Career Transitions

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Presentation for Georgetown University Alumni
Career Transitions Preparing and Executing a
Successful Career Change
Bridget BowersDirector, Alumni Career
ServicesGeorgetown University
bab56_at_georgetown.edu
Mark Higgins (CAS 96)CEO Co-FounderCareer
Next Step, Inc.mhiggins_at_careernextstep.comwww.ca
reernextstep.com
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My Background
Personal Bio
Career Next Step in Brief
May 1996 Graduated Georgetown with a degree in
English and Psychology and no clue what I wanted
to do.
Sep 1996 Mar 2000 Joined a research and
consulting firm without giving much thought as to
why. Met my absolutely wonderful future wife,
but left the company bored and uninspired.
Apr 2000 Aug 2003 Got married and joined a
Internet start-up in Northern VA. Despite our
best efforts to sink the company, we somehow
survived the dotcom implosion. Left the company
bored again following an acquisition by large
corporation.

• Online assessments, tools, and tutorials to help
  individuals navigate a successful career
  transition
• Series of assessments
• Exercises to synthesize assessment results into
  key attributes of your personality
• Tools to compare your profile with different
  career options
• Tools and best practices to assist you with the
  job search process

Sep 2003 May 2005 Attended UVAs Darden School
of Business with goal of starting my own company.
Left as Co-Founder of Career Next Step, Inc.
May 2005 Today Built Career Next Step while
working full-time to pay the bills and raising my
first child. Absolutely love with what I
doFINALLY!!!
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A Silent Majority
Many (if not the majority of) individuals are
dissatisfied with their careers
And are more likely than ever to pursue a career
change.
Average Job Changes within Age Ranges
Selected Quotes on Job Satisfaction Trends
10.7
U.S. Job Satisfaction Keeps Falling, The
Conference Board Reports TodayMore than 50 of
Americans Dislike their Job.
4.1
3.5
2.9
2.4
2.1
65 of employees plan on looking for a new job
in the next 3 months.
Total(18-40)
22-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
18-21
Three-quarters of IT staff hate their jobs so
much that they go to work wishing they had a
different one, according to a new survey.
Fully one-third of workers feel that they are at
a dead-end at their current jobs, and even more
(42) believe they are "trying to cope with
feelings of burnout."
Sources Conference Board (2005), Salary.com
(2005) Harris Interactive (2005) Bureau of
Labor and Statistics (2006).
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Getting Prepared for a Career Transition
Recommendation 1 Set Aside Time Recommendation
2 Know Yourself Recommendation 3 Leverage
Your Network
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Recommendation 1 Set Aside Time
Career Transitions are a Process Not a Decision
People should plan to spend at least 3-4 months
on a career transition
Stages of a Career Transitions
Self-Reflection and Clarification of Interests
Research Careers
Generate Opportunities
Transitioning
1-3 Months
1-3 Months
1-3 Months
2-4 weeks
Time
Activities

• Self Assessment
• Career counseling
• Discussion with family friends

• Online research
• Career Counseling
• Informational interviewing

• Transitioning projects from current job
• Relocation
• Training

• Networking
• Resume submissions
• Screening interviews
• Final round interviews
• Company research

Tools

• Vault
• Wetfeet
• Occupational Outlook Handbook

• Career Next Step
• Career Transition Books (e.g., The Pathfinder,
  What Color is Your Parachute)

