Page 124 - Marky Stein - Fearless Career Change_ The Fast Track to Success in a New Field (2004)

Fearless Career Change

1. Transferable talents Yes Communication and working
with clients.
2. On-the-job training Yes Needed to acquire some new
skills.
3. Strategic education Yes Enrolled in a graduate course.
4. Short-term education No
5. Internship No
6. Volunteering No

7. Just Dive In! No
8. Entrepreneurship No

From Administrative Assistant to Midwife Assistant
in Four Weeks Using an Internship
Name: Caroline
Former occupation: Administrative assistant
New occupation: Midwife assistant
Primary strategy: Internship
Other strategies: On-the-job training, short-term education
Length of time from career decision to a paid position: Four weeks
Cost (if any) of transition: $300

Caroline told me that being laid off from her job as an admin-
istrative assistant was exactly the “wake-up call” she needed to let go
of a position that she said she could “almost do in my sleep.”
Sometimes a layoff can bring a welcome relief if you didn’t like
your job anyway, especially when it is accompanied by a sizable sev-
erance package.
When she came in for career counseling, Caroline completed
a career fingerprinting process in which she discovered that her
principle and most cherished talent was “to nurture.” She told me
that, for years, she had wanted to be a midwife assistant, but like so
many of us, she was so absorbed in “paying the bills” that she had
little time to really think about how her authentic calling could
come about.

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