Between Jobs? First Step Back to Career Is Knowing Yourself

OK, the first problem is that you are out of work.

The second problem could be you.

Or so the experts say to those who find themselves trapped between jobs. Getting back into the work force requires more steps than most people are aware of. The first is to accept the emotional toll of such an abrupt life change.

“It’s normal for people to feel fear, grief, anger. . . . It’s like a death in the family” when they lose their jobs, says Helen Harkness, whose Dallas-based company, Career Design Associates, helps people get onto a career path whether they are employed or not. “But if you can leave that behind and get insight to what you can do, you will walk away better than you were.”

Steven Keenberg, a former dentist from Culver City, faces just such a challenge. Most people would not even notice the condition that forced Keenberg to close his practice. But because dental work is so precise and involves looking down, Keenberg could not continue his practice when he developed cataracts in the bottom of one of his eyes.

“There are two things that are difficult in finding a new job for a second career,” he says. “No. 1 is my age, No. 2 is my resume. At age 55, with a narrow job history and experience, it doesn’t make it easy.”

For Cheryl Stephens of Los Angeles, getting restarted will require her to make some hard choices. Stephens was a successful paralegal eight years ago when she moved to Las Vegas, where she became a property manager. She returned to Los Angeles more than a year ago to be with her family when her father became ill. Fortunately, her father is doing better, but now Stephens needs a job.

She enjoyed law and property management, but isn’t sure what her next move should be. “I’m not sure if I want to go back into one or the other,” she says. “Ideally I can go into something that involves both.”

Like many unemployed people, Stephens is also finding that she may need to refine her skill set just to return to the industries where she has experience. According to Serena Milakovich, a career development consultant based in Pasadena, Stephens is already tapping into the resolution of her situation.

“I’m constantly telling people to evaluate themselves,” Milakovich says. “The process we try to facilitate is to learn to ask the right questions of yourself. You need to assess not just yourself, but the career you are looking at.”

The assessment should begin with yourself and proceed to the jobs you are seeking:

* Assess your personal values. Will the job you desire be in line with them?

* Assess your skills and knowledge. What skills and knowledge are required for the job? Do you have a transferable skill set? What more can you learn through classes and training?

* Assess the job and the industry. Will it be an income-producing job? Would you enjoy the work? Is it in an industry of growth or decline? If it’s a growing industry, what potential changes are on the horizon and will you be able to adapt? Is there opportunity for advancement?

* Are you flexible to pursue the job or are you limited by physical vocational restrictions, domestic requirements or by school?

These are relatively new questions facing the unemployed.

Milakovich cites Tom Gorman’s book “Multipreneuring”(Fireside, 1996), which describes how companies were previously run like feudal societies:

“In return for guarding our fortress and fields and doing battle against our enemies, we [the company] will pay you and we will care for you and yours. If you become ill, we will ensure that someone treats your illness. If you cannot work, we will see that you have income. We will help you save for your old age and give you a pension.

“We will also reward you for your loyalty: As you remain with us, we will increase your earnings in recognition of your years of service.”

Then Gorman explains the new way:

“If you make us money or save us money or otherwise continually prove your economic value to us, we will give you money, and maybe even a full-time job with benefits, for some period of time. But if you do not, we will not employ you at all.”

Obviously, it can be devastating to lose a career, no matter what the circumstances are.

James Bruce of Laguna Beach loved his job working at a computer for an Internet company. But he was terminated after he developed a repetitive stress injury and was told by doctors that he needed to remove himself completely from computers.

“I enjoyed it,’ Bruce said. “I was one of the lucky people who got to do my hobby for a living.”

Twenty-six doctors, one surgery and countless physical therapy sessions later, Bruce feels that he has conquered more than the disability.

“After that, there’s nothing I can’t face now. There are only so many waking moments in your life, and you can spend them on bitter feelings or you can spend them on making progress. I wake up every day saying, ‘How can you make yourself better and stronger?’ ”

One way was to meet with a career counselor and explore his options. Bruce took a test to measure what other types of jobs he would enjoy and succeed at. He also took classes to learn more about ergonomics, public speaking and how to start a business.

“I’m getting in touch with my contacts and making sure I know what to say,” Bruce said. “I’m also asking myself: ‘What are my marketable skills? Is there a position somewhere for me?’ I’m thinking that I can be a teacher or a manager so I’m researching what I need to do for those.”

Keenberg brings up another important subject: “For me, salary isn’t that important at this point. The most critical thing is that I enjoy contributing to the job and that there is a possibility of advancing because of good work.”

And with that, Keenberg is jumping the first and most difficult hurdle: Be realistic about what jobs will honestly suit you.

“There is a real need, whether you are employed or not, to start running your career like a business,” says Milakovich. “It’s your responsibility to take control of your career.”

Therefore, don’t just go by feel or your experience when figuring out what jobs might suit you--go a step further: Attend a career workshop or take one of the variety of career tests available.

However, it can still take years to get the job you ultimately want. Therefore a lesser job that is not on the career path may be in order to pay the bills. Jobs that bridge the gap between career-oriented positions can be rewarding in that they can pull you out of a financial hole and might even build credibility in a new field.

“But don’t let yourself get stuck in a ‘bridge’ job,” says Harkness. “If you’re not learning at your job, you’d better get one where you can learn new skills. Make a plan and stick to it.”

One plan that meets the constantly changing landscape of business is creating what career counselor Patrick Kerwin calls a “portfolio career,” or what Gorman calls “multipreneuring.” That approach is to purposely become a free agent who works for more than one employer on a contract basis.

Milakovich and Harkness see free agency as the successful work force of the future, not just because it adapts to the new marketplace but because “it gives you flexibility to work the hours that are best for you and it gives you a backup in case something takes a downward turn for one of your employers,” says Milakovich.

Even if people start down this path out of necessity rather than choice, Harkness says, they often stay on it, turning down career path opportunities because they don’t want to give up control.

“It’s the old adage,” says Milakovich. “Give a person a fish and they can eat for a day. Teach the person to fish and they can eat for a lifetime.”