Would you?

Changing careers

To me, changing careers is a huge issue and much bigger than the 3 questions you pose. But I will give you my thoughts on these first:

You can follow a reasonable career path by understanding a few core skills in depth and being an excellent trainer – that is where your skill is; no brain surgery might be difficult, but you also need to be sure about what else you don’t know enough about, eg leadership or management development?
Many trainers are finding the current market really tough – some a bit down, some a lot down and some unchanged in total, but might be working harder to find new clients; elearning is a different issue – developing elearning is a long-term investment for a long-term payback which many companies are now beginning to discover as they try to switch from F2F to "e"
Your described route might be best for you – there are other options, such as doing first and studying later

As for the rest …

Do you want to work as an associate / assistant to others – do what they require, at their agreed rates etc
Ultimately work for yourself? – do you have all the skills you need to run your own business?
How will working in a new career make you feel in comparison to the old one? What do you think will be better? What might be worse?

I will pause there – and suggest you talk it through with a coach of some sort to help you decide what you really want and then what the best way is FOR YOU to get there.

Sue

sycohen16@sky.com

2 Responses

scohen says:

October 20, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Changing careers

To me, changing careers is a huge issue and much bigger than the 3 questions you pose. But I will give you my thoughts on these first:
- You can follow a reasonable career path by understanding a few core skills in depth and being an excellent trainer – that is where your skill is; no brain surgery might be difficult, but you also need to be sure about what else you don’t know enough about, eg leadership or management development?
- Many trainers are finding the current market really tough – some a bit down, some a lot down and some unchanged in total, but might be working harder to find new clients; elearning is a different issue – developing elearning is a long-term investment for a long-term payback which many companies are now beginning to discover as they try to switch from F2F to "e"
- Your described route might be best for you – there are other options, such as doing first and studying later
As for the rest …
- Do you want to work as an associate / assistant to others – do what they require, at their agreed rates etc
- Ultimately work for yourself? – do you have all the skills you need to run your own business?
- How will working in a new career make you feel in comparison to the old one? What do you think will be better? What might be worse?
I will pause there – and suggest you talk it through with a coach of some sort to help you decide what you really want and then what the best way is FOR YOU to get there.

Sue

sycohen16@sky.com
User deleted says:

October 20, 2009 at 2:13 pm

Thanks

Thank you both for taking the time and effort to reply.

I would definitely be looking to work for others (perhaps as an associate, if that is the easiest way in).

To be frank I would not say that I have extraordinary depth of knowledge in any one area (although my sales skill would be pretty high – but I’m trying to get OUT of that!).

I feel really strongly that I have the core skills needed to be a trainer (ability to design a course, listening skills, good communication skills, ability to sell ideas, etc). With the CTP I would hope to solidfy that.

Is it feasible that I read every book I can on something where I have a "good" knowledge, say time mamangement, and become an expert (relative to the layman)…? I think if ther answer to that question is "no" then there is not really an aveneue into training for me…

Thanks again.