Your relationships with family and friends have a big impact on your career choices and career decisions – and the holidays focus on these relationships more than any other time of year. Are you stuck in career indecision and feel your friends or family might judge you for it? Are you considering a career they might not approve of?  

Especially in the U.S., where so much focus is on your job (think social gathering and the typical opening question – “how’s the job search?” or “how’s work (or school)?”), handling career questions or opinions about your choices from those close to you can be awkward.  

Here are 3 steps to positively anticipate and handle those questions and influences using The Career Key’s High-Quality Decisions self-help article: 

1. Identify any pressure you feel from family or friends – positive or negative – about your career plans. To help you, download a free “Decision Balance Sheet” and complete it for the job or career options you’re considering. Check out this list of Career Choice Consequences to help you “see” what issues may be weighing on you. Your choice may be so welcomed by your friends or family that you feel uncomfortable pressure to be successful or “perfect.” Expectations may need to be lowered.
2. Make a plan for how you will handle each person’s concerns or reactions to your career choice or career indecision. That way you’re not left unprepared (and maybe anxious).

For example, if you’ve been laid off and you haven’t decided if you will go back to school, then prepare and practice a script for how you will answer your mother’s well-meaning but loaded question at the holiday dinner table, “how ARE you?” Instead of saying “things are fine,” which you know will result in cool or hurt silence, wouldn’t it be better to say:

“I’m deciding on whether to go to grad school. I had two informational interviews last month with graduates of the ___ school I’m considering and I’ve got two more scheduled for after Christmas. It’s pretty interesting what’s I’ve learned about _______(the post-graduation job market, financial aid, interesting classes).”

Imagine how your mom will brighten at hearing about what you are doing. With mothers, sometimes giving them more information is better than less, right? (I hope my mother is not reading this post.) 

Or if you are seriously considering a career change from a more secure (if such a thing exists anymore) career like a civil-service government position to starting a business – how have you planned for the risks or consequences and your significant others’ reaction to it? 

Take advantage of family and friends well-meaning interest in you to make sure your career plans and research are as organized and “on track” as you would like. It may have the side benefit of forcing you to set goals for yourself – short-term, realistic and achievable – to get things moving in a positive direction.

The Career Key Blog, run by Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D.  The Career Key™ gives you expert help with your career search and career choices  career change, career planning, job skills, and choosing a college major. Our career assessment helps you find a career by matching your personality with careers and providing you complete and accurate information about each career you choose to explore.

There are a lot of websites that talk about choosing a college major and tell you what to major in. But The Career Key is the only website to offer majors advice based on solid science and independent research proven to lead to a successful education decision. We just launched the most comprehensive resource out there – and it’s affordable and easy to use.

Why does The Career Key offer the best way to choose a college major or post secondary program? Unlike other approaches it:

1. Uses a scientifically valid career test to match your interests and personality with majors and training programs;
2. Offers you the most education choices (all of the 1,400+ college majors and training programs listed by the U.S. and Canadian governments);
3. Shows you careers related to educational programs that match your personality;
4. Shows you accurate, comprehensive, up to date information about each career;
5. Organizes all the programs and careers in a unique way developed by recognized vocational expert Dr. Lawrence K. Jones that is easy to explore; and
6. Links you to a description of each major and program that interests you.
7. All this information only costs $14.50 when you purchase the eBook, The Education Key: Choosing the Right College Major, Training, or Instructional Program, and The Career Key test together. And we offer a special, affordable group discount for both.

I couldn’t resist posting this photo of Career Key’s author, Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, relying on his Realistic interests to keep his house ready for the winter elements. You architecture buffs out there will recognize the “Mansard” roof.

He’s written before about his unusual combination of Realistic and Social Holland personality types.

To oversimplify, liking to work with tools and with people is an unusual combination. Are you an unusual combination?

If your highest score is in the Realistic personality type, you might be interested in my latest blog series on job outlook by personality type. I blogged about Realistic job outlook last week….

This blog post was graciously submitted to BizzyWomen by The Career Key Blog, run by Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D.  The Career Key™ gives you expert help with your career search and career choices  career change, career planning, job skills, and choosing a college major. Our career assessment helps you find a career by matching your personality with careers and providing you complete and accurate information about each career you choose to explore.

