Jockey Glen Butler’s story is proof that age need not be an obstacle when it comes following to your dreams.

At age 42 Butler has finally fulfilled a life long ambition to jockey race horses.

Although he always wanted to be a jockey, he found the 3am starts just a little too difficult when younger, and gave up training.

It was a decision he always regretted. After numerous attempts, he finally gained an apprenticeship, and recently had his first win in a race.

Of course it was not easy going. He was subject to numerous knock backs while seeking an apprenticeship, and also had to reduce his weight to just 51 kilograms!

There’s an old saying that goes something like “there’s only one way to really get to know a person; either live with them, or work with them”.

Well there’s nothing like finding out the hard way is there?

And while as a job hunter we can never really “try before we buy” when it come to getting the low down on a new boss, it is now possible to gain some sort of idea.

eBossWatch is a new service that allows job hunters (only in the USA at the moment) to search for a prospective new boss on a database and for a small cost, receive an email report which offers a six point review, based on feedback received from past employees.

I recently wrote a review of this new job hunting tool over at my personal website disassociated.com if you are interested to read more about it.

Apologies to regular readers of The InterChange Desk for my continuing absence, and the lack of posts recently.

Ironically my blogging here have resulted in some work which has become ongoing, but has left less time to spend researching and writing InterChange Desk articles.

At this stage I am not sure how long this state of affairs will continue for, but will post further updates from time to time.

In the meantime I am still updating my personal blog disassociated.com (more opinion, rather than fact, based!), so I haven’t dropped out of the blogosphere totally!

I thought I was watching the Nine O’clock news but it turned out to be someone’s video resume! Personally I don’t think they’ll be for everyone. It’s an idea I will talk about more here one day. In the meantime here is this week’s Friday five checklist:

• While we might be able to use email, fax, or snail mail, to communicate with prospective employers most of the time, there will be certain situations where making contact by phone is un-avoidable. And while we may have no qualms about picking up the phone and calling most people most of the time, there will always be those “extra difficult” sort of calls that fill even the most confident person with dread. 12 Ways to Overcome Phone Phobia at Water Cooler Wisdom, offers strategies for overcoming this phone phobia. To add to the list, where possible I try and make any “difficult calls” first thing in the day - it saves having to think too much about them that way, which only makes such calls all the harder to make!
• Your “confusion” at making a big change is more likely fear of the truth. “Are you really confused, or do you actually know what you want to do?” Confusion as another name for fear?
• Those who read my targeted job search articles and are indeed looking for “targets” should read Target your search at The Net-Savvy Jobseeker.
• If I’m talking about it then it must be old news, and I’ve already covered the pros and cons of the idea, but there is a growing consensus that blogs are increasingly becoming regarded as resumes. Living, breathing, resumes that offer more than just a glorified list of someone’s qualifications and experience.
• If however blogs just aren’t your thing you might like to consider compiling a personal portfolio of your life’s work and experience. “You can use your strengths and values to express your story with pictures, words, stories, letters, or music. Your portfolio may be digitally expressed on the internet, or it might look like a photo album, journal, or binder.” If that doesn’t appeal then I’m afraid the video resume may be your only option… give me a blog or personal portfolio any day!

There’s one thing I can say about blogging daily: it seems to keep you in touch with each day (if that makes sense). It’s been a week since I was last here, and it literally feels like a week has just vanished into the ether! I’d rather see days vanish one by one, than weeks!

• One of the things that has prompted me to change careers as I have, is the desire to somehow be making a difference. In many instances people hoping to make a difference feel it is for the benefit of others and the greater good. “Making a difference” though is many things to many people, a point that is underlined in Career Change: How to Make a Living by Making a Difference, and there are a surprising number of ways your work can indeed make a difference!
• It’s one thing to loathe your career, it’s another to complain endlessly while doing nothing about it. So let’s take a few leaves out of Hunter Arnold’s book. Or blog. “I’m constantly amazed by the sheer volume of American workers who have nothing positive to say about their jobs, yet aren’t even in the market for a new one.” The problem is not just confined to America either! “How awful it can be to work in a job where you feel unfulfilled or unappreciated, but you have the power to change it!” Exactly right - redirect all that negative energy and look towards a positive outcome.
• Ok, so how to be “positive”? Well, it can be as simple as complimenting someone…
• Not so much an article on career change as such, but “Dealing with Change - Could You Make It?” at For Career Success Blog, puts the process of change in a very day to day sort of way. “Muscle tissue regenerates every 6 to 24 months. Our bones are replaced every 4 to 7 years. We have all new red blood cells every 90 to 120 days, and our intestinal lining changes every 5-25 days.” Indeed the only constant is change.
• Only the other day I threw out a bunch of old keys that I hadn’t touched in ages (some, if I remember rightly, are from places I haven’t lived in for years…), and now I spot “Energy Suckers Stealing Your Joy? | Tolerate No More!” at Blast O’ Joy. It’s amazing the amount of energy and drive we can pick up after getting rid of the things that are clearly “surplus to requirements”. Including, may I say, jobs and careers that are bogging us down!

