Changing Careers? Learn How!

Looking for a new start? Want to change careers? Don’t know where to begin?     

Certified Career and Executive Leadership Coach Susanne Rhow is the perfect person to help.

“I’ve changed careers about six times,” said Rhow, who is bringing her 20 years of experience at firms like Saks Fifth Avenue, Estee Lauder, and Cisco to the Science, Industry and Business Library on Saturday, May 1 for a lecture on changing careers.

“Sometimes, you decide to make a change because you’re in an industry that’s fading,” she said. “Other times it’s just an epiphany – life is short, I really want to do something else. There’s never a wrong time or a wrong way to think about changing careers. The problem too many people think, oh, that’s crazy. That’s not possible. They get so discouraged. But it is very possible.”

Rhow said the first thing people should to is evaluate whether a drastic change is actually necessary. “Sometimes, a different environment is all someone needs,” she said. “People can make small changes that can greatly affect their happiness.”

Those who truly are ready to change careers need to evaluate their skills and figure out the best way to use them differently.

“If you’re able to really articulate the skills and challenges you bring to the new career, that’s half the battle,” she said. “You also have to be out there. You can’t replace human contact. Sitting in front of a computer responding to ads all the day is the worst thing you can do. You have to be out meeting people.”

She also said, “You really need to keep the job search in perspective. It’s one step in a journey.”

Rhow suggests going on as many interviews as possible, writing a resume that catches the eye – no matter how many pages it is - and making sure it’s clear to potential employers what kind of job you want.

She also suggests paper resumes because, “No one dares to throw out a paper resume.”

Rhow – who also does private career counseling, sometimes using space at the Library – will share these and other tricks of the trade at her free lecture at 2 p.m. in Conference Room 018 at the Science, Industry and Business Library, 188 Madison Avenue, New York, NY.

For more information, contact PR Manager Angela Montefinise at angela_montefinise@nypl.org.