Tweet

Seek Career Change Advice from an Experienced Mentor

Guest post by: Scott Ewart

Article Overview: If you are looking for career change advice, seek it from someone who has been through a career change themselves. Described here is my story having been through two significant career changes. I discuss how self-education and initiative can enable any change in career, that it is within reach for anyone, and how it can reinvent your own world and do so without the time and expense of going back to formal education.

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 blog to learn more.

Related Articles
  Do you need a mentor?
  Finding the Right Mentor
  Get Yourself a Mentor
  To Become a Better Salesperson, Find a Mentor
  Advice for New Entrepreneurs And Business Owners
  Business Mentoring Programs
  How To Effectively Use Business Mentoring
  How to Find the Right Sales Mentor
  Mentors and Protégées
  Why Small Business Entrepreneurs Need a Mentor
  Mentoring - It’s All Greek to Me!
  Mentoring – Winning Opportunities for Everyone
  Do you have a mentor
  Mentors – Do you have one?
  Q&A - Problem with a mentor
  What can a good mentor do for you?
  Advice for Home Business Success
  Winning Opportunities For Everyone Through Mentoring
  We All Need Mentors
  Mentors Make Magic in Your Life

Article Tags: career, career change advice, career change consultant, career change help, midlife career change
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



Related Forum Posts
Famous Entrepreneur Question? - First name to come to mind was Sam Walton. After reading his aoutbiography, I feel so connected to him. My one Question would be...(after getting on one knee) "Would You Mentor Me?''
On Mentors - I've been fortunate that in every endevour I've taken on I have found a Mentor within that niche to guide me and help me learn from my mistakes. I've matured so much faster and more focused just by having someone listen to where i am at in my current day and in having someone to be accountable to. I've been blessed by having mentors naturally come into my life but if I wanted to approach one how would I go about developing the relationship and then asking them to mentor me?
Re: Require Info on CAD Fed/Prov Grants for Restaurant Start-up - I know the Ontario government is starting a "Second Career" campaign, full of internship opportunities for new chefs and catering staff. It may be worth your while to research the possibilities with that. It may work itself out to be cheap labor in the form of a grant. Good luck regardless!
A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!! - This is to my Mentor{ideauniversity} who invited me here,A Big thank you to you for giving me the opportunity and having so much hope in me,because of you have being able to learn so much in this forum which has improved my business skill. A Big thank you to all my new friends who have helped me express myself and also contributed to my growth through your post and answers you have given to my post. Thanks Evan and Kevin for giving me this oportunity. cheers. Tope
Book: Comeback Moms - Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years Monica Samuels and J. C. Conklin 2006 Jacket: Millions of educated, professional women are quitting their jobs to stay home and raise their children. That would never be you, right? You worked hard for your degree and even harder to get to this point in your career. Quitting now, even for a few years, would kill your career, right? That's what Monica Samuels thought when she found out she was pregnant... Over 60 percent of professional women who leave work to raise children want to get back into the workforce someday. If you even think you might want to go back to work, be it in one year or twenty, you need to lay the groundwork now for a successful reentry or your options will be limited. 1. Quitting: When is the best time to cut the cord 2. Feathering the nest: How to financially prepare before you quit 3. Departure strategies: leaving the office 4. Money and Power: Constructing a new life on the home front 5. Backlash: handling family, friends and angry strangers 6. One foot in, one foot out: How can they miss you if you don't really go away? 7. Part time: It ain't perfect, but it's doable 8. Going back: the when and how of returning to work full time 9. Career counseling: When you need a change 10. Entrepreneurs: True Stories Resources Index


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Working Across Borders

Do You Pretend To Listen To People?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.