2011 DallasHR Workforce Readiness Committee

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Getting back into the Workforce

2011 DallasHR Workforce Readiness Committee

“ Transitioning back into Civilian Employment “

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6 steps to changing your career

• These steps serve as a framework on which to make a career transition and should not be viewed as a definitive 6-step process. The details will depend on you as a person and your particular situation. As a whole, these steps are essential to your continued career success and also your personal growth.

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1. Conduct a Self-Assessment

• Write down on paper all of these that you possess.

• Once you have the list on paper, put it aside, take another day to think about it, and then come back to it and write some more.

• An essential ingredient when it comes time to write your resume.

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2. Learn all you can

• Decide on the a career you feel you might enjoy and then learn all you can about your prospective new career.

• Visit your local library to do research.• Network with people in that career and ask

them questions about what skills you need to be successful in that career.

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3. Identify your Transferable Skills

• Look at all of your knowledge, skills, and abilities and see which ones may be applied to the new career.

• Write down specific events of when you’ve used these skills in the past.

• Cross-match your past skills to the new skills you will need.

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4. Develop a Strategy

• Develop a strategy to effectively assimilate your transferable skills to the new career.

• Put “spin” on your skills to show how they will enable you to succeed in the new career.

• Have you done volunteer work that shows you have the concrete skills the new career requires?

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5. Ask for Honest Feedback

• Go on more informational interviews and ask for honest feedback on how effectively you communicated your knowledge, skills, and abilities.

• Ask how you could present your skills more effectively or more attractively to an employer.

• Take a pad of paper on write down every bit of advice you get.

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6. Start the Job Search

• Start the job search using a “rifle” not “shotgun” approach.

• Aim for the bull’s-eye that you have identified as your ideal job.

• Decide what you want to do and then find the right market.

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