MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL, GRANT
ME THE
GREATEST JOB OF ALL!
From NEXT Magazine May 2008
Are you dreaming of a different career?
These women realised they were in the wrong job, and they
had the courage to try something new.
WORDS NICOLE CURIN-BIRCH
“HOW’S WORK GOING?” is a
question many of us get asked a lot, and we don’t often
stop to think about our response. Consider what you answered
last time the question was put to you. If your instinctive response
was “great” or “couldn’t be better”,
that’s good news, you love your job. But if you usually
retort that work is boring or a waste of time, then maybe you
need a career change.
This March, a survey by online recruitment company Seek showed
that 41% of the 1400 respondents were unhappy with their job,
and while there are no accurate statistics covering career
change in New Zealand, reports from the US indicate the average
number of career changes in a lifetime is three. The Ministry
of Education’s 2007 Social Report on knowledge and skills
shows a 6% increase in the number of women aged 25-39 participating
in tertiary education over the last few years. Of these, many
will be training for a new career.
Still, it takes a lot of courage to chuck a well-paid job
in pursuit of the career of your dreams. And while many people
may feel like a change, that doesn’t mean they know
exactly what they want that change to be.
Career coach Allison Fisher says her clients first visit
when they realise they’re unhappy. “They feel
like they’re stuck in a rut and are very unsettled.
Often they don’t know what they want to do next, which
is scary. We all like to know where we’re headed and
many of my clients have lost that sense of direction,”
she says.
Allison, who worked as a human resources manager for 15 years
before setting herself up as a career coach five years ago,
has guided many people through a career change. She advises
clients to look back before stepping forward. “The first
step is revising where you’ve been work wise and what
your best skills and interests are.”
Conservative to creative
Leonie Smyth, 30, was an accountant. Now she’s
a makeup artist.
There couldn’t be two more different job titles. Compliance
versus creativity, business meetings versus fashion shows
– they’re two different worlds. But Leonie Smyth
found she excelled at both thanks to her eye for detail.
Good at maths and economics at school, Leonie decided a commerce
degree and chartered accountant’s papers would set her
up for a solid career. “I funded my OE through accountancy,
took overseas trips and had some pretty interesting jobs,
but I had always had an artistic streak too,” she says.
Initially Leonie satisfied her creative cravings by painting
in her spare time. But she became increasingly despondent
about her day job. “For a while I kept switching jobs,
thinking a more challenging role would keep me stimulated,”
says Leonie. “But I just seemed to be working longer
hours with no job satisfaction. I knew I needed a change but
I couldn’t see a way out.”
Then her partner Steve threw her a lifeline. “He saw
how miserable I was and said he’d support me –
a wonderful gift. When you get to that level it’s hard
to give everything up.”
While she loves painting, Leonie wanted a role with more
people contact. “Working as a makeup artist is all about
mixing creativity with a desire to get out there and make
people happy. It seemed the perfect choice.”
When she enrolled at the Samala Robinson Academy she was
the oldest person in the class by several years, but this
only make her more determined. “My academic background
meant I found the theoretical side easy so I focused on the
practicalities. I loved it and didn’t miss a single
day, even if some of the girls joked and called me ‘Granny’
” she grins.
Nine months on, Leonie works regularly for magazines like
Next as well as for private clients. The closest she gets
to her previous career is filing her GST and tax returns.
Working as a makeup artist, Leonie has had to downgrade her
lifestyle considerably but doesn’t mind that she can’t
spend money as freely. “ With such a turnaround in my
outlook on life it’s been more than worth it.”
Just doing it
Geraline Knox, late 30s, was a lawyer. Now she’s a TV
presenter.
Geraline Knox proudly lists corporate lawyer, model and actress
on her CV and is about to add a new role, TVNZ 7’s News
at 8 presenter, to that list.
“ I get bored and need a change every now and then,”
laughs Geraline.
Born in Malaysia, Geraline came to New Zealand as a teenager
to study law. But when her husband accepted a job back in
Malaysia, she made a change. “We arrived back in Malaysia
during the economic crisis so there weren’t many law
jobs around. I’d always acted, mainly as a hobby, so
when a new digital network started up I auditioned as a newsreader.”
She didn’t get the job but when a broadcasting trainer
reviewed the audition tapes, he spotted Geraline and suggested
her for a different role. “I got a phone call offering
me a job as an anchor. I was thrown in the deep end and had
to learn a lot very quickly.”
When her husband’s contract finished, the couple came
back to New Zealand and Geraline set up a private law practice.
But, once bitten by the journalism bug, she wanted more. “When
Michael Wilson left Breakfast Business I auditioned for the
role. I didn’t hear anything for ages, then I got a
call offering me the TVNZ 7 role.”
She jumped at the chance and will be both presenting and
co-producing the new show. She aims to keep up with her legal
work and is relishing the challenge of running two careers
simultaneously. “If you‘re not happy, you can
change that. I love change. It’s good for you.”
Moving forward
Sarah Hutchings, 38, was a midwife. Now she owns
a jewellery business.
Sarah Hutchings always knew she wanted to take care of people.
