In This Chapter

Trying out a job comes in many forms. You can moonlight your way into a new career. You can reduce your current work to part-time and pick up a part-time position in your new occupational field. Then there is doing temp work, but only in your occupational area. Even some internships pay for you to learn on the job. And, you can do volunteer work that is in your career area. This is all about thinking strategically about how to transition from your current work situation to your desired work situation. Or for those of you who are not working yet—from wherever you are in your life to your new career. Strategic thinking is all about keeping your focus on your goal, making decisions, and taking actions that are going to move you closer to your goal.

You don’t want to just take a part-time job because you can’t stand your current job any longer. The part-time job you take needs to be a step toward your new career. The key is not to let your fears drive your decisions. Fears are signals. They help us to look at what we need to pay attention to. Perhaps it’s the amount of money we have to earn to support ourselves. Maybe it’s not feeling totally or even slightly competent in your new occupation. Whatever the signals are, write them down. Then start thinking strategically about how you can address these while making movement toward your goal.

Peter Senge wrote a book a few years ago, The Fifth Discipline (Currency, 1994). In this book he talks about the learning organization—the organization that is always open and proactive about learning. He proposes five disciplines to help people in organizations to open themselves up to and practice being a learner. One very relevant thing for us that he talks about is changing our mental models, changing how we think about our options. Senge encourages us to think in mental models of win-win. How can we further our career goals while still making a salary we can live on? This sets us up for thinking about solutions very differently from a mental model that says, “I can either make a decent salary, OR I can start doing the work I love to do.” This second way of holding our thoughts says we can have one or the other. That does not allow us to be strategic in our thinking about how to move toward our career goals. So in the spirit of thinking strategically, be a learner and think in win-win scenarios that move you closer to your career goal.

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of trying out a job through moonlighting, part-time, temp work, internships, or volunteer work.

Now, back to some specific options for those of you who want to or need to work while you transition to your ideal career. And of course, these are strategic solutions.

Moonlighting is a great word—working by the light of the moon. Traditionally people have worked a second job to pay the bills, do what they love to do but can’t get paid for, help out with the family business, and so on. Today, moonlighting might mean going to a second workplace after you leave your primary one, or it could mean working at something different on the weekends, or it could mean working out of your home in the early mornings, evenings, and/or weekends.

Choosing to moonlight means you are keeping your day job (or night job) and taking on a second job. There are a few cautions here that you need to take into consideration:

Many people who are starting their own home-based businesses begin by moonlighting. If you are providing a service, you can schedule clients in the evenings or on weekends. If you sell a product, you can schedule sales calls or meetings in the evenings or on weekends. Many products today are sold over the Internet, which means you can work on your sales from your home office. Some of you may have weekday times available for moonlighting, or you may be able to adjust our schedule so that you gain access to a weekday time for your home-based business.

For those of you who want to transition into a position working for someone else, seek out opportunities that are in line with your career goals. Perhaps you have studied to be a copy writer, and you would like to begin to take on some clients. You can do this in the evening or on the weekends. The American Writers and Artists Institute has a great program on learning to be a copy writer for anyone interested! Or maybe you are a hospital nurse, and your ideal career is working with the elderly. Look for night staff positions in elder care facilities. Another example might be wanting to transition into working in Human Resources in an organization. If you are living in an area that has large box retail shops like Target or Wal-Mart, see whether they need any assistance in the evening or on weekends in their HR offices.

Consider part-time work in your ideal career area as an advanced step in making the transition from the old to the new career. Being able to reduce your primary work to part-time allows most people to maintain benefits and a regular pay check. And, you can devote the other part-time to your ideal career. Again this is not without its drawbacks in terms of trying to juggle two jobs at the same time. You have to maintain clear goals and boundaries for each job, leaving enough time for other lifestyle needs.

What working part-time in your new field helps you to do is to begin to feel the solid ground under your feet in this new career. You begin to identify with being a medical billing specialist instead of a retail sales person. You get used to the terminology, the client needs, the product, the service, the working atmosphere.

The whole world of temporary positions has changed substantially over the past 10 years. The number of temporary workers and independent contractors has grown much faster than the number of permanent employees. The major reasons for organizations to use temporary workers are based on the need to have more staff to meet the demands in the industry and for short-term cover for staff that are out sick, on leave, or on vacation. If you are looking at a career move into a high career demand area, then you may be able to enter it through filling temporary positions.

Temporary positions are also a great way to obtain permanent employment because organizations are using temporary positions as a means to screen for full-time employment. More than 70 percent of temporary workers who are looking for permanent employment obtain it by working as a temporary employee. Although clerical and secretarial work is still the largest temp work category, technical and computing occupations are second. Independent contractors work in temporary positions as a way of life. Roberta is an HR specialist who works with small companies that do not have an HR function. She fulfills their HR needs on a temporary, case-by-case basis. So she works for a variety of companies on a temporary basis.

Temporary positions are a great way to move around to different organizations to see which ones match your work environment preferences the best.

Cathy is trying to make a transition from nursing to medical billing. She has taken some courses in medical billing and is planning on getting a certificate in this area. And she wants to leave nursing now. Without any experience in medical billing to put on her resumé, she is finding it difficult to get an interview. She decided to volunteer at a local hospital in the medical billing office for several hours a week. This way, she will be working in and learning about medical billing. And she will be building up her experience. This could also lead to a part-time or full-time position in the future as she demonstrates her knowledge and skills over time. She already has all the self-management skills she needs to work with the public.

Volunteer work has traditionally been a way for women to gain skills and experience as they think about re-entering the work force. There are so many organizations and opportunities for volunteer work. Just to list a few:

The following are great websites that have volunteer opportunities:

There are many, many more. Think about what you want to do and then make a list of the kinds of organizations and places that might want a volunteer. You can offer your volunteer services in almost any career area. It doesn’t hurt to explore this possibility with any organization in which you want to work. Just be sure that you have thought out what you want to get out of this experience. This is a two-way street, and you are looking for opportunities to use your skills, grow, learn, and gain experience.

Internships are particularly great for college students and recent graduates. If you are still in college or about to graduate, speak to your career center about doing an internship in your field of study. Your academic department is also a great resource for having knowledge about places to do internships. Taking an internship in your field of study can add clout to your resumé and job hunting prospects. It can also lead to job offers in the organizations in which you do your internship. Almost every industry has some type of internship program. Some of them are paid, but most are not. Here are some resources for locating internships that match your career needs:

Some professional fields require a post-doctoral internship in order to be able to practice in the profession. Information on these internships can be obtained from your academic department or the graduate school in your academic institution.