If one of your top 2 or 3 Holland personality types is Realistic, then you might be a little depressed by some of the job growth trends over the last 20 years. Many typically “Realistic” industries and occupations have suffered big losses: manufacturing and production of all kinds, farming and fishing, and even construction in the recent recession. The automotive industries and their suppliers have particularly been hard hit.

But there are many other Realistic careers with positive job outlook. And even within battered industries there are some bright spots.

Things to consider:

• Look at the Realistic occupations related to high growth industries like health care, social services (childcare and elder care), retail and restaurant, science and technology, and computer systems. Technicians and mechanics that fix medical equipment. High-skilled manufacturing like pharmaceuticals or green technology. Think outside the box. Are there any companies near you in these industries? What types of Realistic jobs do they have?
• With any career requiring a significant physical activity (as many Realistic occupations do), consider long-term consequences and your own abilities. Will you be able to hang windows when you are 60 years old? Can you plan a transition from an entry level, intensely physical job, to a less physical one that matches your interests? Again, talk with people working in the field. What are the common injuries? Physical demands?
• Location, location, location. If you really are interested in a particular career, regardless of what the government or “conventional wisdom” says about job outlook, talk with local people working in that career to get the real story. Maybe your area is the exception to a nationwide trend.

To get started, look at the jobs that match your interests using the Career Key test. Then check the job outlook for each career that interests you.

From the Career Key test and website, you’ll find direct links to the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) from each career you choose to explore. Each OOH description of a career includes a job outlook section that links to state specific labor market information. Career Key Canada provides similar links to the Canadian government’s Job Futures with employment prospect information.

Top Realistic Career Key (CK) work groups* for promising job prospects:

1.02 Safety and Law Enforcement
1.03 Engineering
1.05 Construction Crafts & Support
1.06 Crafts – Mechanical
1.07 Crafts – Electrical-Electronic
* The Career Key organizes matching careers in unique, easy to use work groups based on interests, skills, and abilities. To learn more, click here.

The Realistic occupations predicted to have the most new U.S. jobs through 2016 (listed with Career Key work group number) are:

Automotive service technician (1.06)
Carpenters (1.05)
Cooks, restaurant (1.09), and
Police officers and sheriffs (1.02)

The fastest growing is:
Audio and video equipment technician (1.03)

In Canada, please see this list of the best Canadian job prospects in 2009:
For Realistic occupations, see (with the CK work group number)
Paramedics (1.02)
Civil engineering technicians (1.03)
Mechanical engineers (1.03)
Medical radiation technologist (1.03)
Technical occupations in dental health care (1.12), and
Underground miners, oil and gas drillers, and related workers (1.11).

A word about the other CK work groups…

1.01 Agriculture & Natural Resources
Farming and fishing have taken significant hits to jobs. Support positions in forestry, mining, and farming are slowly growing, but overall technology and overseas competition makes this a stagnant or declining area – except mining, oil and gas in Canada. Small “boutique” farmers with specialty seeds and crops are making a positive go of it – but you have to find your niche to make it work.

1.04 Transportation & Distribution
While there is an overall increase in transportation operator jobs (mostly in trucking), these occupations have overall seen a jobs decline. The number and quality of the airline pilot opportunities are much different now than they were 20 years ago.

1.11 Equipment Operation
Construction is rebounding is some places as the residential and commercial real estate markets loosen up. Opportunities to drive heavy construction equipment will follow a similar path.

1.12 Manufacturing & Production
Health science related jobs like dental or ophthalmic laboratory technician can be a bright spot in an otherwise dim outlook for manufacturing and production.

Next post: Job Outlook for the Investigative Personality Type. (in progress) Want to see the previous post in this series? Start with my introductory post in your Career Options Cheat Sheet: Job Prospects by Personality Type. It also has my recommendations for best Internet links for labor market information.

Source for U.S. Job Outlook: Tomorrow’s Jobs, 2006-16, U.S. Department of Labor
Sources for Canadian Job Outlook: Job Futures, 2009; Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

This blog post was graciously submitted to BizzyWomen by The Career Key Blog, run by Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D.  The Career Key™ gives you expert help with your career search and career choices  career change, career planning, job skills, and choosing a college major. Our career assessment helps you find a career by matching your personality with careers and providing you complete and accurate information about each career you choose to explore.

