Is it a good idea to change careers in this economy?

A reader writes:

"I'm a 33 year old man who works part time as a nurse assistant, at this point I am not happy with what I am doing. By working at the hospital one thing I know is I don't want to pursue a career in nursing. So I thought about things and looking into schools and decided to get a degree in computer science online, which some of my credits from a previous college should transfer over. My question is this the right direction for me at this age and is this a good career choice at this economic crisis?"

I can't really tell you if this is the right direction for you or not--no one can, really--but there are a few things to keep in mind when contemplating a big change like this:

Will you be happy? Think about what makes you happy and what you're good at, career-wise. Do you enjoy solving puzzle, hands on work, and working with technology? These might be good cues as to whether computer science is a good match for you or not.

What would make you miserable? On the hand, thinking about the things that make you dislike nursing can be helpful in pinpointing careers you should avoid. For example, if you hate dealing with patients as a nurse assistant, computer science jobs that require interacting with customers might not be a good fit for you, but a position that didn't require customer interaction might work for you. 

Do your research. Look at the requirements for the types of jobs that you want after completing a computer science program and use that as a gauge to help you figure out if this is a good choice for you. Doing so will also give you a sense of what jobs are available in your area. 

Get experience. When you are thinkiing about changing careers, getting experience related to the new career can be enormously valuable in helping you make good decisions. You can get related experience by volunteering or finding a new job that doesn't require a degree. 

Where you are now? When contemplating such a big change, it is easy to think about where you want to be, but it is very important to think about your current circumstances. Can you truly afford to go back to school and possibly take on my student debt? Can your afford to give up your current income? What obligations do you have that will not be changed by your choice? And what about the obligations that will be changed? You need to get really clear on what makes the most sense for you given where you are now.

Again, no one can really tell you if this is the right choice for you or not. But, by keeping the above in mind you can make a more educated decision about your next step in life. Good luck!

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

My boyfriend has a 2 page resume with high school still listed

A reader writes:

"I have a question about my boyfriend's resume.  He has been working in customer service for more than 10 years now and his resume is 2 pages now, I know that it shouldn't be but my question is can we delete his high school education?"

A two-page resume is perfectly fine, as long as the experience on it is relevant to the position he is applying for. Generally, someone with 10 years of experience in the same field would be expected to have a longer resume. 

Just be aware that this can vary by field. To get the best idea about whether two pages is common in his field or not, your boyfriend can ask his manager or others working around him for their advice.

But, the two-page issue is actually separate from the high school on your resume issue. Once a person is in college, all high school stuff--both high school experience and the high school diploma--should come off the resume with a few narrow exceptions. 

In your boyfriend's case, I'm going to assume that his 10 years of experience means that he is at least 8 years of experience after high school, so his high school information should definitely come off his resume.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Should I list classes on my resume that aren't relevant to my current job?

A reader writes:

"I graduated with a BS in business administration,I work at a furniture store but I'm taking online classes to be a medical coder...should I include my medical coding classes on my resume even though it is has no relevance to my current job?"

What's relevant on a resume is based on the job or internship you're applying for, not the job you currently have. You want to use your resume to highlight the skills, experience, and education you have that are related to the position you're applying for.

So, if you are applying for medical coder positions, you can include the classes. On the other hand, if you are applying for a position that has nothing do to with medical coding, the classes don't belong on your resume.

Although you didn't ask about it, I wanted to bring up tailoring your resume because you're in working at a job that is not directly related to your career goals. Beside listing relevant classes, you also only want to include relevant jobs, internships, and volunteer positions on your resume.

When your experience is not directly related to the position you're applying for, but you have skills that might be relevant from an unrelated job, you want to highlight those on your resume. Put another way, focus on what you think is important about your current job from the potential employers perspective.

For example, go ahead and list your furniture store job when you are applying for medical coder positions, but highlight medical coder-related skills and accomplishments, like being detail oriented to manage inventory or using ten key while processing customer transactions.

Good luck in your medical coding classes!

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Should I list classes on my resume if I didn't do well?

In response to "Should I list classes on my resume?" a reader writes:

"What if you did not do too hot in a course that is relevant to the job? should you still put it on the resume? I've taken this course, and although I did not do well in it, I still know the basics of it and it is completely relevant to the internship I am applying to. I'm not very good at test taking, which is what the grade reflected, but I can still talk about what I learned. The only thing I fear is if they ask me about my grade. I'm not lying on my resume when I said I took the course, but I am drawing attention to a bad grade."

This can be tricky because some employers don't care about grades and others put a lot of value on grades, but you have no way of knowing which is which from the outside. With that in mind, remember that your resume is a marketing document meant to highlight the very best you have to offer potential employers, so you only want to include relevant information that paints you in a positive light.

A less than stellar grade in a relevant class does NOT reflect well on you, so the class does NOT belong on your resume. You're absolutely correct that if you list the course and it comes to light that you did not do well in the class, it will not look good for you. Something like that can make potential employers question your credibility, integrity, or even  and once that's damaged it is almost impossible to recover from as an applicant.

The safest route is to not list the class on your resume, but potentially bring up your experience from the class during an interview if it comes up naturally. This way you'd have the chance to address it on your own terms, but only if needed.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

How can I ask my professors about their academic path?

A reader writes:

"From your post about "Making the most of office hours," it is recommended to ask the professor about his or her own academic path, and I was wondering what would be a good way to ask about this? Something that sounds better than, "Would you tell me about your academic path?""

First, it's great that you are looking for ways to connect with your professors! It can certainly be intimidating or awkward if you are not sure what to say, but asking your professors about their academic path is a great way to build a relationship with them.

Here are some suggestions for asking your professor about his or her academic path:

• "I'd be interested to hear about how you got into ___________"
• "When you were an undergraduate, did you have any particular experiences that made you want to get into ___________?"
• "You talk a lot about your research in ___________. How did you get into that?". 
• "What sparked your interest in ___________?"
• "I read your article on ___________. What inspired you to do that research?"

Really, all of these suggestions are variations on a theme, so pick one and re-work it into your natural language and you'll be all set to getting to know your professors. Good luck!

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Should I list well-known professors on my resume?

A reader writes:

"I graduated with my degree in the Arts, and I am unsure if it would be helpful to include the names of the well-known professors whom I took relevant courses with? If so, how would I go about including that?"

Generally, you would not list professors on a traditional resume, even if those professors are well known. Honestly, most employers just don't place a high value on who taught a class you took because it doesn't really add to making you a stronger candidate for a job.

You might want to work the name of a well-known professor into your cover letter if--and only if--you had a valuable experience with that professor aside from just going to class and turning in assignments.

For example, if you did a research project, independent study, or otherwise were able to build a professional relationship with that professor, you would drop their name in the context of the valuable experience.

So, name dropping famous professors for the sake of name dropping is not really appropriate for your resume. But, it may be fair game when you have had a relevant experience with that famous professor.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.