Encouraging career changers
One of the problems I face often is caused by the attitude of many unhappy career changers. How can I serve as a motivator for people that have such a challenging situation?
I think this is interesting. I have had three students recently do the exact same thing. One student who was 53 yrs. old and had a BS in phsycology and wanted something different, so he came to our campus to become a Medical Assistant, it took him three months to find work but he is the manager, of a start up clinic locally. Second student I had was a preschool teacher for 20 some odd years and went through a divorce and needed something different. She had a horrible experience while at school, it was very difficult for her to learn new things, she was 46 yrs. old. She also came to the campus for medical assisting. She now is a coder for a local hospital, it also took her a few months to find work. I think constant, "you can do it", and "where would you be right now, if you had not done something to change your life" talks tend to help with these types of students.
Hi Carolos,
Tough question. I have worked in a number of different settings where there were massive layoffs causing people to have to enroll in training programs for new careers. (Automotive assembly and mining for example) In those cases I had to spend time focusing on their mental acceptance of their new situation before I could get to the actual skill training. I found that if I could get them to experience success in small quick steps they started to gain confidence in their abilities. This confidence translated into a future. Making a career change that is forced translates into concern, fear and frustration. Early success in the classroom gives hope that another career can be achieved and that the training is not so difficult as to be impossible.
Also, I tried to give the students opportunities to use their newly acquired knowledge and/or skills. Immediate use of newly acquired knowledge really helps change the attitudes of these learners.
Good luck!
Gary
I think that at the outset you have to acknowledge their desire and initiative for wanting to change their careers. Though in the boatbuilding field we are a bit plagued by hobbyists not career changers, I still give the participants credit for wanting to learn something completely new and, in many ways, quite demanding.
Hi Warren,
You are correct about their desire to prepare for a new or different career. Sometimes they forget that when the grind of daily living plus being a student enters in.
I would think the hobbyists would be even more excited about being in the program since they are paying money to learn something that they are going to enjoy though not have to earn their living at. Is that the common case?
Gary
This is definately a challenge especially since the experience is so oftened motivated by a negative situation instead of a sense of opportunity.
Some thoughts:
1) Change is hard for most of us even when we desire it but negative situations can, if we choose to let them, can be a tool to help us change.
2) Often people who have achieved considerable success can point to negative situtations as the turning point in their lives.
3) Perhaps encourage the individuals by recommending that they decide on a time when they will decide to move from looking at the negative circumstances that may have led to the need of a career change to start looking for the opportunity int it, no matter how small or simple it may be.
I'm not a professional in this area but I have had a few friends that either I observed or had the opportunity to talk about similar circumstances with them. I have also experienced the benefits of these three thoughts myself and as simple as they are they ended up being very helpful.
I am in the unique situation of teaching television news production. We get as many different faces in our classroom environment as you can imagine. The luxury I have is that TV is a very "sexy" business, somewhat mysterious and viewed as glamourous, so the attraction is there for all. Until they find out that it is truly work and much effort has to be put forth to be successful. That's where the motivation comes in. I use a lot of stories about my experiences in this field, encourage thier questions, and be sure to call on everyone to ensure participation. The stories go a long way toward keeping the excitement level in the classroom on the rise, as it is not like reading from a textbook. I use examples of things that have gone well, or not so well (I still work in the TV business on a part time basis) The other advantage, is that I teach at a very hands-on school so quite often, the stories that I tell can be replicated in a real world environment. This goes a long way toward keeping the spark alive that brought them through the door in the first place.
Hi Donnie,
You listed a number of very good strategies to get your students involved and interested in your classes. I am sure they enjoy the stories about actual happenings in the industry. This is where immediate use of newly acquired knowledge comes into play.
What have you found in your teaching experience gets the most attention from your students? Is it the stories, application, etc.?
Gary
