Seek Career Change Advice From An Experienced Mentor
If you are in search of career change advice, you are not alone. With unemployment in America sitting today at 10%, that means roughly 30 million people are out of work and at least half are searching for a job. Alternatively, according to a poll by The Conference Board and the Associated Press, in 2009 only 45 percent of American workers were satisfied with their jobs, down from 61% in 1987. Many of these people will be looking for career change advice. So the big question is, how do you change careers after investing so much time mastering the career you have built, and do so without going the time and expense of going back to school?
The Path of Career Change and the World of Self-Teaching
In 1994, I was working as a computer programmer and had been for about 12 years. An instructor from a big software company came to our company to teach us new programming tools. The instructor was dynamic, smart, and engaging and inspired me to want to make a change. I had never taught before, never been up in front of a room of people. Friends told me I was good at teaching at an individual level and gave me the confidence to think I could do it. In order to see if I could speak in front of people, I joined Toastmasters International. They are an organization that fosters people to excel at public speaking. I stayed active there part-time, writing and delivering speeches until I was comfortable doing so. I then pursued the job, seeking out the instructor for a referral, then applying for the job. During the interview I was asked to teach something. Using the skills I acquired at Toastmasters, I comfortably got up and drew on the whiteboard, explaining the current project I was on. Having no teaching experience, but showing that I was knowledgeable and comfortable in front of an audience, I got the job. I went on to teach as a technical instructor for over 5 years. It got me out from behind the desk programming computers all day, out of my comfort zone, but into something that I truly enjoyed doing. The key was that it was related to my old job. I used to program computers, but now I taught people how they could program computers. Making that transition enabled me to make a significant career change 12 years into a discipline that was all I knew and all I ever thought I could do.
At Another Crossroads
I have now been at the software company for over 15 years. I started a career in IT that I never planned for and am on year 29 in the industry. I have now held a variety of completely different jobs within the same career, including Programmer, Technical Instructor, Instructor Manager, Product Manager, Product Engineer Manager, Strategist, and Marketing Director. I have led teams of up to 25 direct reports and have been a dedicated corporate employee. But last year I found myself at another crossroads. The economy had been declining for a while. I saw many people and friends lose their corporate jobs. My company was doing well, but for how long? How would I protect myself and my career? I came to another career crossroads and had to see how I could reinvent myself once again.
Life as an Internet Marketing Consultant
While happy with my job, I knew that in order to help secure my future I needed to become independent of corporate America. Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki have both stated publicly and in their co-written book ‘Why We Want You To Be Rich’, that Network Marketing was the best place to start your own business and become an entrepreneur. I knew I wanted my own business, but starting one from scratch seemed daunting. After much research on Network Marketing on the internet, I made a decision to give internet marketing a try. With the internet as the foundation, again I felt that it was something completely new yet related to how I had spent my 29+ years in the computer industry. In network marketing, you build your own business. You move from the mindset of being an employee to being an entrepreneur. You learn how to sell. You learn how to take rejection. You learn how to build a residual income. Good training is essential for you to accomplish all of these things, and these companies will work with you. I joined an Internet Marketing company that had the business infrastructure in place, so instead of building that infrastructure myself, I was able to focus on building my customer base and growing sales. I was also comfortable as an Internet Marketing Consultant because I get to help others learn to do the same thing. It employs my joy of teaching, learning, and computers while allowing me to build my own business and put control of my future into my own hands – all while keeping my day job.
Now…The Career Change Advice
If you are out of work and need to find something new or just one of the unhappy 45% of the population considering a job change, think about changing careers. It will get you out of your comfort zone but what you will find is that you will thrive there. It will be new and exciting and you will learn a lot. You don’t have to go back to school. Do some self-teaching through research and the internet, and then seek out a company that will train you and work with you until you are successful. Find something that is either related to what you do today or something that has always been a dream. Go after it. Do not let anyone tell you it is crazy or that you cannot do it. Only you can determine that. Your fate is in your own hands – now go get them dirty.
If you're looking to make a career change this year and are looking for a legitimate home based business that can help you make that change, take a moment and visit me at http://www.meetscottewart.com
Scott Ewart
Internet Marketing Consultant
1-415-246-5721
Questions and Answers
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