Michigan is one of the absolute hardest states to find a job in. In fact, many areas in the United States have a surplus of qualified teachers and very, very few open positions to fill.

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Therefore, facing the reality that you probably won’t be doing what you thought you’d be doing back when you were eight years old can be a painful thought. However, some people do get to be what they always wanted to be. One man this writer knows had always dreamed of being a police officer. This can be a difficult field to get into and doesn’t always happen overnight.

He knew that he’d have to work at it, but he also knew that he had to support his family. So he went to work in the family business and would test for the police department as openings were advertised. He could pass the tests, but would find himself in the lower part of the list that was compiled for possible new hires. For three years, he worked and waited.

Then, he had a successful tryout for one particular police department and found himself number two on the list. It just so happened that this particular force was hiring two officers and he was hired soon after. His dream had come true and he has had a successful career as a police officer and has received several awards for his police work.

Making a career change decision was easy for him. It was easy for this writer too.

Since I was little, all I’ve ever dreamed of doing was teaching. When I graduated from high school, my college major was education. I knew that I’d have to have extensive education if I was going to be a teacher, but I was committed to it and eagerly attended my classes with a goal in my mind.

Then, life changed. I suddenly found myself with two children, a husband who was also attending college, and bills piling up. My husband’s part-time job just wasn’t cutting it. It was decided that I would be the one to go to work since he was further along in school than I was. I took a job as a secretary and toiled away at similar jobs like that for six years.

I still took classes trying to work for my degree, but I was working full-time in jobs that I really didn’t like. I found myself in the sales field eventually. While the money was terrific and I was good at selling, I still was unfulfilled. I would go to my children’s parent-teacher conferences and find that longing to be a teacher still aching in the back of my mind as I spoke to their teachers and wandered the hallways of their school.

Then, life changed again. Only this time, it changed for the better. Our finances had finally reached the point where it would be possible for me to quit my job and attend school full-time to earn my bachelor’s degree. It took two and a half years and some very hard work, but I was rewarded when I walked across the stage at my college and received my diploma with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education.

Now, I am a certified teacher – and a freelance writer – and am more satisfied now than I have ever been. While it was scary to make this drastic career change, it really was a no-brainer when it came to deciding what I wanted to do.

The point is that if you’ve always dreamed of working in a specific career field and it’s possible for you to do so – even with a little hard work – go for your dreams and don’t stop until you realize them.

For some people, however, a career change decision isn’t as easy as mine was. They know they are unhappy in their current job and want to get out, but they really don’t know what they want to do. Perhaps, also, they have a couple of ideas in their minds but are unsure as to which was to go.

High school graduates are also faced with an important decision when it comes to their career field. So many young people go to college taking core classes without knowing what they want their major to be.

So, are there certain things you need to consider when choosing a career field? In fact, there are many things that you need to keep in mind. You will want to be successful in whatever job field you choose, so it can be very important to be sure you are going to go into a business where you will be happy and where you can realize your full potential.

There are all sorts of tests you can take online that can help with your career field. What is a career test? It’s a series of questions you answer based on what your preferences are or how you feel about specific job situations. The test will then analyze your answers and present you with the top jobs that fit you based on those answers. Some of the more accurate and reliable online career tests require you to purchase a membership or a package to get your results, but you can find some free career tests.

I took one test at www.livecareer.com and it was quite eye-opening. It was no surprise that the two job fields they recommended to me were writing and education! This website and test are free to users due to the sponsors that want you to sign up for information, so you do have to click through a lot of advertisements, but if you are not sure which career field you want to work in, this test can be a great place to start.

Of course, you can “purchase” a more detailed and in-depth report at the end of the test which is what they want you to do, but that is strictly optional. I’ve found that most of the career testing sites will do this as well.

The basic format of many of these career tests are the same, for the most part. You are presented with three situations and you pick which one you prefer most and which one you prefer least. This is how they can find where your interests lie as well as where your abilities and talents can be best utilized.

Of course, when considering a career change or choice, you don’t necessarily have to take a test. Take a look at what you enjoy doing. What have people said you are good at? Where could you be happiest? What are your interests and hobbies? You should also classify what’s important to you and where you could make concessions.

For example, if spending time with your family is a priority, you probably won’t want a job that requires extensive travel or overtime such as sales. If you are single or very career driven, you may want to look at a position that can provide for upward mobility when you put in hard work such as marketing or stocks.

What types of jobs are available to you? The choices are limitless and you will want to take a lot of things into consideration before you make the leap towards a career change.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. While we are hesitant to use the word “weakness” as it is very negative, using the word “shortcomings” doesn’t make as catchy an acronym (SWOS) as SWOT!

Here are a few ideas when it comes to constructing your SWOT.

