Seeking a new career? Try a new approach

Q: How should I choose a new career?

Nick's reply:

A lot is written about how to change careers, and I think much of it is bunk. Most forms of career counseling borrow from psychology and rely largely on tests to evaluate your interests and assess your skills. All these methods seek to define you, then to match you to a job.

I look at this exactly the opposite way. It almost doesn't matter who you are. (You're trying to be something new, right?) What matters is the work. That is – what work is out there? Few people have any idea, because they don't look. They're too busy looking to do more of what they have already done. They let their old job-specific skills limit their new choices.

Here's my suggestion, which may draw some heat from the experts. Forget about your skills and who you are. Visit the periodicals section at your library. Give yourself three days. Your task: Read whatever you want for as long as you want. After you're done with Rolling Stone and People, you'll discover publications about aviation, publishing, security, retail, boats and more. Study what strikes your fancy, and dig deeply into industries, businesses, products and companies that excite you.

Home in. What kinds of work does each business entail? How could you contribute? What tools would you need? What are the best companies? Whom do you need to talk with?

Finally, look at your most basic skills – those are the transferable ones. Draw up a simple plan showing how you will apply them to do some aspect of the work. Understanding the work helps you marshal skills you already have to do something new – and that makes you a potent job candidate.

Be realistic, but be aggressive. Drive your newfound interest until it dies, or until you get where you want to go.

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job," and host of www.asktheheadhunter.com.

He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.