… and being 10pm it’s about time I got out of here and joined them. Maybe in a bar at a theme park at this hour though! Enjoy the weekend!

• Though posted a few months ago I thought it would be worth mentioning the Dream jobs contest (which has since - unfortunately - closed) posted at Careerbuilder.com’s Blog. After a survey of 6000 American workers found 86 percent of respondents felt “fun” was missing from their jobs, Disney Parks offered contestants the chance to work for a day at one of their theme parks. I wonder if a day was enough?!
• Does job hunting suck? Take part in the poll and see how your opinion compares with everyone else. There’s no doubt it can be an uncertain, unnerving, and frustrating process, and like looking for a new home, something many of us could well do without. As a recruiter once said to me though, “job hunting itself must be regarded as a full time job”. I agree, though sometimes it feels more like a necessary evil, than a job!
• While talking of “job hunting being a full time job”, Heather Eagar suggests establishing a job search schedule to help keep track of the process. A particularly useful idea for career changers since there are more steps involved, and having a plan or road map to work to is more than essential.
• The 15 Winning Characteristics of the Happiest, Most Successful People. Some motivational/inspirational reading at Cultivate Greatness.
• The InterChange Desk was recently added to CHIMBY, a search engine that specialises in listing career advice websites, blogs, and resources. With over 400 listings you’re bound to find the career information you are looking for!

It’s been a little quieter around here than I anticipated it would be, and I apologise to my regular readers for the slow down recently. The other projects I am involved with have required more of my time than I originally thought they would. I should have seen that coming though!

Despite this The InterChange Desk is still managing to make a few waves.

I was recently invited by Anthony Dever to make a guest post at the satirical Australian TV awards website, The Fuglies.

While just a little different my from my usual writings on career change matters it was nevertheless a fun undertaking! Thanks again for the invitation to participate Anthony!

Also a number of posts here have also been featured on some blog carnivals, including IQI Strategic Management Inc, Life Insurance Lowdown, Career Intensity, Living by Design Blog, Balanced Life Center, and Creating Abundant Lifestyles. My thanks to the respective organisers for including my work.

These blogs all feature a variety of articles on life balance and career matters so please visit them for more reading.

A few weeks ago I mentioned the career transition a chemical engineer had made to become an animator with Disney. As with the stockbroker who became a gardener, many people will agree this is a fairly significant career change to undertake.

Recently a radiographer contacted me expressing a long held desire to become an illustrator, and wondered how on Earth he could go about making, what he considered, was such a “drastic” transition.

While there are certainly transferable skills he could identify, and utilise, there nevertheless remains a wide divide between the two professions. And although he is prepared to study the new skills he needs, he remains concerned his background in medicine, and radiography, will work against him when it comes to looking for work.

In short his thinking is “How could an employer take me seriously? They’ll be thinking that going from a career in radiography to one in illustration is quite a leap of faith!”

Well just about any career change requires a leap of faith of some sort, and far from working against him, his background as a radiographer, and in medical imaging, could be exactly what it takes to land the illustrating work he is looking for.

We’ve probably all seen a variety of medical diagrams adorning the walls of our doctor’s surgery, and while this may not be exactly the sort of work he wants ultimately, illustration work of a medical nature could be the starting point he is looking for, and make for the beginning of a professional portfolio that he will eventually be able to show employers, in other fields, who are looking for illustrators.

Medical journals and other reference manuals contain the work of medical illustrators. Universities, schools, and other educational institutions require diagrams and images as part of their courses. And that’s just the beginning. The point is there is no shortage of work for medical illustrators.

In other words his background, and work, in medical imaging could be used as a stepping stone to a career in illustration, and as a radiographer he will be well placed when it comes to looking for medical illustration work. After all he will have an established background knowledge of medical imaging, and will certainly be more than familiar with his subject matter!

He will no doubt have contacts of some sort within the industry he can call upon, and even if he doesn’t, while he is studying he can start networking, and informing the appropriate people within the industry of his future career intentions. He can also keep an eye open for illustration roles within the industry, and become familiar with the requirements of the work.

