Part II: “Setting Out to Explore” using the CareerFinder™ Method
by Angela Loëb
Changing careers can seem overwhelming when you don’t have a logical plan to follow. Sometimes I wonder… if someone had handed me something with step-by-step instructions like The CareerFinder™ Method back when I started exploring, would it have taken so long for me to shift gears? I wonder if it would have been a shorter and easier transition. Maybe so, but going through what I went through certainly helped me to understand that this is a better way!
Okay, so yesterday, we looked at the external researching process. Today, we want to look at how you get what you need in order to where you want to go. Once you’ve done some research on what the market wants, you need to compare that to what you’re missing. You need to do a Skills Gap Analysis.
When we teach the The CareerFinder™ Method, we provide specific worksheets to guide you through this process, but below are three basic steps for doing a Skills Gap Analysis on your own.
Step 1. Create an inventory of your current skills & competencies. Break them into functional categories if you’d like to make it easier. Your aim is not to include everything you can do. Only include the skills and competencies that you are good at and would want to carry over into your new career path.
Step 2. Identify what you believe you need (or need more of) in order to shift into your desired career direction, such as training/classes, degree, certification, etc.
Step 3. In order to close the skills gap, you need to look at ways you can get the skills and/or experience you need. Also, be sure to ask yourself if you can close the gap while still exploring. Jot down any ideas that come to you, such as volunteering, freelancing, taking a class, temping, interning, etc.
Tune in tomorrow when we’ll examine the multiple-direction dilemma. What do you do when you could go several directions?
Angela Loëb is an author, speaker and co-owner of Great Occupations. She and her partner, Jay Markunas, help people make successful career transitions through workshops, “pajama learning” webclasses, personalized consulting sessions, as well as through The Job Search Boot Camp Show. Find out more at www.greatoccupations.com.
Attention Career Changers: Check out our upcoming workshop, “Destination: New Career!” coming up on October 23rd at www.greatoccupations.com/destination-new-career/