Changing Careers... to obtain the Telecommuting Lifestyle

At one time or another, every employee wonders what it would be like to work in a telecommuting situation. But, they look at their current job and wonder how they could ever do it from home. Well, that concern is quite correct as some jobs cannot be done from home. However, one possible solution is to change careers into something that compliments a telecommuting situation. I've heard it said that changing careers is one of the more stressful situations that a person can experience. This is especially true if you've been in a position for many years. There is a way, however, to ease into a career change without inducing any of the stress that usually accompanies the transition. --- Baby Steps --- Let's assume that you're an executive secretary with dreams of working from home. However, your current position is not practical outside of the office. You start thinking of other jobs that you could do, but realize that no one will hire you immediately because you lack the experience to take on such a position full-time. Instead of pursuing the situation, you simply give up your dreams and accept the fact that you are stuck in your current position until retirement. Realize that you can still move forward with your dream of working at home, just not all at once. You have to take it a little at a time to gain experience and prove your abilities before you take the leap into a new career. Your first step is to determine what you would like to do, that would lend itself to telecommuting, and still pay handsomely. Let's think, you're an executive secretary so your immediate skills are telephone, organization, scheduling, data entry, research, and various word-processing and spreadsheet applications. Consider these various individual skills and put them together in different ways to see what type of jobs you can handle. One way to do this is to visit some of the more popular job sites like Monster.com (http://www.monster.com) and Headhunter.net (http://www.headhunter.net) and type in your prominent skills to see what types of jobs appear. You might be surprised at what you can do! >From a quick search for the executive secretary, I found that similar skills are required for the following types of jobs: - Internet Sourcing - Transcription - Customer Support - Data Entry - Off-site Executive Administrative Assistant - Web Developer As you will find, there are many things that you can do, however, you don't want to jump in and just do them. For now, use these career ideas to prepare yourself. --- Setting up for the Change --- Once you figure out what you want to do, go back to Monster.com (http://www.monster.com) and Headhunter.net (http://www.headhunter.net) and search for various jobs that would fit your requirements and skills. Don't apply to any of them yet, just search for jobs that fit your desired direction. Once you find about a dozen or so different opportunities, examine them to make sure that this is something you want to do. Don't worry about salary as of yet since this opportunity is something you will do "on the side" until you get enough experience to do it full-time. Remember, the objective here is to find something that you can do to help fine-tune your skills for your new career. Don't despair and don't get over-anxious as this career-preparing stage is only temporary. --- The Resume --- Here is the tricky part. You need to rework your resume to emphasize your skills and strengths for the positions you want to pursue. Your first thought is to list your skills and minimize your work history---the functional resume. This won't work as the employer will assume that you're trying to hide something. You also don't want to list your work experience first because you won't get the job since your work history will not reflect anything applicable for the new career. You want to write a resume that mixes relevant skills, achievements, and experiences. Put your most valuable skills and abilities near the beginning and add an objective tailored to the job you are trying to get. A good outline for a career change resume follows: * OBJECTIVE Write the objective to match the requirements of the job. For instance, if you want a job as an "Internet Sourcer," then you could write something like: "An independent self-starter seeking a contract or freelance position to provide research and analysis skills using knowledge, a positive attitude, and experience as assets for the hiring company." * SKILLS Describe up to five skills or areas of expertise that you can offer. The skills can come from anywhere as long as you can prove them (e.g., a degree you completed last year or a hobby that makes you an expert). * ACHIEVEMENTS List up to five bulleted points describing positive things you've done related your target job. For example, you can include both paid and volunteer work as well as hobbies or education. * EDUCATION/TRAINING or EXPERIENCE List those items that fit well with your target career. If your education exemplifies your skills for the job, emphasize it. As for experience, list those items in your current and past jobs that emphasize your experience specifically for the job and your new career. If you're curious and want a few examples for a given position, download Copernic (http://www.copernic.com) and use their "Resume" category search. Search for other resumes that meet your requirements for your position. You might also find someone else with your skills and realize that they made it into the career you're heading toward! --- Going After the New Career --- Once your resume is complete, go back and search for those positions that match your needs. Examine their requirements and create a cover letter that best describes how your attributes can satisfy the needs of the company. Don't use a form cover letter, tailor one for each individual position. When you're confident that the cover letter and resume are ready, send them to the contacts for each company. You'll probably have to do this a few times until someone catches on to your skills and hires you. In the process, make sure that you keep track of the companies and their contacts that receive your resume. Since the Web is inundated with repetition, make sure that you don't send your resume more than once to the same company. --- What's Next? --- The idea is not to give up. If your dream is to telecommute, then you need to position yourself such that a telecommuting position can be yours. Just remember that your first job will be "on the side" and its purpose is to help you gain experience as a telecommuter in your new career. As you become proficient, update your resume and go after the big job! Just make sure your resume makes it clear that you have the skills and desire to be proficient in that new job.