Social Business Success

Next week many colleges will be crazed with students and parents, as freshmen will be moving into their dorms to start a new chapter in their lives.  What about you?  Are you starting a new chapter in your life?

Just like college freshmen are starting a new chapter in their life, many professionals are starting a new chapter in their lives.  More specifically they have changed careers.  Changing careers takes a lot of energy, time, heart and courage.  While some people land positions in the field they’ve been in for years, for the career changer it takes time.

Cal State Fresno Freshmen move in.

People change careers for a number of reasons.  One reason is that people are not happy with their previous position.  Why people change careers is not the focus of this blog.  The actual process of the career change is.

When changing careers, it’s a good idea to choose a profession in which you’re passionate about doing.  Once you’ve decided on what your new profession will, now you’ll need to chart a plan.  Do you need retraining?  If so, what does your educational path look like?  How do you plan on getting experience?

Let’s talk about how does one get the experience?  It’s what was you found out when you looked for a job after college.  “I won’t get hired because I don’t have experience.  How can I get experience if I don’t get hired?”  It’s time roll up your sleeves and start volunteering.  However, find volunteer opportunities in your field may be harder than it sounds.  By this time as a professional, you should already have a nice network in place.  A good percentage of your key volunteer opportunities will come from your network.  This brings me to another point.  Spend some of your time “networking” in person and virtually.  You’ll never know when an opportunity will come from your network. Read the rest of this entry »