Can’t decide on a career? Evaluating which career options will have better job opportunities? I’ve done the work to get you started with your decision. The biggest problem with researching how “in demand” a career will be is that there is a lot of information about industry growth, job creation, etc. that is hard to digest.

So I created a cheat sheet of job outlook organized by Career Key Work Group/Holland Personality type. A work group is the helpful way we organize careers within a personality type. Each group is based on skills, abilities and interests developed by Dr. Lawrence K. Jones, a recognized vocational expert. For example, “Literary Arts” is the first work group for the Artistic personality type.

First, take The Career Key test (Canadian version) and learn what your strongest Holland personality types are and choose careers that interest you. Then, read this 7 post series (Intro + 6 personality types) to learn more about the job prospects of the work groups and careers you chose.

To begin, a few facts and trends to keep in mind:

• In the U.S. and Canada, the goods-based economy is transitioning to a service based one. We are making fewer things and consuming more services. And the things we do make are more complex and require more skills to produce. A high-school diploma will no longer get you a living wage production job without more training. A lot of poorly paid, low skilled jobs are being created: low-end retail, food preparation, etc. So just because a job is high growth or “in demand” does not make it a great job or the best long term choice.

• Technology, environmental concerns, and automation are changing the way we consume energy, handle paper, and our productivity (how many people it takes to make a widget). Whole occupations are disappearing (stock clerks) while new ones are created (networks system analyst).

• A greater proportion of the population is getting older and our skilled health care needs are rising.

• Law enforcement and security jobs are increasing in a post 9/11 world. And the industries that support them are expanding (weapons, specialized clothing).

• How money is made in publishing and entertainment industries is driving big changes in many Artistic and Enterprising careers. Journalists, publicists, singers and actors are just a few occupations in a state of rapid change.

What does this all mean for you as you consider your career options? Take a look at the Career Key work groups and careers that interest you the most and then check our cheat sheet over the next 6 posts. Note to Canadians: where Canada differs, I’ll bring it up. And please email your feedback – I welcome it.

Helpful Links to Job Outlook Data
In the U.S.
Tomorrow’s Jobs, Occupational Outlook Handbook
O*Net OnLine’s List of InDemand Careers, in order of highest to lowest growth, with links to more information about each occupation. You can even download and save it as a MS Excel spreadsheet or a CSV file (for anyone without MSOffice).
“Learn More About Occupations” article at the Career Key website

In Canada:
Job Futures’ list of occupations with the best job outlook in 2009
Labour Market Information by occupation and your province/territory
Industry Profiles by geographic area that includes employment prospects
“Learn More About Occupations” article at the Career Key Canada website.

This blog post was graciously submitted to BizzyWomen by The Career Key Blog, run by Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D.  The Career Key™ gives you expert help with your career search and career choices  career change, career planning, job skills, and choosing a college major. Our career assessment helps you find a career by matching your personality with careers and providing you complete and accurate information about each career you choose to explore.

Want to land on your feet post-layoff? You might want to take the “lessons learned” approach to some new sobering statistics. According to new research discussed in this New York Times article, many laid off workers take years to recover and get back to their previous salary and most, on average, will not return to their pre-layoff incomes.

This new working paper by Columbia University economist Till von Wachter and two other economists found that from 1984 to 2004:

• most workers do not return to their pre-layoff salary within 15 to 20 years;
• starting over with a new employer and/or a new industry reduces your salary;
• largest long-term income losses happened to those with the longest tenures at their previous employers;
• stability at a company may lead to over-specialization of skills, making it less likely those skills can transfer to another company;
• workers who are laid off are more likely to be laid off again;
• older workers suffer more income decline than younger workers;
• workers with college degrees do slightly better than those without them.

These statistics don’t apply to everyone – the research was done with companies laying off at least 30% of their workforce and the laid-off workers had been with the employer at least 3 years. And most employees were men. I would also say that this research included more of the old style, cradle to grave type of career paths that no longer exist (except in government, perhaps).

