home because you need to be with the kids or a job involving loads of travelling because you love to see new places, you will see that there are numerous options for everyone. Whatever skills you have, be it organizational, communicational, creative, leadership or administrative – there are multiple jobs with great prospects for everyone. All you need to do is think about your own potentials, identify your special skills and get out there and look for jobs that will help you realize your potential to the greatest extent. Once you have identified the kind of career change that you want and the new job that will be the best for you, you need to look for people who are already in the business and have a lot of experience in what you are about to do. You need to seek the advice of these people on how to go about a career in that particular field. A little advice from the expert will help you a great deal in narrowing down your preferences and zeroing in on the right job for you. Meeting people who are already from the industry will help you broaden your knowledge base about that industry and prepare you for the interviews etc. So go ahead and seek a career change if your heart says so! Just follow certain things and you will be able to handle a career change successfully.

Career Information for Freshers

Jenny Edwards — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:28:02 +0000

Khoj4u.com was started as a college project and after getting a great success it has launch the website with huge add-ons like Interview Questions, Placement Papers, Resume Tips, Career Information for higher studies and more yet to go.

Khoj is a word of Hindi Language which means search. So Khoj has opted this title since this is a search for you (khoj4u) for all career information which a fresher wants.

At Khoj4u.com, students can post any type of technical interview questions and they will get the right answer from the site in almost no time. Whether it is related to interviews or entrance exams of engineering colleges, B-schools, or other competitive exams, Khoj4u.com has all the answers.

The USP of the web site is that students from all corner of the country is posting technical interview questions that they have faced or think they can be asked in the next interview. While reading these questions along with the answers that are compiled by the experts of Khoj4u.com, any student can gain experience. That means a student is getting the much needed database of all the important questions and answers that are being asked in the industry of late, and that too without facing a single interview.

It is a great way of learning. No need to scratch the head to innovate probable question and screen through books for the answers. It’s all there at Khoj4u.com and easily accessible with just a click of a mouse.