If he is part of a large enough organisation there may even be opportunities where he currently works. And while he will initially be lacking in experience, given he is a “known quantity”, a result of his past work and reputation as a radiographer, he will be in good standing when applying for medical illustration work.

So far from being “disadvantaged” he may in fact be somewhat better placed than he initially thought when it comes to finding illustration work.

And this is a situation all career changers can take something from. You may be able to find the new career opportunity you are looking for within the industry, or possibly even the company, you are working in right now.

Well the week that just passed turned out to be a little busier than I thought! I had envisaged being able to post here at least a couple of times, but it wasn’t quite to be.

Anyway enough of my lame would be excuses, here’s this week’s Friday five for your reading pleasure.

• Ask not what your contacts can do for you, but what you can do for them. Connecting the Dots is a great article at Jugglezine all about how to become a networking superstar. There’s a lot more to it than just handing out your business cards and waiting for the world to beat a pathway to your door. Just in case you didn’t know!
• Sorry, but I’m going to keep the networking theme going here, since I think it so important. Dr. Bamster’s Blog, which specialises in career advice for those 40 and over, has two posts worth a read, on the hows and whys of networking. What Kind of Networking is Most Beneficial? and The “Why” of Networking! Network to a plan and be fruitful!
• Career Fables is not about proliferating career “myths” but rather busting them! In an article, Career Transition Myth #1, Career coach Ricki J. Frankel tackles the “It’s too hard, I can’t do it” obstacle that many would be career changers come up against.
• Designing success at Guerrilla Job Hunting is an example of how, what I refer to as “gimmicks”, can really draw attention to yourself and go along way to landing a job. There are plenty of ways of doing something that is different, but not entirely over the top, to get noticed!
• Finally for this week, while not entirely career change related I thought you’d still enjoy it. Arguing with reality, by Curt Rosengren, is a reminder that there are certain events and occurrences we have no control over, such as a delayed flight, so rather than getting pent up and expending negative energy, start looking for solutions or ways to turn a negative into a positive.

A reader contacted me after seeing the Each to their own - teamwork verses going it alone post of last week, with a tale about the brand of “teamwork” prevalent at his workplace.

The reader, who is currently working in a corporate team environment, said he was seriously considering starting his own business because he feels that while his efforts are being appreciated, his concerns - and suggestions - to improve certain workplace issues, are being ignored.

He says there is a lot being said about “pulling together as a team”, but that’s where the talk seems to end.

While the team is (apparently) doing well overall, the individual frustrations and difficulties some team members are experiencing appear to be of no account, or concern, to management.

This is despite the steps the reader is taking to find solutions to some of these problems.

Seemingly the only thing the managers talk about are the upcoming round of bonus payments, and while everyone concerned stands to gain financially to some degree, no one seems interested at some of the discontent that is present. After all, we’re only in it for the money aren’t we? Or so the attitude appears to be.

Surprisingly though, it’s not just about the money. Many people actually work for the satisfaction and fulfilment that a role offers.

While I may be the first person to think about the pay cheque when I take a job, I’m also interested in drawing other things from my work. I’d like to feel it is engaging and challenging. I’d also like to think I am making some sort of a difference, somehow, as well.

I can certainly relate to the reader’s issue however.

A few years I was doing some consulting work, and let’s just say the company in question was not particularly organised.

Trying to get even the simplest things done felt like an uphill battle, because no one knew what to do, or where to find help. Attempting to complete a task was a stop-start process, and one frustration followed another.

After a time people had started to become blasè, and it seemed many of my colleagues where turning up to work to simply make an appearance and “put in the hours”.

At one point the manager I was working for asked if I was enjoying the work. While I tried to be generally positive in response, when I expressed my frustrations, and told him I’d just once like to experience some feeling of achievement at “doing a job well done”, he looked puzzled.

In fact he looked more than puzzled. The expression on his face seemed to suggest I had stepped out of a flying saucer that had just landed from Mars!

“Thought you were more interested in the pay cheque, ” he quipped before taking a phone call, effectively ending the dialogue.

It’s not so much the nature of work that is forcing some people to consider a career change, or even set up their own business, as it is the apathy, or reluctance to listen to the concerns of workers and act on them, that appears to be present in some workplaces.

So it seems it comes down to personal preference. To tolerate such a working environment and simply be happy with the remuneration, or to find some other way to resolve the situation.

As many small business owners will tell you though, the money is not always fantastic. So what does that tell us? To me that says there are people who would rather forgo a fat pay cheque in exchange for having a lot more control over what they do, and simply derive a feeling of enjoyment or satisfaction from their work.

Others however won’t find that where are they are now, because no one seems interested in such a concept!