Internal Factors

Strengths – Internal positive aspects that are under control and upon which you may capitalize in planning for a new career. These would include:

* Work Experience
* Education, including value-added features
* Strong technical knowledge within your field (e.g. hardware, software, programming languages)
* Specific transferable skills (e.g., communication, teamwork, leadership skills)
* Personal characteristics (e.g., strong work ethic, self-discipline, ability to work under pressure, creativity, optimism, or a high level of energy)
* Good contacts/successful networking
* Interaction with professional organizations

Weaknesses – Internal negative aspects that are under your control and that you may plan to improve. These will include:

* Lack of Work Experience
* Low GPA, wrong major
* Lack of goals, lack of self-knowledge, lack of specific job knowledge
* Weak technical knowledge
* Weak skills (leadership, interpersonal, communication, teamwork)
* Weak job-hunting skills
* Negative personal characteristics (e.g., poor work ethic, lack of discipline, lack of motivation, indecisiveness, shyness, too emotional)

External Factors

Opportunities – Positive external conditions that you do not control but of which you can plan to take advantage. Here are some opportunities to list:

* Positive trends in your field that will create more jobs (e.g., growth, globalization, technological advances)
* Opportunities you could have in the field by enhancing your education
* Field is particularly in need of your set of skills
* Opportunities you could have through greater self-knowledge, more specific job goals
* Opportunities for advancement in your field
* Opportunities for professional development in your field
* Career path you’ve chosen provides unique opportunities
* Geography
* Strong network

Threats – Negative external conditions that you do not control but the effect of which you may be able to lessen. These include:

* Negative trends in your field that diminish jobs (downsizing, obsolescence)
* Competition from your cohort of college graduates
* Competitors with superior skills, experience, knowledge
* Competitors with better job-hunting skills than you
* Competitors who went to schools with better reputations.
* Obstacles in your way (e.g., lack of the advanced education/training you need to take advantage of opportunities)
* Limited advancement in your field, advancement is cut-throat and competitive
* Limited professional development in your field, so it’s hard to stay marketable
* Companies are not hiring people with your major/degree

To further refine the SWOT, here are some other questions to ask about yourself:

Strengths:

* What are your advantages?
* What do you do well?
* Why did you decide to enter the field you will enter upon graduation?
* What were the motivating factors and influences?
* Do these factors still represent some of your inherent strengths?
* What need do you expect to fill within your organization?
* What have been your most notable achievements?
* To what do you attribute your success?
* How do you measure your success?
* What knowledge or expertise will you bring to the company you join that may not have been available to the organization before?
* What is your greatest asset?

Weaknesses:

* What could be improved?
* What do you do badly?
* What should you avoid?
* What are your professional weaknesses?
* How do they affect your job performance? (These might include weakness in technical skill areas or in leadership or interpersonal skills.)
* Think about your most unpleasant experiences in school or in past jobs and consider whether some aspect of your personal or professional life could be a root cause.

Opportunities:

* Where are the promising prospects facing you?
* What is the “state of the art” in your particular area of expertise?
* Are you doing everything you can to enhance your exposure to this area?
* What formal training and education can you add to your credentials that might position you appropriately for more opportunities?
* Would an MBA or another graduate degree add to your advantage?
* How quickly are you likely to advance in your chosen career?
* Useful opportunities can come from such things as:
* Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and industry-specific scale
* Changes in government policy related to your field
* Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.

Threats:

* What obstacles do you face?
* Are the requirements for your desired job field changing?
* Does changing technology threaten your prospective position?
* What is the current trend line for your personal area of expertise?
* Could your area of interest be fading in comparison with more emergent fields?
* Is your chosen field subject to internal politics that will lead to conflict?
* Is there any way to change the politics or to perhaps defuse your involvement in potential disputes?
* How might the economy negatively affect your future company and your work group?
* Will your future company provide enough access to new challenges to keep you sharp — and marketable — in the event of sudden unemployment?

Explore your own self-perception of your strengths, but also put yourself inside a prospective employer’s head as you consider your strong points. Avoid false modesty, but also be brutally honest and realistic with yourself. Start out by simply making a list of words that describe you; chances are many of these characteristics compromise your strengths.

One of your greatest strengths can love the work you do. Learning to “follow your bliss” should be a critical component of managing your career. Some people know from an early age what kind of work will make them happy. For others, nailing down the self-knowledge that leads to career fulfillment comes from a process of exploring interests, skills, personality, learning style, and values.

In assessing your weaknesses, think about what prospective employers might consider to be the areas you could improve upon. Facing your frailties now can give you a huge head start in career planning.
As humans, we find it relatively difficult to identify the areas where we are weak. But this assessment helps to identify areas where we may need to improve. If you identify a skill that you know is in your chosen field, but you are weak in that skill area, you need to take steps to improve that skill. Past performance appraisals and even your grades and teacher comments from school provide valuable feedback.

Doing a SWOT will not only help to guide you toward a specific career that you will enjoy, it will also give you an idea of how to market yourself so that you can get that dream job that you want. From this analysis, you will have a road map that shows you how to capitalize on your strengths and minimize or eliminate your weaknesses. You should then use this map to take advantage of opportunities and avoid or lessen threats.
After you’ve analyzed your strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities, you should use that information to plan how to market yourself.

The marketing planning process entails a three-step process:

1. Determining objectives
2. Developing marketing strategies
3. Strategizing an action program.

Objectives – define your career objectives. What is your ideal job upon graduation (or the job you would like to transition to from your current job)? What are some other positions you could accept? What is your five-year career goal?

Marketing Strategies – a broad marketing strategy or “game plan” for attaining your objectives. What are the companies and organizations you’re going to target to obtain your objectives-your ideal job? How will you communicate with these firms? The strategies you identify should utilize all of the resources available to you, such as your personal network and a partnership with a mentor.
Action Programs – according to marketing principles, marketing strategies should be turned into specific action programs that answer a number of questions, including: What will be done? When will it be done? Who is responsible for doing it? Your key task here is setting specific timetables and deadlines for getting the career and company information you identified in the marketing strategy step.

So now that you’ve identified some key questions to ask when considering a career change, how do you know what the right career field is for you?

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