Fancy a career change working as a full time reader of blog posts and articles? There’s easily enough reading to fill in a 40 hour week (if not more), so now just to find a way to earn money from it!

Here we go then, another “Friday five” from The InterChange Desk!

• Sometimes in the quest for our “dream job” we just need to look around for a role we simply like the name of, and then start working our way towards it. And if that’s you then Eccentric Employment, “a frequently updated Weblog of unusual, strange and interesting job opportunities” is the place to be. There’s information on anything from being a Cheese Intern, to an Aerospace Engineer, and almost everything in between. There’s even an opening for a Fairy… my niece would love that!
• Personal branding is not something that has been directly touched on here yet, though I have alluded to it in very roundabout ways once or twice. Is Your Personal Brand Unique? from Career Goddess, paraphrases a point made by Scott Ginsberg that a great personal brand is in-fact unique, not merely different. There’s a lot to be said for getting yourself noticed, and making a good impression at the same time.
• Resumes (or CVs, depending what part of the world you are in) have been discussed here a little bit this week. While I have suggested a couple of ways you can improve yours, the CV you have right now, may in-fact be fine. If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It is a timely reminder that a good resume is only part of a job search strategy, and it alone will not go landing you jobs.
• Time for a some motivational reading. Here’s a little Water Cooler wisdom on what to do if dreams and plans don’t fall into place or happen. In a way the article is suggesting we “choose” our dreams carefully. While we think we want one thing, and put all our time and energy into trying to achieve it, we may well be barking up the wrong tree. Are you following your dreams because that is what you really want, or what you are telling yourself you want?
• You couldn’t imagine I wouldn’t included a test or two in today’s Check List would you? Being Friday I thought we’d go for something not so serious. So are you a slacker? Or are you a workaholic? Maybe you are both, but either way I wouldn’t tell the boss, aren’t you meant to be working after all?! (A login is required to access these tests.)

Here’s another selection of links to round off the working week, and hopefully ease you into weekend mode!

• Are you perhaps thinking of a new career as a scientist? Then you need to be reading the Career Development for Scientists blog! There’s also an interesting post (which we should all read, not just scientists!) about the emphasis employers are now placing on “soft skills”. These are things like leadership and communication skills (or people skills), which are very interchangeable and can be utilised regardless of the industry you are working in. Can anyone say transferable skills?
• This / Not this is all about stepping out of our comfort zones. It’s all too easy to make conservative, or overly safe choices, especially when in unfamiliar situations. Travelling to countries where the culture is completely different, and we can’t speak the local language is a good example. Do you eat the local food, or make a “safer choice” and go to a well known global hamburger restaurant instead? Bad choice, right?
• This is a great article related the finding career direction series here. There are plenty of people looking to change careers and try something new, but uncertain where to look for direction. The best choice for your next career will not be based on what’s out there but on what’s in you. Says it all.
• Test time, come on, you enjoy tests, right? The JASPER Job Assets & Strengths Profiler poses a combination of word/picture association and agree/disagree type questions, to determine your work type. This test is completely free, anonymous, and delivers very comprehensive results.
• The Law of Attraction suggests that to attain our goals we should not only work towards to them, but they should also be foremost in our thinking. In other words, it’s a little like being pro-active while also thinking positively. What I found interesting was the number of times I’ve “worked” this way in the past to achieve goals without actually being aware of what I was doing. (If that makes any sense!)

Ok, it’s Friday already! So without further ado let me present a few coffee break distractions. And true, it may take a while to work through these, but aren’t Friday’s all about long coffee breaks?!

