Hello, Sheila.

 Thank you for reaching out to Cancer and Careers.  The job search can absolutely feel overwhelming and intimidating, so you’re not alone in those feelings! I’ll pass along your inquiry to one of our volunteer coaches who will respond within the week, but in the meantime I'd like to dig a little deeper into what you're thinking and provide some resources.

 If you are looking to veer away from teaching and are seeking a complete career change, we have a ton of resources available to help you navigate what can sometimes feel trickier than it is. It's all about setting a plan for yourself, so that you don't get completely overwhelmed. First off, you need to narrow down what your interests are. This doesn't need to be a really formal process but rather, just brainstorm what you like to do, where your strengths lie and how you would want to apply them. For instance, as a teacher you are likely skilled in organization and planning, while also having solid interpersonal skills with your hands on teaching experience both with students as well as their guardians. Your work in central services and administration/supervision could translate into skills in oversight and management. It would be a good idea, then, to look into what industries and positions would place a lot of value this skillset. Perhaps something in customer service, or event planning? Ultimately, the first step is identify your strengths and then decide which ones you would like to use.

Next, begin looking at jobs and job descriptions. See what stands out to you, go through the responsibilities and the role requirements and see where there is overlap with what you have done and/or what you feel you have strengths that would transfer. Try to narrow down a few roles that stand out and explore the companies, see if you can have an informational interview with someone in a role you are interested in. What this does, is it gives you a sense of what's really involved in the roles, what the company is like in terms of expectations and workload, and from there you will be better equipped to situate yourself to be a good candidate. Additionally, networking is key when looking for work, and especially when considering a career change. This is really where LinkedIn can be exceptionally helpful as it offers the opportunity to connect with others in a field you may not have a foothold in quite yet. Given the potential impact of LinkedIn, you will want to make sure that your LinkedIn profile is updated and gives a clear picture of you as a professional. If you would like some tips and tools for creating an effective LinkedIn profile, check out the recording of our webinar on First Impressions: Resumes and LinkedIn. Networking is helpful as this will let others know you are looking and they may reach out should any appropriate roles arise that have not been made public, and help you to get a foot in the door.

 Finally once you have a sense of what employers are looking for in terms of skills and experience, you can use this information to then update your resume (please feel free to submit your resume to our Resume Review Service) with the appropriate and relevant information for those roles. Think through how to tell your story. If you don’t have the exact experience they’re asking for, that’s fine! There is no one singularly perfect candidate. It’s about showing your potential. Draw parallels, describe scenarios that could translate into the work you’d like to do (i.e., problem solving, critical thinking, projects, etc.). Once you’ve got an updated resume and you begin applying for jobs, be sure to brush up on interviewing. We have a number of articles focused on best practices for interviewing that can be really helpful as you prepare. At CAC we encourage job seekers to practice, practice, practice. This means doing mock interviews with family, friends or former colleagues, to get used to the specific language you use and any particularly salient examples you plan to bring up.

Hopefully the above is a good starting point for some considerations and actions to take while you wait to hear from one of our career coaches. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to reach out to cancerandcareers@cew.org to set up a time to chat.

Warm regards,

Nicole Jarvis, LMSW

Assistant Director of Programs

Cancer and Careers

Hi Sheila,

Nicole offered a lot of great advice and resources. I would like to get a little more granular with you. I facilitated the career change webinar on CAC's website and it covers all these things I am talking to you about in this post.

The first thing I would do is go through a self-assessment process and identify your core values which are those principles, standards, and qualities that motivate and fulfill you. First and foremost, the work you do needs to provide you with these things. 

Next, I would sit down and write down all of your skills. As an adult you easily have at least 50 skills. If you get stuck, try using AI to ask what skills a central service administrator has and see what is listed. Then, prioritize the skills that you still want to use at work. I call these favorite skills. Just because you have skills doesn't mean that you should keep using them.

If you haven't taken the Myers Briggs Type Indicator personality test recently or at all, take it to learn what your four letter type is. You can send it to me, and I can send you a list of jobs that are a good fit for your MBTI type.

Then re-read Nicole's paragraph about looking at jobs and job descriptions to see which jobs require the skills you want to keep using, the personality type that aligns with the jobs, and if you think the jobs would provide you with the values you need and want. 

Then, you will need to rewrite your resume and LinkedIn profile to focus on the specific jobs you have identified. I am the coach who does the resume reviews, so once you have an idea of the jobs you want to pursue, you can submit your resume to the service and I can make suggestions about how to change it.

This is a lot to absorb so I will sign off for now. Please do write back and let me know what additional questions you may have.

Take care,

Julie