Will a Career Change Work for You?

轉(zhuǎn)行是否適合你?

If you're looking for work and aren't having much luck in yourcurrent field，it's tempting to decide now is the time for a career change.

如果你正在找工作，并且在原來(lái)的行業(yè)沒(méi)多少希望，那這時(shí)候考慮轉(zhuǎn)行聽(tīng)起來(lái)就很有誘惑力了。

“There's a bigger pool of more highly qualified people who arewilling to work for less money” in a downturn， says Richard Phillips，owner of Advantage Career Solutions.

Advantage Career Solutions公司的老總Richard Phillips說(shuō)：“在經(jīng)濟(jì)低迷時(shí)期有大批比你更有資歷的人愿意以更低的薪水接受這份工作。”

Experts such as Phillips offer these four tips for ensuring a career change will work——before you make the leap：

Phillips等專(zhuān)家提供了以下四點(diǎn)建議，可幫助你在作出決定之前確保換行對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)是有用的：

1 Do your homework 做好功課

Make sure you don't jump from one sinking industry to another. “Ask，Is this a growth area?” says Melissa Fireman， a careercounselor in Washington， D.C.， and co-owner of Washington CareerServices.

要確保你不是從一個(gè)瀕臨死亡的產(chǎn)業(yè)跳到了另外一個(gè)。Washington Career Services公司的持有者之一，也是一位職業(yè)專(zhuān)家的Melissa Fireman說(shuō)：“要弄清楚'這是否是個(gè)有潛力的行業(yè)?'”

Also look at whether a particular specialty within your potentialnew field is in demand. For example， perhaps school districts in yourarea aren't hiring many elementary school teachers， but they do needspecialized teachers.

另外，也要看看你要進(jìn)入的行業(yè)是否有特別的專(zhuān)業(yè)要求。比如，你當(dāng)?shù)氐膶W(xué)?？赡懿粫?huì)聘請(qǐng)小學(xué)老師，但是卻可能需要特別的教師。

2 Talk to people 和別人談?wù)?/p>

Before you make a change，you need to find out “what the career and job really involve——not your fantasy，” Phillips says.

在你做出改變之前，你要弄清楚“這項(xiàng)工作或該領(lǐng)域?qū)嶋H上涉及到什么，而不是靠你的臆測(cè)。”Phillips說(shuō)。

For example，many careers，ranging from interior design tofinancial planning， may involve selling your services in addition to performing them. Or you may be enticed by the high average salary of your dream job， only to find that it's a field where a few people makea lot and most people make very little.

比如說(shuō)，對(duì)很多從室內(nèi)設(shè)計(jì)轉(zhuǎn)行到財(cái)政規(guī)劃的工作人士來(lái)說(shuō)，可能需要在做好工作之余還要銷(xiāo)售出去。又或者你被理想工作的高薪吸引，最后發(fā)現(xiàn)原來(lái)那個(gè)行業(yè)里只有少數(shù)人才能掙到大量的錢(qián)，大部分的人工資都很低。

To get the real story， talk to people who work in the field you're targeting. You can find them through your college alumni association， professional associations， and schools with programs in the field.

想要知道實(shí)際情況，就和那些已經(jīng)在你的理想行業(yè)工作的人士談?wù)?。你可以通過(guò)大學(xué)校友會(huì)，專(zhuān)業(yè)社團(tuán)，或該行業(yè)的培訓(xùn)學(xué)校那里找到這樣的專(zhuān)業(yè)人士。

3 Assessyour experience 評(píng)估你的經(jīng)驗(yàn)

The lowest-risk decision for a hiring manager is to choose someonewho has done the job before， Phillips says. So if you try to compete ina new field， you'll be at a disadvantage.

Phillips表示，招聘經(jīng)理做出的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)最低的決策就是聘請(qǐng)以前從事過(guò)該工作的相關(guān)候選人。所以如果你打算進(jìn)軍一個(gè)新行業(yè)，你就處于不利情況了。

“It's just hard to sell yourself when you don't have any experience， or the experience that you do have is a complete disconnect，” he says. “You can't make your past not exist.”

他說(shuō)：“如果你沒(méi)有任何經(jīng)驗(yàn)，或已有的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)和目前應(yīng)聘的工作毫無(wú)關(guān)系的話(huà)，你就很難推銷(xiāo)自己了。你沒(méi)辦法抹殺自己的過(guò)去。”

This doesn't mean it's impossible to change careers. But you may need to find a substitute for the experience you lack. One way to do this： networking.

但這也并不意味著轉(zhuǎn)行是不可能的。不過(guò)你可能需要找到一個(gè)優(yōu)點(diǎn)來(lái)彌補(bǔ)工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)的不足。有個(gè)方法就是：人際關(guān)系網(wǎng)。

“Does somebody know you from a former company?” Fireman asks.People are much more likely to take a risk on someone they have worked with in the past， even if it was in a different job. Volunteer experience can also help， Fireman said.

Fireman問(wèn)：“是否有以前公司了解你的同事在呢?”即使是不同的工作，人們也更愿意和以前共事過(guò)的同事工作。此外志愿者的經(jīng)歷也是有用的。

4 Build a bridge 建一座橋

Not all career changes are equally difficult. The hardest is tomove to a field where none of your previous experience is relevant. Often，though，you can find a way to build on your previous experience while doing something new.

并非所有轉(zhuǎn)行的困難都是相當(dāng)?shù)?。最難的是進(jìn)入到一個(gè)與你以前的工作經(jīng)歷完全不相關(guān)的行業(yè)。雖然通常來(lái)說(shuō)，你可以在嘗試新事物的時(shí)候應(yīng)用自己以前的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

Consider staying in your industry but moving to a new role so youcan play up your industry knowledge. Or you could keep working in finance，for example，but for a biotech company instead of a publisher. In that case， you can show that you have already done the job，even if the industry is new.

考慮呆在你目前的行業(yè)，但是找份不同的任務(wù)，這樣你就可以積累行業(yè)知識(shí)。比如，你可以繼續(xù)在金融方面工作，但并不是為一家出版社工作，而是為一家生物科技公司工作。這樣的話(huà)，即使是在新行業(yè)，你也可以說(shuō)自己已經(jīng)有了這樣的工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)了。

Asking Favors 求助

When you ask for things，it is important to be polite. The intonation that you use in making your request is as important as what you actually say. When you think someone will refuse your request，you can ask the question in such a way that the refusal does not cause embarrassment.

1. A：Is there any chance of my borrowing your type-writer?

B： For how long?

A： Until the end of the week.

B： Yes，I guess that would be all right.

2. A： Would you mind if I borrowed your car?

B： Well，when exactly?

A： Until Monday or Tuesday of next week.

B： I'm sorry，but it's just not possible.

3. A： Do you think you could lend me some of your records?

B： Until when?

A： Oh， just over the holidays.

B： I'm not sure. I'll have to think about it.

4. A： I was wondering if you'd let me stay with you for a few days.

B： It really depends on when.

A： Until next weekend，if that's OK.

B： Let me think it over，and I'll let you know later.