Changing,Careers...,obtain,the DIY Changing Careers... to obtain the Telecommuting Lifestyle

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At one time or another, every employee wonders what it would be like to workin a telecommuting situation. But, they look at their current job andwonder how they could ever do it from home. Well, that concern is quitecorrect as some jobs cannot be done from home. However, one possiblesolution is to change careers into something that compliments atelecommuting situation.I've heard it said that changing careers is one of the more stressfulsituations that a person can experience. This is especially true if you'vebeen in a position for many years. There is a way, however, to ease into acareer change without inducing any of the stress that usually accompaniesthe transition.--- Baby Steps ---Let's assume that you're an executive secretary with dreams of working fromhome. However, your current position is not practical outside of theoffice. You start thinking of other jobs that you could do, but realizethat no one will hire you immediately because you lack the experience totake on such a position full-time. Instead of pursuing the situation, yousimply give up your dreams and accept the fact that you are stuck in yourcurrent 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 gainexperience and prove your abilities before you take the leap into a newcareer. Your first step is to determine what you would like to do, thatwould lend itself to telecommuting, and still pay handsomely.Let's think, you're an executive secretary so your immediate skills aretelephone, organization, scheduling, data entry, research, and variousword-processing and spreadsheet applications. Consider these variousindividual skills and put them together in different ways to see what typeof jobs you can handle. One way to do this is to visit some of the morepopular job sites like Monster.com (http://www.monster.com) andHeadhunter.net (http://www.headhunter.net) and type in your prominent skillsto see what types of jobs appear. You might be surprised at what you cando!>From a quick search for the executive secretary, I found that similar skillsare required for the following types of jobs:- Internet Sourcing- Transcription- Customer Support- Data Entry- Off-site Executive Administrative Assistant- Web DeveloperAs you will find, there are many things that you can do, however, you don'twant to jump in and just do them. For now, use these career ideas toprepare 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) andsearch for various jobs that would fit your requirements and skills. Don'tapply to any of them yet, just search for jobs that fit your desireddirection. 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 youwill 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 helpfine-tune your skills for your new career. Don't despair and don't getover-anxious as this career-preparing stage is only temporary.--- The Resume ---Here is the tricky part. You need to rework your resume to emphasize yourskills and strengths for the positions you want to pursue. Your firstthought is to list your skills and minimize your work history---thefunctional resume. This won't work as the employer will assume that you'retrying to hide something. You also don't want to list your work experiencefirst because you won't get the job since your work history will not reflectanything applicable for the new career.You want to write a resume that mixes relevant skills, achievements, andexperiences. Put your most valuable skills and abilities near the beginningand add an objective tailored to the job you are trying to get. A goodoutline for a career change resume follows:* OBJECTIVEWrite the objective to match the requirements of the job. For instance, ifyou want a job as an "Internet Sourcer," then you could write somethinglike: "An independent self-starter seeking a contract or freelance positionto provide research and analysis skills using knowledge, a positiveattitude, and experience as assets for the hiring company."* SKILLSDescribe up to five skills or areas of expertise that you can offer. Theskills can come from anywhere as long as you can prove them (e.g., a degreeyou completed last year or a hobby that makes you an expert).* ACHIEVEMENTSList up to five bulleted points describing positive things you've donerelated your target job. For example, you can include both paid andvolunteer work as well as hobbies or education.* EDUCATION/TRAINING or EXPERIENCEList those items that fit well with your target career. If your educationexemplifies your skills for the job, emphasize it. As for experience, listthose items in your current and past jobs that emphasize your experiencespecifically for the job and your new career.If you're curious and want a few examples for a given position, downloadCopernic (http://www.copernic.com) and use their "Resume" category search.Search for other resumes that meet your requirements for your position. Youmight also find someone else with your skills and realize that they made itinto the career you're heading toward!--- Going After the New Career ---Once your resume is complete, go back and search for those positions thatmatch your needs. Examine their requirements and create a cover letter thatbest 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 themto the contacts for each company.You'll probably have to do this a few times until someone catches on to yourskills and hires you. In the process, make sure that you keep track of thecompanies and their contacts that receive your resume. Since the Web isinundated with repetition, make sure that you don't send your resume morethan once to the same company.--- What's Next? ---The idea is not to give up. If your dream is to telecommute, then you needto position yourself such that a telecommuting position can be yours. Justremember that your first job will be "on the side" and its purpose is tohelp you gain experience as a telecommuter in your new career. As youbecome proficient, update your resume and go after the big job! Just makesure your resume makes it clear that you have the skills and desire to beproficient in that new job. Article Tags: Changing Careers, Executive Secretary, Make Sure, Cover Letter