It’s an unnerving realization: you’re ten years into a stable, well-paying career and “all of a sudden” you need a change. Where do you start? Here are some of the career change tools I explored along my journey.
Books
Slowly but surely I’ll add short synopses and reviews of each of these in this space. To get you started though, this is the list of career books on my shelf (yes, I’ve been through them all!):
Do What You Are by Paul D. Tieger
Strengthsfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles
I Could Do Anything if I Only Knew What it Was by Barbara Sher
The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success by Nicholas Lore
Type Talk at Work by Otto Kroeger, Janet M. Thuesen, and Hile Rutledge
Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen (I recommend this book for any life situation.)
Tests
Highlands Ability Battery as part of the service I purchased from Career Joy (under “People”).
Gallup in conjunction with the Strengthsfinder 2.0 book above.
Should I Quit I may have been desperate at this point.
Work Happy Now This was an e-mail course, not a test.
Hobbies
I’ve written a little about hobbies in this post. I thought about doing George Brown College’s Baking Arts certificate. I ended up in their Digital Photography certificate and the University of Toronto’s Freelance Writing certificate which is no longer offered. I looked into coaching after leading the Yonge Street Running Room’s Learn to Run program for a year. I took all of this information to…
People
Career Joy. I’ve written a fair bit about my experience with a career counselor as well. Try this post or this one.
I spoke with journalists, PhD students, learning and development professionals, florists, professors, and dear friends with wide networks and experiences. Pretty much anyone I could get a hold of to pepper with questions. Some were helpful. Others, not so much. I am happy to be one of those helpful people for you, if you’re looking to make a change. E-mail me anytime: kate@katemingsunoutdoors.com.
Kate Monahan Outdoors 