Getting a fresh start: How to go about a career switch

Career exploration: It's not just for college kids anymore.

Call it a midlife crisis or career burnout, but dissatisfaction with one's job has led many to take inventory and overhaul their lives — some more than once.

The average worker will change occupations seven to nine times during a lifetime, says Cal Crow, a career consultant and trainer in Des Moines.

"People used to get a job, work 30 to 40 years and then retire," Crow says, "but that's no longer the case."

Matt, for example, hates getting up to go to work every day. His job as an electrician is not fulfilling — he'd rather work with people. Lizzie, 43, is in retail, but her real goal is to be a medical insurance biller. For years, Mary has been successful, albeit unhappily, in her job as a substitute teacher. She wants to get into management but doesn't know what to do next.

Be it for love or money, many people, such as these who sought advice on a job-help electronic bulletin board, want to change their careers but are uncertain how to go about it.

If someone knows what change they want to make, it's a big head start, says Betsy Hale, assistant dean at South Seattle Community College's Career Center.

"Many people come in and think they just need help on their résumé," Hale says. "But they haven't gone through the process of searching. That's the hard part."

New job seekers often automatically assume there are deficiencies in themselves that hinder getting a new job, says Kate Duttro, former president of the Puget Sound Career Development Association. "But there are creative ways to do what you like to do with the job you have now. Also, before seeking more training, try looking at the skills you can transfer to a different job."

Thankfully, while many of the career services available are directed at college students, there are a wide variety of options at varying levels of cost for would-be career swappers not in school. Here is a quick guide to resources recommended by local career experts.

While all of these services help, perhaps the most important service in career exploration is free, says Crow of Des Moines, who was a career counselor for more than 20 years before becoming a consultant and trainer.

"And it's not a place you go. It's introspection — lots and lots of it."

Test yourself: Online assessment tools

Perhaps a good — and cheap — place to start is with self-assessment tools. Such resources abound on the Internet, although it's sometimes difficult to determine which are actually useful, says Duttro. "Beware of those short tests that ask you, for example, what you'd rather do, go to a party or read a book. Those tests don't really tell you much," Duttro says.

She says that for thoroughness and accuracy nothing beats the Myers-Briggs personality type test, which divides people into 16 different personality types. While the Myers-Briggs is offered online, she says that it is best to have a counselor help interpret the data.

With that proviso in mind, here are some free sites recommended by Duttro.

Jobs in Washington state: www.workforceexplorer.com

Hit the tab titled "career center" on the main site for a number of self-assessment tools.

The "Finding occupation by skills" tool matches one's interests with occupations available in Washington, along with their salaries and projected employment growth in the region. Free; takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Other free self-assessment tests include:

The Princeton Review Career Quiz: www.princetonreview.com/cte/quiz/career_quiz1.asp.

Has 24 basic questions about work preferences and personality traits, and at the end displays a test-taker's "color," with a bit of explanation of what careers would be best.

The Career Key: www.careerkey.org/english/

Provides a 10-minute test and rates you in six personality types. These types, ranging from conventional to artistic, correspond to various work environments and occupations.

The Career Interests Game: www.career.missouri.edu/

Like the Career Key, uses six basic categories, though in a slightly different format.

Measuring hidden aptitudes

For more involved testing at a cost, there are places like the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation, which has an office in Seattle.

The foundation gives its clients a battery of aptitude tests involving activities such as assembling blocks, solving 3-D puzzles to measure spatial ability and so on. About half of the foundation's clients are adults who are switching careers, says Anne Steiner, director of the foundation's Seattle office.

If people are not using their aptitudes — a person's natural strengths — in their careers, then they feel like something is missing, Steiner says. These tests help "take out some of the guesswork," she says. The cost is $600. For more information, call 206-623-4070.

WorkSource workshops

For those who like a little more hands-on help, visiting one of the nine WorkSource centers or affiliates in King County and the three in Snohomish County might prove beneficial.

WorkSource is a state-run organization offering Internet services, job-bank information, skill-building workshops and some one-on-one career counseling for eligible walk-ins.

WorkSource partners with various nonprofits and institutions such as the YWCA or community colleges to help run their services, but they also have their own centers, the largest being in Renton.

Nancy Loverin, manager of WorkSource Renton, (919 S.W. Grady Way, Suite 125) says that 90 to 95 percent of their clients are unemployed and looking for work. Basic services such as Internet sites and workshops are free and for everyone.

Michael Campbell, associate director for employment services for the YWCA, which houses a WorkSource office at its downtown Seattle location (2024 Third Ave.), estimates that 35 to 50 percent of the 200 clients who use services every day are currently employed.

"Many are looking to upgrade their jobs these days," he says.

Each location offers two three-hour workshops on career planning (one titled "Knowing yourself" and another "Skills and abilities analysis") at least once a month.

For information about workshop times and locations in King County, go to www.worksourceskc.org and click on "workshop search" on the upper-right-hand corner. Workshops are free to all on a first-come, first-served basis. For statewide information about WorkSource, go to www.wa.gov/esd/work/localconnections.htm.

College resources

An alternative would be the career centers at local community colleges. For example, at South Seattle Community College's Career Center, nonstudents pay $100 for two assessment tests — Myers-Briggs and the Strong Interest Inventory — as well as two hours of test interpretation and counseling.

The center, a WorkSource affiliate, holds free career planning workshops. For more information, call 206-764-5304.

Bellevue Community College's Career Center offers free individual appointments with career specialists. Assessment testing such as Myers-Briggs and the Strong Interest Inventory are available with an hour of interpretation for $25 each, says director Cheryl Vermilyea. Information, 425-564-2279 or www.bcc.ctc.edu/careers.

The University of Washington's Center for Career Services holds a two-day workshop titled "Dependable Strengths," which is open to nonstudents. The nontraditional job-search program was developed in the 1940s by Seattle resident and entrepreneur Bernard Haldane, who has been credited with inventing the field of career counseling. Haldane died in 2002.

The program entails a number of activities that help people discover through self-examination where their talents lie. The next seminar will be at UW in September. The cost is $120 for students and alumni, $150 for nonstudents. Call the Center for Career Services for more information, 206-543-0535.

Group-focused search

Vickie Chaffin, program director of nonprofit CenterPoint Institute for Life and Career Renewal in downtown Seattle, says many people leave their jobs because of burnout. "Perhaps it was not a good fit to start with," Chaffin says.

The bulk of CenterPoint's clientele are 35 to 50 years old, Chaffin says.

The organization specializes in group activities for those exploring career options, ranging from daylong mini-retreats ($139) to intensive four-day retreats in Hood Canal ($1,190 tuition).

CenterPoint also offers traditional career counseling ($85 an hour) and career-assessment tests ($88 in workshop, $165 for one-on-one).

For more information, call 206-622-8070 or www.centerpointonline.org.

One-on-one

For more intensive work, some people sign up with a career coach. Coaches are similar to career counselors in that they help assess a client's career goals and abilities, but the commitment is longer — usually one to three months.

Cost varies among coaches and counselor, but counselors typically charge $50-$125 an hour, while coaches charge up to $500 a month.

Usually after the initial meeting and assessment, clients check in with coaches for weekly half-hour sessions to make sure things are on course.

"A client comes looking for answers, but with coaching it's about getting them to stretch and ultimately arrive at their own answers, which leads to greater ownership," says Irene Myers, a career and life coach in Seattle.

Brandon Sprague: 206-464-2263 or bsprague@seattletimes.com