Young, clever and enthusiastic she embarked on a nursing and
then midwifery degree, and at 22 become one of the country’s
youngest practicing hospital midwives. “I really enjoyed
midwifery, it’s a great career. You see people at the
happiest time in their lives.”
Sarah never really thought of doing anything else until she
realised her New Zealand qualifications wouldn’t pass
muster in the UK while on her OE. “When that happened
I thought, I don’t really want the hassle of retraining
for a job I’ve been doing for years, so I started working
for a pharmaceutical company instead.”
All was going well until Sarah’s mother became ill
and passed away. “Events like that get you thinking
about your life and whether you’re really getting what
you want out of it. I realised I wasn’t happy but I
didn’t know what to do next.”
The answer came when her husband Kent took her to visit the
Vicenza jewellery fair in Italy. A self-confessed jewellery
fan, Sarah was always on the lookout for beautiful pieces
and immediately saw an opportunity. As soon as she came home
she began importing European jewellery and created her business,
Orsini Collections (www.orsini.co.nz).
The timing couldn’t have been better. “Midwifery
is hard work – I can’t think of a job with more
responsibility; you’re dealing with people’s lives.
I’m doing IVF at the moment so I need to take it easy
and this allows me to do that. Plus, I get some extra time
to spend with my girlfriends.”
The transition has been surprisingly easy. With her father-in-law
giving her a hand with the jewellery side of things, all Sarah
has needed to do is learn how to set up and run a website.
With plenty of enquiries so far, she plans to open a showroom
next.
“I like making people happy,” she says. “We
only live once so why not try as many things as you can?”
The easiest way to do this is on paper. Read through your
CV and take a good look at the jobs you’ve had, then
write down a list of your current skills. Decide which skills
you enjoy using the most, then determine how these fit in
with your values, aspirations and interests. For example,
you might be a wonderful organiser and have fantastic people
skills and feel you’d like to work with a charity. Perhaps
a role in sponsorship management would be the right one for
you.
Now you know a little more about yourself, research the options
that complement your abilities and interests. Visit a careers
website such as www.seek.co.nz,
click on the jobs you may be interested in and take a look
at the attributes and skills the employers are looking for,
and the types of organisations employing in that field.
Take time to learn about the industry as a whole. The last
thing you want to do is to retrain for a role only to find
it obsolete in five years time. Talk to experts in the field,
read the business pages and keep your eyes and ears open for
news about the industry you’re targeting.
Kate Ross, a director at Kinetic Recruitment, says 10% of
her candidates are seeking a complete career change. “Most
of the time we see mothers looking to return to the workforce
in a different, more flexible role than the one they had previously,
and sometimes we see people wanting to move away from careers
like nursing and teaching into a less stressful administrative
position.”
There may be a host of different reasons for wanting a new
job, but confidence – or the lack of it – is a
common thread among new candidates. “Often people don’t
realise they’re actually capable of much more,”
Kate says. “[Career consultants] work with them to go
through their CVs and reassess their skills, and offer courses
where people can learn about some of the new technology and
software packages that organisations are using, which helps
make that transition much easier.”
If you’re looking for a new career, you’ll probably
have some transferable skills, but odds are some retraining
will be necessary. If full-time study is not in your budget,
take a look at educating yourself at home through correspondence
schools like The Open Polytechnic or attending evening classes,
weekend workshops or short courses. If you’re transferring
into a career like teaching or nursing, you may qualify for
a scholarship and it’s a good idea to check this out
with university and polytechnic enrolment officers.
Another option, before taking the plunge, is to see if you
can take some leave or reduce your hours at your current job
so you can road test your new role. If you can, try volunteering,
working weekends, nights or part time in your new industry
to see if you like the temperature of the water before you
dive in.
And remember, making the move will have costs as well as benefits,
says Allison Fisher. “For some people,
making a change will mean downsizing their home, cutting
back on the luxuries and refocusing their lifestyle,”
she says.
“But in the end, you can’t take those things
to the grave. Sometimes it’s good to ask those deathbed
questions like, What would I have liked to achieve, how have
I been of value? to get some perspective.”
Five signs you need a career change
- You’re feeling burned out. Although you once enjoyed
going to work, it’s now a chore to drag yourself out
of bed and face your day. Once at work, you have a hard
time keeping your eyes away from the clock. If you’ve
changed employers but your feelings remain the same, it
may be a sign you should switch careers.
- Your job causes you too much stress. If you’re feeling
the strain mentally and physically, think about finding
a less stressful career so you can enjoy better health.
- The job outlook in your industry has worsened. If it looks
like getting another job in your field is going to be more
difficult in the future, it may be time to look into trying
another profession that offers more opportunities.
- Your job and your work bores you. No career is all excitement,
all the time, but if you find your work dull, with few opportunities
for advancement, it’s time to seek out work more meaningful
and stimulating for you.
- Your personal circumstances have changed. While your career
might have been a good fit for you when you first chose
it, your life may have changed since then. If you’ve
had a child, for example, you may wish to have a job that
involves more flexible hours or less travel.
Inspirational Reading
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