• Networking!!!
• Executive recruiters
• Job boards

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Getting Prepared for a Career Transition
Recommendation 1 Set Aside Time Recommendation
2 Know Yourself Recommendation 3 Leverage
Your Network
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Recommendation 2 Know Yourself
The Common Denominator of Career Success
While definitions of success vary, doing what
you love is what most definitions share in common
Your work is going to fill a large part of your
life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is
to do what you believe is great work. And the
only way to do great work is to love what you do.
If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. -
Steve Jobs
Success is going from failure to failure without
a loss of enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill
Success in almost any field depends more on
energy and drive than it does on intelligence.
This explains why we have so many stupid
leaders. - Sloan Wilson
You have to love what you do and you should
never, ever give up. But, if you don't love it,
then you will give up easieryou have to love
what you do. - Donald Trump
What is success? I think it is a mixture of
having a flair for the thing that you are doing
knowing that it is not enough, that you have got
to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose.
- Margaret Thatcher
I honestly think it is better to be a failure at
something you love than to be a success at
something you hate. - George Burns
A person is a success if they get up in the
morning and gets to bed at night and in between
does what he wants to do. - Bob Dylan
"The secret of happiness is not in doing what one
likes, but in liking what one does." - James
M. Barrie
You might not make it to the top, but if you are
doing what you love, there is much more happiness
there than being rich or famous. - Tony Hawk
The secret of success is making your vocation
your vacation. - Mark Twain
Do your work with your whole heart and you will
succeed There's so little competition." -
Elbert Hubbard
A happy life is one which is in accord with its
own nature. - Senaca
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An Unlikely Success?
Jimmy Buffetts Lifes Story in 400 Words or
Less I broke out of the grip of Catholicism and
made it through adolescence without killing
myself in a car. I flunked out of college. I
learned to play the guitar, lived on the beach,
lived in the French Quarter, finally got laid,
and didn't go to Vietnam. I got back into school,
started a band, got a job on Bourbon Street,
graduated from college, flunked my draft
physical, broke up my band, and went out on the
road solo. I signed a record deal, got married,
moved to Nashville, had my guitars stolen, bought
a Mercedes, worked at Billboard magazine, put out
my first album, went broke, met Jerry Jeff
Walker, wrecked the Mercedes, got divorced, and
moved to Key West. I sang and worked on a fishing
boat, went totally crazy, did a lot of dope, met
the right girl, made another record, had a hit,
bought a boat, and sailed away to the Caribbean.
I started another band, worked the road, had my
second and last hit, bought a house in Aspen,
started spending summers in New England, got
married, broke my leg three times in one year,
had a baby girl, made more records, bought a
bigger boat, and sailed away to St. Barts. I
got separated from the right girl, sold the boat,
sold the house in Aspen, moved back to Key West,
worked the road, and made more records. I rented
an apartment in Paris, went to Brazil for
Carnival, learned to fly, went into therapy, quit
doing dope, bought my first seaplane, flew all
over the Caribbean, almost got a second divorce,
moved to Malibu for more therapy, and got back
with the right girl. I worked the road, moved
back to Nashville, took off in an F-14 from an
aircraft carrier, bought a summer home on Long
Island, had another baby girl. I found the
perfect seaplane and moved back to Florida.
Cameron Marley joined me in the house of women. I
built a home on Long Island, crashed the perfect
seaplane in Nantucket, lived through it thanks to
Navy training, tried to slow down a little, woke
up one morning and I was looking at fifty, trying
to figure out what comes next.

• Observations
• Followed his passion
• Successful by most conventional measures
• Enjoyed the ride!!!

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Defining Your Profile

• Key Issues to Address
• What type of activities energize me? Drain me?
• What types of people energize me? Drain me?
• Where do I prefer to live?
• What unique skills do I have? What skills would
  I like to develop?
• Do I prefer working with people or things?
• What values am I unwilling to compromise in my
  career?
• How do I process information? Make decisions?
• What is my leadership style?
• What type of life balance do I need with family
  and friends?
• What are my financial/material requirements?

Finding the Answers
Take Some Time to Reflect
Get Input from Family and Friends
Complete Career Assessments
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Getting Prepared for a Career Transition
Recommendation 1 Set Aside Time
Recommendation 2 Know Yourself Recommendation
3 Leverage Your Network
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Recommendation 3 Leverage Your Network
Dont Underestimate the Power of the Georgetown
Network

• Career Planning
• Discounted assessments (e.g., Career Next Step)
• Volunteer career advisors (e.g., Career
  Network)
• Free monthly teleclasses

• Career Search
• Free access to subscription search sites (e.g.,
  Career Search Career Tools)
• Alumni job postings
• Online career search guides

• Other Networks
• Graduate school alumni associations
• Trade and professional associations
• Family and friends
• Social networks online (e.g., Linkedin)

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How Can We Help?
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Self Assessment and Career Transition Planning
Georgetown University Career Transitions
WorkshopNovember 10-11, 2007
Career Next Step Site

• Website replicates the Career Transitions
  course
• More affordable alternative to Career Transitions
• Used at more than 170 schools

• 2-day workshop to help alumni navigate through a
  career transition
• Taught by creators of Career Transitions, a
  workshop offered to University of Virginia alumni
  for more than 10 years
• Assessments, tools, and reading materials based
  on methodology used at Harvard Business School
  and the University of Virginia for the past 30
  years.

Georgetown Discount 90 for 12-months access
to Career Next Step https//www.careernextstep.com
/CNSPaypal/NewGeorgetownAccount.aspx
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Contact Information
Career Next Step, Inc.5542 11th Street,
N.Arlington, VA 22205703-286-5558mhiggins_at_caree
rnextstep.com