Heidi writes:
Hello, I am a 36-year-old female wanting to get a “career.” I have one semester of college under my belt, as a history major, and have a 3.5 GPA. I would like to go into the museum field, but it is very hard to get a job in museum studies. Funding is bad, and most people have at least a master’s degree. I enjoy history, but I also love science and technology, computers, and have even thought of business. I don’t want to teach, and although I love science, I am bad at math! I am an army wife and am not able to just relocate to any city I wish. Any suggestions? Are there websites for finding careers based on some interest questionnaire?
The Career Doctor responds:
Well, first, don’t let your age be a hindrance to any career you pursue. It is NEVER too late to change careers. And while being a military spouse will make your job search a bit more difficult, it should not make it impossible.
You are on the first step of finding a career. Looking inward and evaluating your likes and dislikes and strengths and weaknesses is invaluable.
You have a couple of options for your next steps. You could go the career assessments route. There are quite a few of them — both online and in print — and your college career services office should have access to a number of them. While they are often helpful, remember that they are basically going to tell you the same things you already know — you like history, science, and technology. The counselors there should also be able to give you some direction. To me, some career options would be museum curator, city/county historian, historical tour guide, company archivist, reference librarian, and computer help desk technician.
Another option is to conduct some informational interviews to explore various career options. Schedule meetings with the director of the local museum, library, and historical society. You might also interview some chief information officers of local companies as well as park rangers of local historical sites. Informational interviews are great ways to learn more about careers and career paths — and build your future network of contacts in your new career field.
Finally, another option is to head online and conduct your career research on the Web. There are many sites with detailed information about careers… and most professional organizations also have Websites. You could start here, in the Career Exploration Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
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