• A dream board is a way of creating a visual representation of a goal, and by having something tangible to focus on, this can help us strive towards it. If your goal, for instance, is to own a Ferrari then what better way to stay motivated than by a seeing a photo of a Ferrari each day? Career changers could make a useful adaption of this idea as well!
• Dr. Bamster’s Blog has a specialist focus on issues facing those 40 and over who are changing jobs or careers.
• Build a More Meaningful Career is an article written by Robin Ryan at QuintCareers. “30 million people go to work each day to a job they hate” was the line that caught my attention, and Robin suggests a few reasons why moving on is a good idea, if you are one of those 30 million people!
• Quiz time! This career interest test with 100 questions may seem long, and some questions may seem irrelevant, but bear with this one because it’s all going somewhere! A free ten point report result is delivered after the test, which you can re-access and view whenever you want, and there is also an option to pay for a more detailed report if you choose. A tip for non US residents, use 00000 (that is five zeros) as a zip code.
• You become what you think about, is the gist and summary of a great inspirational post over at Dream Jobs Dialog. As Michael Werner points out though, “thinking” should not be confused with merely “daydreaming”, but rather “thinking” is a plan of action in this context.

Most mornings I can usually be found around to the local cafe looking for my daily coffee fix. I usually order takeaway, so I can drink it back here while reading emails and planning the day, but the other morning, just for a change, I decided to stay there and read the newspaper instead.

Two people arrived and sat down at the table next to me. In a nutshell Person A, as we shall call him, needed some advice from, shall we call him, Person B.

Person A explained his problem while Person B listened carefully. Without going into too much detail, Person A was having trouble with an employee. Person B, judging by his comments, sounded quite familiar with Person A’s sort of issue.

While Person A had done the right thing in seeking the counsel of someone with the expertise he required, he was unfortunately doing himself a disservice by NOT listening to a single word that Person B was saying.

Person A was almost instantly dismissing every suggestion and idea that Person B was offering. In fact Person A sometimes wasn’t even giving Person B time to finish his sentence before interrupting and saying, “no, that would never work”, or, “no, that couldn’t be done.”

It made me wonder why Person A had bothered asking for Person B’s advice in the first place. It was also, I thought, quite rude of him to waste Person B’s time like this.

Eventually Person B managed to prevail with his initial suggestion, but only because Person A had little choice to do so anyway, due to what employment laws say in regard to his situation.

It almost seems that if the law hadn’t have intervened, as it were, Person B would have completely wasted his time travelling out to the cafe to try and help Person A.

And out of this situation I could see a lesson for us all, including those of us changing careers.

If you’re seeking advice from someone, make sure you listen to them. If you’ve asked someone to give up their time to help you, at least have the courtesy to hear them out. Don’t go rejecting every last word, like Person A in the cafe, did.

Every idea, or suggestion, no matter how apparently outlandish or ridiculous it seems, should be taken on board and considered. Keep an open mind. One quite “extreme” idea may lead to another you consider a little more plausible.

Indeed let one idea lead to another. Consider radical ideas the beginning of the thought and problem solving process, rather than something to be dismissed.

Remember, the person you are asking may know you better than you think, and what they say may be of more value than you initially realise.

I am in the process of compiling a Links page that will feature some of the resources that are included in the Check List posts, but as there are so many career change resources on-line, it will take sometime to arrange.

In the meantime here are a few more things worth checking out:

