What should I be when I grow up? (Help me choose a second career)

In My Humble Opinion
1

For thirty years I’ve worked in picture framing, mostly in retail shops. For the last eleven I’ve owned a shop of my own. The shop has been modestly profitable, covering all of its own expenses, but not covering all of mine. I need to make a change.

The potential exists for me to remain in framing in some other capacity, working for a commercial producer, or on the wholesale side. I’m not sure I don’t want more of a change than that.

I’m not really tied to this city. The largest concentration of my personal and family connections are in the north eastern US, spread out along I-95 from Maine to northern New Jersey. I’d like to move closer to them rather than further away. Though, if one of you were to reply “It just so happens I own a framing shop in an affluent community that has up to the minute equipment, a well appointed showroom, and ample free parking. We’re looking for a new manager” I’d be willing to move to a new time zone for that.

I think though, that I’d like to find an office/clerical job. Part of what I fear as I launch this search is that my resume doesn’t really recommend me for anything other than framing. I haven’t been looking too intently yet, but it seems that there are plenty of listings with descriptions that I read and think “I can do all those things. I should apply.” From there though,we jump down to the requirements and there’s always at least one thing I don’t come close to having and can’t fake such as:

  • Must have two years experience managing travel
  • Experience using Dentrix required
  • TS/SCI with CI poly (???)

I type in the range of 50wpm, have excellent written and verbal communication skills, and am decently familiar with assorted Microsoft products. I have plenty of experience from my career that translates, but not necessarily on paper.

I would like to make enough money to cover the expense of a one bedroom apartment, and owning a car as well as a typical assortment of modern suburban conveniences. (I realize this will be different in different locations.) A job with benefits would be great (I hear, I’ve never had one.)

I have been wondering if I should be seeking some sort of education or certification that would make me more marketable or employable. Bookkeeping? Paralegal?

So, what should I do? Any thoughts, suggestions, or anecdotes are welcome. Thanks in advance.

2

I can’t help with your larger question, but FYI when you see things like this:

TS refers to a US DoD Top Secret security clearance. Which comes in (at least) two flavors: CI & SCI. CI is Compartmented Intelligence, and SCI is Sensitive Compartmented Intelligence. CI is run of the mill extra-secret stuff, whereas SCI is seriously extra-super secret stuff. “CI poly” refers to having passed the standard polygraph (“lie detector”) exam applicable to some sub-sub-flavors CI.

3

Hi gwendee. I’m in human resources and can hopefully give you a little insight.

First, about those esoteric-sounding requirements - some are legit and necessary, but others are just a fishing expedition. Sure, I would love it if an applicant would come in with every requirement my hiring managers want put in a job listing, but more often than not, that’s a bonus, not a do-or-die requirement. I just hired someone this morning, in point or fact, who has agreed as a condition of employment to acquire a certain set of skills by a certain date. We didn’t find an applicant off the street who had that skill, but we found someone we felt could easily obtain them, and gave her the opportunity. What set her apart from the other applicants is that she up front volunteered to acquire the skills if we would give her the job. Initiative counts. And the fact that she looked ahead past the given requirements stood in her favor. Does it always work that way? Heck no. Sometimes we DO get an applicant who walks in off the street ands peaks perfect Egyptian (recent example). But it’s more rare than you’d think.

Second, if you would really like to change careers, why not visit your local employment office and ask for an appointment with a career counselor? They are trained to help you identify logical routes to take to utilize your current experience in other capacities. They may suggest you take a class, or do some on-line work to brush up or add additional skills. That’s a very good idea. You can also do that on your own. Everything you learn is an additional skills that sets up apart from others.

Also generally available from the employment office is help writing your resume. You may want 2 or 3 different resumes and cover letters emphasizing different sets of skills and experience. Most people don’t think about doing that, but it’s smart. In this day and age when resumes are often put through a word recognition program to pull out the ones that have the buzzwords a company is looking for, tailoring your resume to include the buzz words appropriate to the type of job you are looking for is smart.

If you think you’d like to remain in your current profession, but at a different level, check into any networking opportunities online. Most professions have a professional group online, on LinkedIn or Facebook or somewhere similar. Put yourself out there, contact some people, ask some questions, put out the word that you are interested in available. If nothing else, you might make a contact who can put you in contact with the right people to assist you.

I won’t lie to you, this can be a lot of work. But being unhappy with what you do is a miserable situation. We need a method to grow and change, and oftentimes the working world sets itself up against that. They want to pigeonhole us and leave us there.

I hope some of this helps. And good luck!

4

Thank you for all of that. I didn’t realize that an employment office was a resource available to me (or others not collection Unemployment).

I love what I do, I’m just not making a living at it. I’m quite hooked into the trade association and could probably set something up fairly quickly. But I’m not sure that’s what I want, or just the path of least resistance.