We’ve all heard it before. What is the definition of insanity? – repeatedly trying exactly the same thing and expecting different results. I’m not insane but may be acting a little like someone who is. I have been searching for a position in the occupation I’ve held for many years in the past. Unfortunately, due to the economy, the opportunities at my current education level have dried up at this time. As I see it, there are three options.
Option 1
Stop everything. Live in poverty while I update my education so I will be considered for my dream job.
Option 2
Stop pursuing my dream job, switch to a totally different career.
Option 3
A little bit of options 1 and 2 might be the right mix.
I can’t completely stop everything, because living in poverty is not very appealing to me or my wife. I don’t think we would have a very happy existence under those circumstances.
I can’t stop pursuing my dream because living without hope would be very depressing. I can postpone my dream for a while and continue pursuing my education so I can eventually achieve my dream job.
The Box
To achieve Option 3, I was told I need to start thinking outside the box.
Box = “The career I once had.”
I’ve been stuck looking inside the box. I’ve been desperately, trying to find the life I once knew. I have focused so much on the inside of the box, that I haven’t noticed all the other opportuntities that are available outside of the box.
After I finally put the box down, I notice it has the shape of a coffin. I realize the coffin needs to be buried. So, I don’t pick it up again. I start to notice there are other opportunities to utilize the skills I have. These other opportunities have different job titles.
Thinking outside the box
So once, the box is buried, where do you go to see the other opportunities?
- Visit the O*Net website http://online.onetcenter.org/find
- Enter key skills you already have or plan to have in the “, then click Go – the resulting list of occupations will be ordered by relevance, to their side may be a leaf to represent green jobs and/or a demand symbol signifying the field is in high demand.
- Click on the Occupation to find out more about it.
- Click on the Wages & Employment for the median wages to see if the pay is reasonable enough to help you make ends meet. It provides an option to see the wages based on State.
- Click on the Details Tab to bring up more options to investigate such as Education.
- Click on the Education link – to see the average education level for this particular occupation.
- While investigating this occupation, you can review the Job Tasks, Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Activites, Work Values, etc.
Implement outside the box
Once you’ve decided on which occupations would be suited for you, build a resume for each occupation that you’re considering. Have a trusted accountability partner evaluate each resume. See if you can convice them that you are really skilled and proficient at the skill required for the job. If you can’t convince your accountability partner that you really want that occupation, then how are you going to convince a potential employer that you want the job?
