不喜欢现在的工作？不喜欢现在的行业？受教育背景所限从事某一行业？你该怎么办？怎样才能成功转行？下面这些建议能给您一些启发。

Find the right job with these helpful steps

Amy Hannes used to be a lawyer -- but she was not a happy one. "I worked with one junior partner who absolutely loved what he was doing," she recalls. "And every time I worked with him, I got really sad, because I realized I didn't. I wasn't passionate about it." In fact, Hannes found that the only thing she enjoyed about her weekly work meetings was preparing the food for them. So when a career counselor asked her to think about the things she does for family and friends that make her glad to be in their lives, the answer was obvious. "It was cooking," she says. "I started putting together all the pieces and realized that I wanted to get out of the law." With help from the counselor, Hannes started to make the change. Now she runs her own personal-chef business, the Inspired Palate, in Newton, Massachusetts. So what should you do if you're unhappy at a job? How do you begin the process of finding your passion -- and then finding a position?

Step 1: Take a good look at yourself. 好好地审视自己

"If you can figure out what you're interested in, you can then pick up all the skills you need," says Jan Cannon, a Boston-area career coach and the author of Now What Do I Do? The Woman's Guide to a New Career (Capital Books, amazon). "But the challenge, particularly for women, is to know what you're interested in, because socially we're encouraged not to think about ourselves." For example, she says, even when asked a simple question like "What's your favorite vegetable?" many women will answer, "Well, broccoli is really good for you," instead of voicing their own preferences. To figure out your own job preferences, consider these four questions, which Cannon asks clients when they're first thinking about making a switch:

* What are your interests? 你对什么感兴趣?

What did you enjoy doing as a child, when no one was telling you what to do? Things like riding your bike and putting on puppet shows may not seem to have much relevance to real jobs at first, but Cannon sees clues to personal fulfillment in those activities. "Did you like to do things individually or with a group?" she asks. "What aspect of the bike riding were you involved in -- did you just jump on your bike and go out and try something new, or did you plan it all ahead of time?" Cannon's theory is that if you are a natural planner during playtime, you may be able to use those same skills -- and enjoy using them -- in a work context (say, in a position such as program manager or head of operations).

Hannes, who worked with the late career coach Leona Vogt, used a similar method: She went back to her journals to figure out her interests. "I never wrote about the cases I was working on," she recalls. "But I would write about this fabulous dinner I had made for my friends the weekend before."

* What are your skills? 你有什么技能?

"Look at your skills beyond what you do at work," Cannon advises. Think about what you do in your spare or volunteered time: You may be in charge of a bake sale for the PTA, you may be involved in a political campaign, or things you do around the home may pique your interest. All these things involve skills that can be emphasized on your résumé.



* What are your values? 你的价值观是怎样的?

If you're unhappy at work, it may be because your values aren't in sync with your employer's. Maybe you're frustrated by your boss's attitude, the absence of flexible hours, or even the fact that your company uses child labor in Indonesia. Of course, values can change over time, but being in touch with yours is integral to remaining happy at -- and keeping -- a job. "When there is a values conflict, you start behaving in a way that gets you fired," Cannon says. "You're sloppy, you show up late, you don't care, you don't go to meetings on time." So consider this aspect of self-assessment not only when you're beginning your search but also throughout your career.

* What is your work style? 你的工作风格如何?

In this final part of the self-assessment, think about your ideal work environment. Do you like to work alone? Do you prefer to work on deadline? Are you better off in a busy office or a quiet space?

Step 2: Do some research. 做些研究

Now that you've figured out what you want to do, you'll need to explore your options for doing it in the real world. "One of the challenges everyone has is that we're limited in the kinds of jobs we know about," Cannon says. So go beyond the classifieds. "Want ads are useful because they can help you find out about companies and job titles, but they are a research tool, rather than a place to find a job." Other methods for gathering information include informational interviews, online or library research on companies, and following news about the industry that interests you. Cannon even suggests driving around your neighborhood to see what construction is going on or what businesses are coming into town. "There are always opportunities for jobs," she says. "You have to be savvy about looking for them."

Step 3: Start your job search. 开始找工作

Cannon's "must do" tip for writing the dreaded résumé: "Make sure it's not a laundry list, and make sure it's focused on the job you want." Don't worry if you're looking for a job that seems different in title from the positions you've held before. If you've used the relevant skills in your past employment, you can emphasize them on your résumé. "That's why it's so important to gather as much information as you can about a job before you even write your résumé," says Cannon.
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