• The JobHuntersBible is the companion website to that career change “bible”, What Color Is Your Parachute?, which by the way, I will be reviewing here shortly. Although the book’s author, Richard Bolles calls the “JobHuntersBible” a supplement to “What Color Is Your Parachute?”, it is still brimming with career change and job hunting resources.
• Career changers in Australia will be interested in this. The Australian Government is offering a variety of packages to assist people over 25 who are considering a career change. This includes “Work Skills Vouchers” worth up to AUD$3000, so people can study new qualifications, and can be used at a number of Australian educational institutions. More information is available at the Skills for the Future website.
• Time for another quiz! This Career Change Quiz from About, features 12 questions, and offers a short commentary on each of your answers as you progress. Although the quiz prompts you stop taking it all together at various stages, depending on how you answer some questions, I’d nevertheless recommend answering all 12 questions. You leave no stone unturned that way!
• And another one. This time the question is Could you cut it as a creative? Do you have dreams or ambitions of say being an artist, web designer, or maybe a film director? Take the first step to finding out! You’ll need pen and paper for this one, as it’s not interactive. I scored 21, so hopefully by starting a blog called The InterChange Desk I am fulfilling my destiny!
• And finally I wanted to comment on this article that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald last week. Seven biggest self-help myths takes a swipe at self help books, and while the article presents a number of very good, and very valid points, I take exception with the writer’s opinion that your job should NOT make you happy. Michael Lallo writes, “often it’s unpleasant, difficult and tiring. But that’s why it’s called ‘work’.” He suggests work is to be tolerated, not enjoyed. I think there’d be a number of people who disagree with that stance. Perhaps he has not held down a job he didn’t like?

Anyway that’s another week here at The InterChange Desk, thanks for taking the time to visit, and we’ll see you again on Monday. Have a great weekend! :)

Friday’s are always good for reading and research I think. You don’t want to be getting yourself in too deep so close to the weekend now do you?

With that in mind I’ve prepared a list of articles and quizzes to kick start your career change research.

• What’s Your True Talent? Try this on-line quiz from Tickle that tests your talents in five categories, Abstract Reasoning, Mechanical, Numerical, Spatial, or Verbal ability, and challenges you to answer a blend of logical and metaphorical questions. While free to take an email address is required to view the test’s summary results. A more in depth analysis of your test score is also available for a small cost.
• On Cruise Control is an inspirational and insightful article at Jugglezine offering strategies to avoid, or get out of, life ruts. It’s not an article that focuses on changing careers as such, but certainly some of the suggestions for getting out of life ruts make food for thought for those looking to change careers.
• Groper is on-line career assessment tool developed by Australian company Groper International and assesses your level of interest in over 170 occupations to determine the career, and area of study, that best suits you. The test costs AUD$29.95 and takes about 30 minutes to complete, after which results are emailed to you. Take a tour to learn more.
• Starting your own business is a sure fire of making a career change and doing the sort of work you enjoy. If only there were a way to overcome the anxiety and uncertainty that taking such a big step invokes. Yet “fear is not the problem… the problem is how we respond to our fear,” writes Life and Business Coach Linda Anderson in Overcoming fear of running your own business, an article that shows us how to come to allay the fears that may be holding us back.
• I very much doubt that any career, no much how we may love it, is completely free of stress. Reducing stress requires a scientific approach and the boffins at New Scientist have obliqued with an article that suggests Six steps to a stress-free career. Maybe this would make better reading on a Monday!

Here’s something we’ll be discussing in more depth later, but I thought I’d touch on the topic today since this little promotional gimmick from Sydney plumbing company, Chiswick Plumbing, arrived in my letter box this morning.

So let’s open it up and have a look. The “letter-box drop” essentially comes in two parts. First up there is a “cash back” offer if you use this particular company’s plumbing services.

While that is an enticement in itself, what for me makes this particular gimmick eye catching is the inclusion of a “lucky penny”. By the way, the term “gimmick” is used in its most positive connotation here.

The lucky penny is something that definitely makes this promotional campaign all the more unique, and most importantly, memorable.

And finally, that staple of all letter-box drop campaigns, the “fridge magnet”.

But what a simple, yet effective, way to make an impression! Out of all the fridge magnets that arrive in my letter box, vying for attention, this one wins it hands down!

To me this stresses the importance of self marketing and promotion, during the career change process, especially while searching for work in a new field. Particularly a field, or industry, where you have little or no experience.

If the proverb “first impressions last” holds true, promoting or marketing yourself in a unique and specialised manner may work wonders. Doing something that draws attention to yourself could very well tip the scales in your favour, and lead to the opportunity you are looking for.

In summary, don’t worry so much about who to impress, but rather how to impress.