Reinvent yourself and change
career direction

Better still, reinvent yourself and do something you really enjoy.

In 2002, whilst working in a factory breathing noxious fumes without any protective clothing, I realised I had reached rock bottom. I even had a smile on my face wondering what all my friends in Hong Kong would have thought.

I needed to do something. I needed to reinvent myself.

I took a good, hard look at myself. Surely all my skills and experience should be worth something?

I put together a flyer offering computer training and pounded the streets dropping it in mail boxes. I picked up my first client. It was a start.

I signed up with a tutoring agency. Money was short so I even found a part-time job delivering eggs.

A few months later I met Grace Johnston and the rest is history. Grace is an expert on portfolio working, helping people to develop income streams from their skills. Back then Grace produced a booklet in which I was a case study. Her work is now featured in several chapters of ‘You’ve got the job’, and once again my experiences are featured.

It’s important to understand that anyone can re-invent themselves. You don’t need a degree. All you need is motivation and some sound advice.

That’s where I come in. I can help you reinvent yourself.

In the first half of 2004 I successfully re-invented myself, obtaining two part-time jobs, studying for a training qualification, and deriving income from several personal services such as writing résumés. At the same time I re-built my self-confidence, so much so that in July, 2004 I moved from Melbourne to Perth to start all over again. Once in Perth things moved very quickly and within a few months I was:

  • installing computers in people’s homes and teaching one-on-one
  • delivering workshops to unemployed people on how to re-invent themselves
  • writing résumés
  • lecturing at TAFE on various subjects including setting up a new small business
  • teaching groups of mature-aged unemployed how to use computers

Then, all of a sudden, whilst I was looking for more contract work, I was offered a full-time job as a trainer by the Australian Medical Association. The timing, at the beginning of 2007, was perfect, because the job was a great fit, and it also gave me the opportunity to continue with my portfolio work and at the same time invest more in myself.

Things were going really well and then they suddenly got better. I was offered another job, in a field that was new to me (engineering), by a chap for whom I had written a résumé two years before.

Again the opportunity was perfect as there were significant challenges. Things started well but after a few months I came to the conclusion that I really wasn't interested in building fuel tanks in the middle of nowhere. I was missing working with people so I went back to working for myself, developing my website, and looking at a range of opportunities.

This journey I'm on throws up a variety of twists and turns. You never know what lies around the corner.

There are two important lessons here:

  • YOU CAN DO THE SAME - REINVENT YOURSELF
  • NEVER STOP NETWORKING

Click here for some very relevant exercises to help you re-invent yourself.
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