How to Help Job Seekers Avoid Bad Advice When Changing Careers

(This post was updated on 6/24/2020)

With businesses shut down due to COVID-19, about 20.5 million people were on state unemployment rolls in early June 2020, according to the New York Times. It was the 13th straight week that filings topped one million. This extended period of high unemployment brought a question to the minds of many workers: is this forced break in work a good time to think about changing careers?

Despite the popular advice of “following your passion,” job seekers should pause and reflect before changing career paths. The best thing to do is ask the right questions to identify what is meaningful, what provides value, what skills are transferable, and what a career change looks like in reality.

Here is what your job seekers should ask themselves before changing careers:

1. What fills my life with meaning, and how can my skills transfer toward that meaningful activity?

Essentially, job seekers should be able to identify what ‘meaning’ looks like to them. There are several writing exercises that can guide them through self-reflection. 

Encourage them to pretend they can live their life over for eternity. Once they are in the right state of imagination, they should write what they would do and how they would create meaning each day.

While it is a very abstract concept, it will help them think about what they like to do most and what they can enjoy as a repeatable task. Also, it forces them into a place that inspires ideas of meaningful actions.

Another great writing exercise is founded on free association. It’s simple and straightforward.

Students should take a piece of paper and write out all thoughts regarding purpose. Encourage them to not hold back — just write everything until the thoughts become more clear and structured. This will help them hone their thought process in on a few specific ideas that relate to their purpose. In the end, they will have a list of concepts to use for starting their search for a career change.

Job seekers should also identify their skills and learn how to market them. A waiter, for example, who succeeds at his or her role has several skills that can be used in other professional positions. If he is applying for a marketing position, skills to highlight would include upselling to achieve high sales averages, prioritizing multiple tasks, and communicating information effectively to various types of customers.

All jobs require a variety of skills that can be transferred in several ways. The trick is to learn how to show potential employers how the applicant will use those skills to succeed in the new position. At the end of this exercise, your job seeker will have a strategy of marketing transferable skills in a new field.

2. What do I value most in life, and how can I make a living with my set of values?

Career counselors should help job seekers establish a set of core values, which act as a guide for actions and decision-making. This can be accomplished through a recall exercise.

Encourage them to write about times they were happiest when they felt the most prideful, and what moment fulfilled them the most. Once they have a list of memories, talk through them to help identify what values lead to those moments.

For example, one might say she was most proud when she returned a lost wallet to a stranger. What values did the job seeker demonstrate? First of all, honesty was the driving force behind the decision-making process that led her to refuse selfish options like keeping the wallet. She also showed empathy by considering another person’s perspective in the situation.

With a sizable list of core values, job seekers can start conducting research on what careers and industries align with them. Lead them to online resources like the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for basic information.

3. Did I do my research, and do I understand the realities of starting over?

Research. Research. Research. It can’t be said enough. This is the most painstaking part of the process, but it is arguably the most important. You’re helping people gather data and information about their next major life decision, and it will inform them toward or deter them from a long path. 

Their list of career types that align with their values is a great starting point. Help them narrow it down to a handful of preferences, then ask the right questions. 

How do we get from point A to point B? Does it involve schooling? Should I relocate?

This change could involve major financial obligations, like earning a graduate degree or a professional certification. Looking at the numbers and time commitment is a great way to test whether or not they are willing to pursue changing careers. 

The best advice to give them is to reach out to professionals in the career they desire and conduct informational interviews. This will provide job seekers with several first-hand perspectives that go beyond job handbook descriptions. Informational interviews will give them a clear idea of the realities of the work, the day-to-day details, options for advancement and movement within the field, and tips about how to change careers.

After your job seekers have basic information from initial research, they should find people to interview, by calling organizations, looking through their networks, reviewing directories, and even referring to alumni associations. Encourage them to develop an overview of themselves as an introduction and write open-ended questions before they reach out. 

Calling is the most direct method of contact. Advise them to be polite and respectful of the person’s time, and ask for a specific time to meet in person for 20 to 30 minutes. Once the professional contact approves, they should dress and act like it’s a job interview, gather the information they want, and follow-up with a thank you. Keeping files on their contacts is a great way to build their network. 

The informational interview should guide them to a definitive answer and either encourage or discourage their career change ideas.

How are you advising job seekers to go about changing careers?