Thinking about changing careers?

Republished with permission of CareerOneStop.org Many people make large and small career changes in their 50s, 60s, and even 70s. Maybe technology, the labor market, or other factors have negatively impacted your current career. Or maybe you’re itching for a change. Whatever the reason, there are steps you can take to help identify a new career that will be a good fit for you.

Get started by assessing your skills, interests, experience, and more

Try some or all of the below assessments:

• Enter a previous occupation in mySkills myFuture to see careers that use similar skills and experience. You’ll also find the demand, wages, training and typical tasks.
• Prioritize your work-related preferences on the Work Values Matcher to see careers and find workplaces that match your values.
• Take the Skills Matcher to rate your skills and view occupations that are a good match for you.
• Take the Interest assessment to learn how the things you like to do relate to different careers.

You can also visit the Occupation Profile to explore details about nearly 900 careers—learn about what you might do on the job, how much you might earn, and how much education or training you might need.

Encore careers

Are you ready to step back from your lifelong career and want to find something to help make a difference in the world? If this is you, you might be searching for what many people call an “encore career.”  The mid-life encore career typically pays less than a previous job but provides benefits such as more meaningful experiences, more value-driven work, and the potential to either learn new skills and/or help others. Jobs in education, the arts, or social and public services are typical. A recent survey showed that about 9 million Americans were working in encore jobs, with an additional 31 million who would like to. Learn more at Encore.org.

More ways to explore

There are lots of online resources that can help you learn about potential career or job opportunities.

• Research your local job market. Visit the Job Finder to see what kinds of jobs are currently available in your local area. Or, visit the Business Finder to learn more about the businesses that typically hire for various jobs in your community.
• Leverage your network. Friends, family, and past or present professional connections can be a great source of information as you explore career options. Learn more about how to network effectively.
• Consider working for yourself. Learn more about the pros and cons of self-employment.
• Explore work-from-home options. Ready to give up the commute or other aspects of typical employment—but not ready to give up working? Find a Remote Job lets you search job postings that don’t require you to be onsite every day.

ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves career coaching, all as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 1900 episodes, and is a member of The Forbes Coaches Council. Are you interested in 1:1 coaching, interview coaching, advice about networking more effectively, how to negotiate your offer or leadership coaching? Schedule a free Discovery call. If you have a quick question for me, you can get it answered with a 3-5 minute video at https://www.wisio.com/TheBigGameHunter. Want to do it live? JobSearchCoachingHQ.com offers great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.   Connect with me on LinkedIn. Like me on Facebook. Join and attend my classes on Skillshare. Become a premium member and get 2 months free. Watch my videos on YouTube at JobSearchTV.com, the Job SearchTV app for FireTV, Roku or a firestick or BingeNetworks.tv for AppleTV and 90 smart tv platforms. You can order a copy of "Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems" for Kindle on Amazon and receive free Kindle versions of "No BS Resume Advice" and "Interview Preparation." If you are starting your search, order, “Get Ready for the Job Jungle.” Don't forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes. It helps other people discover the show like you did. Would you like to talk through a salary negotiation or potential negotiation you're involved with? Order and schedule time with me. Do you have questions or would like advice about networking or any aspect of your search. Order and schedule time with me. Would you like me to critique your resume? Order a critique from me Jeff’s Kindle book, “You Can Fix Stupid: No BS Hiring Advice,” is available on Amazon.