What can we learn? It’s a reminder that getting too comfortable in your career can damage your ability to survive a layoff with your income level intact.

Our article “The Free Agent Outlook on Work” has a number of suggestions on how to avoid, when possible, the outcomes described in this research. I also wrote a blog series earlier this year on each of the 6 principles guiding the Free Agent Worker. And finally, a few more ideas:

• avoid too much specialization, locking yourself into work with one employer;
• continue updating your education throughout your career; even if it’s part-time; and
• take advantage of employer-provided training.

This blog post was graciously submitted to BizzyWomen by The Career Key Blog, run by Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D.  The Career Key™ gives you expert help with your career search and career choices  career change, career planning, job skills, and choosing a college major. Our career assessment helps you find a career by matching your personality with careers and providing you complete and accurate information about each career you choose to explore.

I am literally roasting here in the Pacific Northwest. At this moment, it’s over 100 degrees. This is a place where very few people (including us) have air conditioning. If you want AC, you have to get in your car – which is what I did with my young son after work yesterday. Barnes and Noble train table here we come! It appears the whole week will be like this and I will spend a lot of time in B and N after work. Meanwhile Career Key author Dr. Jones is in Maine with the cool fog and rain. Right now, I envy him.

I’m in the midst of launching exciting new products like 5 Steps to Choosing the Right Career Cluster, Field and Pathway. It is the only valid career test and the only measure of Holland’s 6 personality types to be matched to the Department of Education’s Career Clusters and Pathways. You can see the new, free web article here:
Choosing a Career Cluster, Career Field or Pathway

And I’m just about to release the The Education Key, that will match Career Key test results to over 1,400 college majors and training programs in the U.S. and Canada.

But right now all I can think of is a cold beverage….

 This blog post was graciously submitted to BizzyWomen by The Career Key Blog, run by Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D.  The Career Key™ gives you expert help with your career search and career choices  career change, career planning, job skills, and choosing a college major. Our career assessment helps you find a career by matching your personality with careers and providing you complete and accurate information about each career you choose to explore.

The Career Key’s popularity is a blessing, but has also resulted in gradually more load – requiring a server upgrade. Over the weekend, we migrated our websites to a new, more powerful server. Not only did the upgrade make our sites and tests at least twice as fast, it also brings improvements to how the tests work.

I want to thank our programmers: Nate, Joe, Whit, Will, and Andrew and our web designer Jeremy Bishop of Jeremiah Designs for making this upgrade and migration possible. There is no way we could have smoothly accomplished this big task without such talented people. And I really appreciate all the time worked at night and on weekends.

Migrating to a new server takes a lot more work and is a lot more complicated than you might think. It’s not just a matter of copying a bunch of files over onto a new machine. (wish it was!) I spend a lot of time with programmers and technical people (I’m married to one) so I definitely appreciate the work and expertise required more than most.

Our technical team really cares about helping people without the promise of big bucks. So I am even more grateful for their help. Thank you!

If you are looking to experience a free undergraduate or graduate education at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), it’s only a mouse click away. MIT and their Sloan School of Management, through their OpenCourseWare website, offer over 1,900 courses in the sciences, management and humanities for free. Wow. They also offer resources especially useful for high school students and teachers.

It’s like a free course audit without the commute (or paperwork). No registration is required. And many of these courses have been translated into Spanish, Chinese, and other languages.

I came across it because a friend of mine was preparing for job interviews in the sciences and was looking to boost and refresh his knowledge of some topics that interest him and are relevant to his work.

You don’t get to put a degree from MIT on your resume, but I’m sure it doesn’t hurt in your next information or job interview to say, “I am interested in [career relevant topic] so I found that MIT offered an online course in it – I learned/remembered a few things, like ______?”

OpenCourseWare is yet another way to increase your knowledge and skills in a particular area – or refresh old principles long forgotten in your high school or undergrad haze…

This blog post was graciously submitted to BizzyWomen by The Career Key Blog, run by Juliet Wehr Jones, J.D.  The Career Key™ gives you expert help with your career search and career choices  career change, career planning, job skills, and choosing a college major. Our career assessment helps you find a career by matching your personality with careers and providing you complete and accurate information about each career you choose to explore.