Many govt. jobs involve taking a test. If you test well, this might be your in. I was over 40 years old and out of work (I have a masters in English; really a useful degree…) when I took a test for a clerical position at a local school district. I spent 15 years in a series of medium-paying jobs at the district (including excellent benefits) and am now retired with a nice pension. All because I take tests well! (It’s true that many of these jobs have been eliminated in the poor economy, they do still exist.)
I am with you on that one and I am sick of it as well. All big companies are fundamentally the same. It is just the details that change. That is why comic strips like Dlibert and shows like The Office can have a wide audience and they often aren’t that far off. I want out, out, out of the corporate world. I can retire forever before I am 50 and I don’t even know if I can make it nearly that long.
I graduated from college at the right time to hit the IT and web boom dead on although my degree was unrelated. They hired most anyone with an interest in it at that point. Lots of people made stupid decisions to go into flashy things like web design or internet startup and the vast majority of them are gone from those days.
I went with the really boring technology like giant databases, spreadsheets, and project management that big companies depend on. I have worked in lots of different industries since then and got laid off from my last job in HR systems management consulting by choice about a year ago. I didn’t know what I was going to do but I renewed my resume online in December.
I got a call the next morning basically offering me a job being head of technology for a very famous brand pharmaceutical factory starting the next Monday. How in the fuck am I qualified to hold such a position you might ask? Your guess is as good as mine but apparently I was the most qualified person available that day in the Greater Boston area so there I am and the place stays running the vast majority of the time and everyone has gotten their essential surgeries so far but I am on call almost all the time and it gets used. Sorry kids, I won’t be seeing you much for the next few years unless I can find a way out of this trap in general. Love ya.
Well, if you’re interested in the exact job, I’ll send you more information.
Here’s a sample from the ad. No cold calling or anything like that.
You will be on the “fast-track” to becoming a licensed brokerage representative and will also be responsible for delivering outstanding service to our clients in order to build and maintain client loyalty. Specifically, you will:
Receive paid training (under a Condition of Employment) to acquire the knowledge for, and obtain, Series 7 and 63 broker licenses.
Utilize a passion for customer service, positive energy, and problem solving skills to connect with existing clients via the phone (this is not a face-to-face position)
Discuss financial products with clients, including stocks and options, bonds and fixed income products, mutual funds, ETFs, CDs & money markets, margin loans, and annuities
Place trades, discuss the latest market trends, and provide investment information to clients to empower them to make well informed financial decisions.
My degrees were a start, then I just sort of drifted into other areas, due to the particular sets of circumstances I encountered. Then becoming proficient in those areas led to other things and so on until I ended up completely outside of what I studied.
If they are hiring chemists and biochemists at the plant in Boston let me know.
For a lot of us, I think this was a big part of it. Timing wasn’t quite everything for those of us lucky enough to take advantage of the IT Tech Boom, but it was how a lot of us got started. I went from basically a secretary into IT because “I understood computers.” From there it was a combination of making choices and falling in directions that have kept me employed and promotable. My husband has a similar career path.
There are not nearly as many of those opportunities as there were, but they exist.
Another thing is flexibility. I got my first IT job because someone needed to run the Netware server…We needed a database to track PC and software installations, I wrote one (in Paradox - I’m old). When directories became big, I did that. Then we needed someone to do analysis - I became a Six Sigma blackbelt. If I’d moved into IT and said “I do Netware” - I wouldn’t be terribly employable right now.
That’s pretty much how I got into it (around roughly the same time). I didn’t care for my original career path of structural engineering and I had an aptitude for computer programming. One of my best friends from high school’s roomate worked for a small IT consulting firm and after a few months of networking and interviews, landed a job there. Once I had a little experience on my resume, it became relatively easy to find jobs in that field.
In the 90s, that was the field you wanted to be in. People were leaving lucrative jobs at Goldman Sachs to go join internet startups. Everyone thought every tech company was going to be the next Microsoft.
Going back to the OPs question, there are two components to any job - industry and functional area.
