Insight, flexibility crucial to career transitions, alumni say

By Liz Massey

Not everybody is ready for a career change, even when they need one. Just ask Doug DeVoe’s former client.

DeVoe, a senior career specialist in ASU’s career services department, tells a story about a woman he counseled years ago, who told him that she hated what she did for a living so much that she threw up every morning on the way to work. He thought she’d jump at a chance to change into a new profession. He was wrong.

"I told her, ‘let’s get you out of there,’” he said. “She said to me, ‘No, I’ve got 8 years in there, and 22 to go until my retirement!’”

However, the number of people who follow the course of the upchucking job-hater is on the wane these days. Census figures indicate that most Americans change occupations at least once during their working life, and career change is no longer viewed as unusual. We asked several Sun Devil alumni who’ve changed careers to share their secrets for finding a new, more fulfilling vocation.

All fired up to leave your current profession for a new one? Three ASU career advisors had this to say about the process of preparing successfully for a career change.

Money isn’t everything. “(Career change) is rarely about money,” Jan Pagoria, director of the CLASWorks career program for College of Liberal Arts and Sciences students, said. “Money is a driver starting out, but it won’t keep someone there if ‘there’ isn’t a good fit.”

Keep it in the family. Before a career transition gets off the ground it’s essential to discuss what changing one’s line of work will mean to one’s family, said ASU Career Services Career Specialist Doug DeVoe. Without family support, a career changer faces a much tougher time. Consider family counseling if the potential change produces major turbulence.

Fix what’s broken, keep what isn’t. It’s as important to understand what does work in your current career as it is to be clear about what doesn’t work. Linda Nassen, a career specialist at ASU Career Services, urged potential career changers to find common threads between their interests, enjoyable aspects of previous jobs and the most compelling elements of the careers that they are pondering.

Back to school. Nassen and DeVoe both cautioned that without a clear plan of how to turn a degree into a job, returning to school as part of a planned career change could result in frustration and wasted money.

"Don’t come back to school unless you’re committed, know your values and you’ve done your research,” Nassen said.

It pays to associate. Pagoria suggested that career changers lacking paid experience in a new field join a professional association relating to their target career. Members can teach newcomers important “initiation” steps in a field, as well as be a source of job referrals and professional mentoring.

"If you attend conferences and build your network, when you cast your line across to the other side, you can let them (people in your network) reel you over,” she said.

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