Part I: “Setting Out to Explore” using the CareerFinder™ Method
by Angela Loëb
When setting out to explore, it is wise to keep your mind and heart open. To explore means “to search into or travel in for the purpose of discovery.” Columbus set out to discover a possible new route to the Far East. What he unexpectedly found, instead, was the “New World,” or what we know as the North and South American continents. We urge you to consider all the angles and be open to the possibilities as you investigate, inquire and research during this particular step. By the end of the journey, you might or might not be surprised by what you find. However, one thing is certain… if you allow fear or nay-saying – the “buts,” & “I can’ts” – to cloud your vision during this part of the discovery process, you will never come to see what lies ahead. Joseph Campbell said it well: “You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.”
- Excerpt from The CareerFinder™ Method Guide
In the “Setting out to Explore” part of the method Jay and I teach, we walk participants through these three important questions:
- What does the market want?
- What do you need to get?
- What do you do when you could go several directions?
Figuring out what the market wants requires you to do some external research. We advise getting online to gather information about those possible directions that your self-assessment bubbled up. You’d use resources such as these:
-O*net
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Salary.com
- Job descriptions on miscellaneous job boards
- News through search engines (e.g. Google News)
Let’s say you want to look into a career in massage therapy. You’d look up your state’s governing body for that profession – or whatever organization is responsible for issuing licenses to practice as a massage therapist. What are you required to do to become a licensed massage therapist? How long will it take if you have to go to school? You’d look up the schools in your area to see what they offer, when their class programs run and how much it costs to enroll.
After you gather information online (and from whatever inanimate resources you have at your disposal), it’s time to bring in the human factor. Informational interviewing is the best way to do this, which, of course, Jay and I teach about in the recorded pajama learning and live versions of The CareerFinder™ Method program.
Another good way is to hang out and network with those belonging to the profession you’re researching – like, for example, at their association meetings. Is there an annual conference or a local chapter monthly meeting you can attend? I call this “learning by osmosis.” It can also be very helpful to see how you resonate with others in your prospective profession.
By now you should be getting the idea about this stage of the process – research. And this part of the research is very broad and sweeping. Tomorrow, we’ll look at “What do you need to get?” or, in other words, doing your skills gap analysis.
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/
