I was a phone call phobic, so I would never have thought that a single information interview with someone in a school district would lead to a career change. But it did.
I was ready to do something new
12 years ago, I quit a good job as a corporate training consultant and project manager in a northern Fortune 500 company and moved to Florida. After working as an independent consultant, I realized my heart wasn't in it. I needed to do work that would help people more directly.
I did what I feared doing
I had few contacts in Florida outside my field, and I hated networking. I knew I need to reach out, but I resisted calling strangers.
Without connecting with enough new people, I was stuck on where and how to do the more meaningful work I wanted to.
An acquaintance who worked for a school district in another county insisted that I work for the local school district. “But I’m not a certified teacher!” I exclaimed. “I don’t know what I’d do! My background is in corporate training, not education!”
Nevertheless, when the adult education schedule arrived in my mailbox, I looked for officers’ names. I called the adult education manager.
I asked for an information interview to find out where I might fit in the school district.
You may wonder how this call to an adult education manager in a local school district led to working in higher education. Let me first explain about information interviewing and how it can work for you, too.
You can discover where you fit in the world
An information interview is a short meeting with someone who can begin to answer your questions about a new job, a new company, a new industry, or a new career field.
Each person you talk with has a piece of the larger picture of the world that you need to create a vision, a plan, and even find or create the work you want.
Each information interview is an adventure. You don’t know what you’ll discover or where it will lead.
When you interview for information, you find out the inside scoop on how things work in a new field. You can also see how to transfer your existing skills, without going back to school.
If you stay in your usual world, you will never know what you can do
You may be unhappy in your current work. Maybe you outgrew it and are no longer growing. Maybe you know you're meant to do something with more meaning for you. Maybe you’re starting or growing a new business. Maybe you’re unemployed or returning to work.
You can get past your fear and move into more meaningful work
Without guidance and support, I was fearful and stuck. You don't have to be.
Find out how to use information interviewing and other techniques with support to get past your fear and get excited about what you do.
Contact me today for a 30-minute discovery meeting to find out how.
How that phone call led to my ideal job in higher education
While meeting with the adult education manager, she told me about a free evening class once a week for four weeks that certifies teachers of adults studying to complete a high school diploma through the GED equivalency test.
After teaching GED for a few years, I saw an ad for a university learning center director. It required developing the center, designing new training, training staff, and teaching and tutoring students.
My experience was perfect. It combined tutoring and teaching in GED learning centers and designing and managing corporate training programs.
I interviewed and was hired immediately for the best fitting job I’d ever had.
You can speed up your career change
If I'd known then what I know now and gotten the right coaching support, I'd have gotten to that ideal job a lot sooner.
You don't have to do it alone. Contact me today to discover how you can get past your fear and find your inspired career faster, too.
