Stephen Lawson ⋅ Arlington, TX United Nations ⋅ 34 years experience

Charles,

Ms. Sanderlin talks about education, which is often a very good way to make a big change in your professional life. As a college faculty member for 25 years, I would warn you to first do a lot of thinking, then actually go out and get a job that give you access to the profession that you think you want.

I have seen too many people who have made the sacrifices, who have rearranged their lives and relationships only to discover that what they thought they wanted was not really for them. If you want to be a nurse or OR tech or whatever, get a job doing IT for a hospital chain, or a clinic or health department. Look around, network and think before you commit to four years of nursing school. Not only will you have an advantage getting a job when you finish your training, you will have fewer surprises along the way.

Education is great, but it will not solve all of your problems.

Stephen Lawson

Dan Decker ⋅ Bradford, PA General Electric ⋅ 12 years experience

Great advice above! Couple of extra thoughts...
About the education, make sure you know the minimum requirements and can meet them or can create a plan to meet them. Many jobs are flexible in their education requirements but some are rigid, e.g. my wife substitute teaches in PA which requires a bachelors degree - doesn't matter what it is in but if you don't have it then you don't qualify. If you can, find ways to get some experience in what you want to transition to. I worked in glass manufacturing production for years before making a switch to environmental, health & safety. The reason I was able to make the switch was because I knew a little about the emissions from our glass tanks and convinced my boss that it would be great if the person taking the environmental job knew a lot about how glass tanks operate. Everything since has been a class here and there within the company and from outside consulting companies.
I think the real key is persistence. If at first you don't succeed... well you know!

Tolulope Soola ⋅ Houston, TX Hewlett Packard ⋅ 4 years experience

I believe the very first thing you need to do is to fully understand the requirements of the role/position you are trying to tansition into. You also need to take a very detail look at your current skills and education - look for experiences you already posses that fits the new role. This will allow you to determine if you need to go back to school or may be a certified training exist that will fill the knowledge gap. Seek a mentor in the field you are trying to get into. A mentor will be your best guide in providing critical information you need to succeed in your pursuit.

Molly Anderson ⋅ Northville, MI General Electric ⋅ 16 years experience

I think in this situation it's important to think outside the box. For example, my experience at the beginning of my career was:
1. majored in English Lit and Psychology
2. got a job as an analyst for a VP of Sales and Marketing
3. Moved into a job in Marketing for a small software company
4. Learned the software and the industry processes for the products we sold
5. got a corporate job in IT supporting that software and industry
So in the space of about eight years, I went from a liberal arts background into a very technical space, just by learning along the way and looking for roles that moved me further in the direction I wanted to go. And I find now that the 'soft' background I have can be a big advantage when working with more logical, technical IT resources - I can think of things in different ways and bring a different experience to the table.
So my advice would be to look at potential opportunites not only for the job as it is, but also for what you can learn or be exposed to as a side benefit of that job. And look at yourself for how you can benefit an organization even if your experience is not the cookie-cutter they always reference in the job description. In your example, of IT guy to nurse, I would emphasize how much that IT experience will benefit all the changes that have come into the medical environment with HIPAA requirements and increased electronic management of patient information and care.

Rashid Hill, MPM ⋅ San Diego, CA United States Navy ⋅ 33 years experience

Hi Chas, I am sure you have taken in these good suggestions here. The only I have to include is the honest first phase of any mission, you must know What the goal is, the Purpose for pursuing it passionately and How the person plans to attain that goal. Then it will be clearly identified which way to go. Of course there are strengths finder assessments that help to narrow down the right direction for the individual. Just let me know if you want to discuss it further.

Rashid Hill

Patricia Sanderlin ⋅ Hempstead, TX HP ⋅ 20 years experience

I've seen many people switch careers and it all depends on how you prepare for it. One of my co-workers was an IT-guy and wanted to become an x-ray technician at a local hospital. He prepared himself and his family financially (moved to a smaller house, wife picked up different shifts) and then he quit his job and went to school for almost 2 years. He is now a happy x-ray technician and uses his background in customer service when dealing with clients and his technical background as well.
So, first make a plan of what you want to do and how you want to go about it (back to school or ease into a new job through an entry level position, etc.) and then prepare the environment around you (move back in with family to save money, sell extra assets to pay for school such as motorcycle, be prepared for long hours of studying, etc.). For job changes without needing to educate, promote your current skills, not on a job level but skill level (customer/client focused, having customer/client's interest in mind in all decisions, time management, able to follow orders and still think critically in stressful situations and make sound decisions based on goals, ability to think strategic, excellent relationship building skills, etc.) and then go for it!