WCIYP (The Five Ways To Choose/Change Careers)

According to What Color Is Your Parachute, by Richard N. Bolles, there are five main ways to consider for choosing or changing a career. In order, the five ways include the internet, tests, using the flower exercise, changing a career in two steps, and finding out what the job-market will need. In order to gain a better understanding of each technique, I will list and explain them below in greater detail.

1.)  The Internet

As you may have guessed, the Internet has become arguably the most prominent resource for finding a career or job. There are countless options to choose from online in terms of finding information about a potential job, but O*Net Online is recommend from the book, and I have to admit, it is extremely helpful. The site allows users to search for an occupation by industry, which usually relates to a set of interests. Once an occupation is narrowed down to a particular list of companies, O* Net Online offers a Content Model, in which bundles of information are available for each position. Nevertheless, the Internet is an essential resource to utilize during any job-hunt or career change, as it offers invaluable information that is difficult to locate without the assistance of search engines.

2.) Tests

The type of tests that you take to find a career path are not necessarily similar to the ones that you would take while in school, mainly because they are considered instruments or assessments instead. A large majority of career tests will involve the identification of personality traits, which will pinpoint interests and skills. Personally, I have taken the Myers Briggs test and can safely assert that it does an excellent job at funneling questions to determine what job or industry match my personality traits. All in all, tests can be a helpful tool in the job-hunting process, but are best served as a resource for identifying individual characteristics, as opposed to actually finding a job.

3.) Using The Flower Exercise

I briefly touched on the Flower Exercise that is thoroughly explained in the book in a previous blog post, but it is relevant to revisit for the purpose of choosing or changing a career. In short, the Flower Exercise provides you with the necessary steps to identify and hone transferable skills. Once you identify the skills you are capable of performing, it is then easier to match those skills with the a company or field of interest that you are passionate about. After the Flower Exercise is complete, you will then be able to confidently express your skills and abilities articulately during an interview, which will hopefully allow you to earn a desired job.

4.) Changing A Career In Two Steps

In order to successfully choose or change a career, it is vital to grasp that a job consists of two components: a title and a field. Basically, a title is a symbol for what you do at a job on a daily basis, whereas a field represents where you complete your work at a job. Being able to distinguish between the two career components provides lucidity in the form of paving a clear path to locating an occupation. For instance, if you have worked as an accountant for ten years, and wish to become a marketer, it is important to define what kind of experience you have in relation to marketing in the event that an interviewer questions you about it.

5.) Finding Out What The Job-Market Will Need

The final way to change a career involves using projections to find out what the job-market will need in the near future.

 According to a list from Forbes, the following industries are expected to have the most openings, or at least are projected to:

• Software Developers
• Accountants and Auditors
• Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
• Computer Systems Analysts
• Human Resources, Training, and Labor Relations Specialists
• Network and Computer Systems Administrators
• Sales Representatives 
• Mechanical Engineers
• Industrial Engineers