Industry is what the company does to make money:
-aviation
-energy
-financial services
-manufacturing
etc, etc
Functional area is your job within the company:
-sales
-finance
-accounting
-law
-IT
-etc
If you are looking to find a career outside your field of study, it’s usually better to change either industry or functional area, but not both at the same time.
For example, if you are an IT person in an insurance company, you might want to learn as much about some other area of the business as possible and then talk to people in those groups.
I’m an unemployed architect and the latest news from my professional organization (American Institute of Architects) is forecasting construction to pick up mid 2011! That’s right, a year from now!
I’m trying to use all of my ‘transferable skills’ to land a job in another field but in this market it’s hard to sell my skills when there are so many people who have even a little specific experience or who can demonstrate a focus in their studies relating to a particular position. I have done so much as an architect besides designing, documenting and supervising the construction of buildings. I point out my skills in sales/marketing/client relations/research/computer graphics/enviromemntal issues - and on and on, I wore many hats.
It’s a tough time to find a job in a field that you either haven’t worked in before or don’t have the specific degree/training for. Without a contact (why networking is so important) your application may be tossed aside before it’s even considered. Cultivate your contacts, know your strengths and be able to articulate how you’ve applied them in a different field.
Heh. I have an MA in ancient languages and now I’m a botanical illustrator. I’m even planning on combining the two fields in my doctorate (don’t ask). Do you have anything you really enjoy and are good at that you did not use in your degree? Something you used to like when you were a kid and then forgot about? If you’re good enough, they won’t worry that it isn’t what you got the degree in. And msmith537 has a very good point. You can hop to something completely unrelated, if that’s what you want, in two steps that way.
Look for a niche market that has not been hit by the economy. Fake it till you make it. Get references. All hospitals are expanding to ramp up for the aging Baby Boomer’s who will soon be spending a lot more time there. Elders are staying in their homes longer and have the money to do so. A profitable market is helping the elderly that no longer drive. Usually 80 and up. They won’t take a cab when they can pay by the hour. They all need drivers, landscapers and companions.
Coffee shops are getting to be popular hang outs with expensive veggie sandwiches and strong coffee and laptops to use. The unemployed hang out in them to make contacts. The unemployment rate is rising and the coffee shops are full. A friend recently started one and is doing great with a cheap rent.
As always. It’s a good idea to get bonded and insured when doing anything that you could be sued for. Some people are suing for insurance fraud and you can’t be too careful.
Think outside the box. If I was your age I would start my own business in a niche market expected to grow. There are segments of the economy that remain strong even during a recession. People still need a place to live, to eat, to get around.
Any type of housing is still going to be necessary. My landlord uses a real estate care company that handles my rental. What a racket! They get your apartment rented, collect rents, paint and get it ready for the next tenant. All phone calls and concerns go to the care company, not the landlord. They pay laborers to do the hard work and sit back and collect the rent. They do the dirty work of handling evictions and any court related paperwork. They charge the landlord and he does not have to worry about his rentals. One thing about my area is as bad as the economy is the rents are stable. They are above inflation and rarely go down only up. There is however a lot of turn over so rental care companies are doing well.
You never make any real money working for someone else unless your a crooked banker. You need to own your own business or real estate to take advantage of every tax write off known to man. Done right you can live almost for free. My Dad amassed a small fortune this way. He wrote it all off and was above board. His way was Real Estate but that is bust now. Just start an LLC and your eligible for all the freebies. Even dying of cancer he was too stubborn to quit. He started a taxi business with one car and he was the driver! I still have a letter written on his old company letter head. My Dad the taxi driver is funny but you would have to know him. He had his foot in everything and was a business major with a state job, buying and selling real estate and retired to start a taxi business! He sold the business three years later as his cancer had progressed.
Sorry so long but I love to remember my father and his entrepreneurial spirit.
First, you just have to keep looking and not allow yourself to be typecast. Most HR, job placement type people just want to plug and play. You’ve been selling widget x for 5 years, I’ll try to place you in the same widget x sales job somewhere else. You need to convince them, and usually you can’t so you have to find someone with a brain that’s in the hiring process, that you have sales *skills *(not widget x sales skills).
You have to highlight your skills and whatever experience you have that is relevant to the new position/field. Or demonstrate how you can ramp up quickly in the new role.