Career changers in the 21st century will face new challenges.

By Cathy Goodwin

Recently the Wall Street Journal reported that recruiters increasingly turn to Google adwords and other forms of pay per click advertising (ppc). That is, they buy ads that you see next to your search results.

Recruiters can pay considerably less for every qualified applicant they get through ppc. That's good for recruiters but not necessarily good for career changers.

Here's why

Most career change comes about through serendipity, not linear planning. Research shows that nearly every career choice and career change includes an element of luck or chance. For example, you run into an old college friend who tells you about a job opening in his company. You hadn't considered this field but you take the job and discover you have an aptitude.

For example, a medical social worker moved to a small town with his significant other. Finding no demand for his services, he accepted a clerical job with a real estate agency. He grew restless, so he studied for his real estate license and found his first client when he overheard a conversation in a coffee shop.

Three years later, he was the top real estate agent in the county - a career he would never have anticipated by logical planning. He would have scored near the bottom on any test measuring interest in real estate and aptitude for sales.

Another example:

Following a long job hunt, an attorney reluctantly accepted a job in the finance field. She had never been interested in finance and scored low on math aptitude. But she soon realized she enjoyed the job. Her firm encouraged her to take finance courses and one day she realized she loves what she's doing.

Both these examples are true. Many of us find our new careers by answering an ad we stumbled across by accident. That's certainly what happened to me.

After years of working in corporate jobs, I answered an ad to teach in a small private college. I had taught in a community college but hadn't considered a full-time teaching career. Teaching came naturally to me and I found myself thinking, “Why not?” So I enrolled in a doctoral program and embarked on a 20-year career.

With pay per click, these opportunities may get harder to find. If the recruiters do their jobs, you'll be less likely to stumble across something that you hadn't considered.

Now we'll have to become more creative. Twenty-first century career changers will need new ways of networking and a whole new set if challenges to answer the toughest question of all:
What's my second career?

This article is based on my ebook:
Your 21 Day Extreme Career Makeover
http://www.midlifecareerstrategy.com/21days.html

Great Career Moves Ezine
Win The First Inning of Your Second Career
Publisher: Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D.
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