How To Change Your Career Field

Engineering field is the easiest to change towards multiple entries. The only criteria is your learning skills, zeal and adaptability confidence. You do routine jobs without upgrading yourself, there comes the ruin. Face changes and become a seasoned Engineer. R & D should be the other alternate to avoid monotony.

Job-shopping (i.e., free-lance work in design, analysis, project management, whatever) on a short-term, project-oriented basis is a good way to truly introduce your skills to a potential employer. Hit your network- there are always outfits looking to ramp up staff temporarily to get through some crisis period...

But don't give yourself away. If they don't have the resources to pay for professional level services, you don't want to have anything to do with them.

There are a couple of outfits out there that are web-based- guru.com, odesk, innocentive, etc. that may offer some opportunities. LinkedIn seems to be a good place to look for positions as well...And one can build a bit of a reputation right here on CR4 that can demonstrate your broad-based skills and help you re-invent yourself. Be careful, though- the image you project on the Internet is hard to erase...

The downside is, you may enjoy freelance consulting so much, you'll never go back to working for a salary...

Although your question was directed at someone else, perhaps my contributions would be of interest as well. I have started a number of businesses over the years, from my first as a freelance photographer specializing in architectural photography, to my current, specializing in low level technology engineering consulting, with side trips into high tech engineering and some off-the-wall concepts. My first business as a photographer was based on pretty mediocre skills as a photographer, but was sufficiently successful to provide me a comfortable living, and launch me on my real estate investment business which was highly speculative and based on a similar bubble to what has brought many to their knees today (I was grossly over-extended and got caught holding a lot of property that lost 30% of its value overnight as the result of oil prices dropping from $30 to $13 overnight, back in the 1980's in Texas...).

Some basic rules:

1. Perseveration is the most critical characteristic for getting a business going. It takes 4 years to build a solid business, and this seems to be independent of the type of business one is pursuing.

2. One must talk to 20 people (minimum) to acquire one new customer. The best source of new customers, bar none, is referral from a satisfied previous customer. When I started my photography business, and again, when I decided engineering was where I wanted to go and I was looking for a position that would compliment my university studies, I actually "beat the pavement"- canvasing a likely section of town and "cold calling" on businesses in the area that might be interesting- in the first case, carrying a portfolio of my photographs, in the second, carrying a portfolio of technical drawings illustrating my drafting skills.

3. Realistic goals are important, although these goals will tend to change with time.

4. A detailed plan is important- although one most likely will not follow the plan in detail (one should rewrite the plan every five years or so).

5. I have had more success with businesses built on a reasonable assessment of my own capabilities rather than those based on external factors or opportunities.

I suspect I no longer have the personal skills required to secure me a salaried position. Independence is addictive...

Cwarner7 11 had added more inputs to my line of points.

I do have own business under development, it took almost 4 years to get the first customer. I am into a most painful area of service[ environment] and there seems to be lot of hardships. My experience is, whenever there is a problem, a hopeful alternate solution comes out, that spirit keeps me going on.

Financial losses are easily recoverable, provided we have budget levels of experimental or sampling expenses.

Being a research and development based venture, experience has taught me how to avoid costly proto model machinery development expenses and use low cost simulation test model development. That of course, the first blunder was my teacher.

Of course all of mine are hobby based activities to exert feed to my ideas.

Now I am into major Sustainable Development Technology promotions dealing water, energy, waste recycling, energy efficiency, clean technologies, clean energy utilities and the list is going up.

Had if, I would have feared the initial financial losses, I would not have reached this status.

Keep money away from our endeavours. If the goals are accomplished, earnings should not be a constrain. Many of us fear this risk factor and shrink down our true potentials.

All happened because, I had changed my formal discipline of expertise from a textile base to Sustainable Development and Environment.

There seems as Nothing to lose and efforts never default