Amy Lindgren

Second Sunday Series – Editor’s Note: This is the eighth of 12 columns on making a career change which appear the second Sunday of each month, from September through August. Last month’s column discussed LinkedIn for career-changers, while the months before focused on resume strategies; the back-to-school decision; career change steps in your 60s; 10 ideas for choosing a new career; a sample timeline; and questions to consider when changing careers. 

Everyone’s heard the familiar lament: If you need experience to get hired, how do you get the experience? It’s a momentum-killing puzzle for any job seeker, let alone for career-changers.

In this monthly series we’ve been looking at different challenges you’ll need to manage if you leave one career path for another. Aside from choosing your direction, perhaps no other task will be as important as gaining experience in the new field.

This exposure will not only build skills and knowledge but it will also provide valuable information about the work itself. The first benefit could help you enter the field at a higher level, while the second might guide you in choosing the specific area you’d prefer.

Here are ways to gain needed experience as you move forward on your career-change path.

Leverage current work: You may think your current job is as far from the new field as you can get, but in truth there are almost always overlaps between any two occupations — or at least, there’s the opportunity to create overlap.

Take, for example, an over-the-road trucker who has been studying communications online while waiting for loads at different terminals. Can this person write articles for the transit company’s newsletter? Or start an employee page on the company website? Perhaps the driver could create safe-driving tools, to be used later as work samples in interviews.

If this person were making a less dramatic switch — say from driving to being a dispatcher, or perhaps the logistics coordinator — he or she might ask for cross-training or the opportunity to use unpaid time to job shadow or apprentice in the role.

Whatever the career paths in question, a lot depends on the workplace and on the worker’s willingness to let others know about the pending career change. But if those factors line up, the in-house route can be the smoothest way to learn tasks relevant to a new career.

Work part-time in the new field: If your schedule allows, a part-time job might be the perfect way to gain experience. Part-time roles are usually easier to land than full-time, and are often closer to entry level. They also provide an advantage for later job search: You may have access to internal leads and a built-in network to help you land the full-time job you eventually seek.

As a pro tip, remember that part-time work adjacent to your desired career can also be helpful. For example, if you’re training to become a physician’s assistant, you won’t likely be hired in that role until you’ve completed required coursework or testing. But you can still gain benefit (and points with later employers) if you pick up hours as a clinic receptionist or another position exposing you to medical documentation, patient service, and other aspects of health care professions.

Enroll in training with an internship: Speaking of required coursework … some fields are only open to those who have completed an approved training program. If this includes your new career, be sure your training program provides at least one internship. Even if the profession doesn’t require this extra element, it’s one of the best ways to transition from student to employee when entering a new field.

Build your own work experience: This route has become easier than ever in our world of side hustles and instant entrepreneurs. For example, the truck driver changing to communications could start a blog or newsletter on any topic. Or, he or she could volunteer to do that for a nonprofit or startup company. Becoming a self-employed consultant is another option that could result in testimonials and work samples — as well as pocket money.

One caution if you choose this pathway to gaining experience: It’s easy to lose momentum if you don’t find a project to dive into. Give yourself just a month or two for your gig to bear fruit and then switch to a different option on this list.

Remember that the goal is the experience, and you want to get that one way or the other so you can move forward with your larger goal of changing careers.

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The hazards of remaking a beloved film are well known. While the 1991 comedy “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” starring Christina Applegate, didn’t exactly thrill critics 30 years ago, it’s become a cult classic, especially for elder millennials who grew up on the movie. It’s the ideal text for a remake — the source material isn’t regarded as untouchable, the name recognition is high, and it can be easily adaptable to a modern milieu while still stoking those childhood memories for those who love the original.

Nostalgia can be a trap, one that writer Chuck Hayward and director Wade Allain-Marcus fortunately sidestep in their remake. There are enough nods to the first film to please fans looking for those Easter eggs, but they don’t get in the way of the story itself, a teen comedy that keeps it real, despite the heightened circumstances. They also update the family from white to Black, which brings a new layer of stakes to the situation.

After their mother (Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams) suffers a nervous breakdown at work, the Crandell siblings are left in the care of a Mrs. Sturak (June Squibb), a sweet old lady who reveals herself to be a nagging, racist, slut-shaming tyrant. In her advanced age, the wild rager that the kids throw in the house is too much for her to bear, and she (as the title suggests) drops dead from shock, or perhaps secondhand smoke. Hoping to evade authorities, the Crandell siblings get rid of her body — along with her purse filled with cash from mom.

Without wanting to disturb their mentally fragile mother, shipped off to a meditation retreat in Thailand, it’s up to big sis Tanya (Simone Joy Jones) to get a big-girl job and provide for her siblings. So much for a fun summer, she’s now learning the joys of a Los Angeles morning commute and cutthroat office politics at a fashion company called Libra. Meanwhile, her skater brother Kenny (Donielle T. Hansley Jr.) has to get his slacker act together to hold down the fort at home.

Much of the appeal of the first film came from star Applegate in her first major film role (she was already well-known thanks to the sitcom “Married… With Children”), playing eldest sister Sue Ellen. Jones is similarly charming, in a different way. She sells a performance of a likable teen who is in over her head but gamely manages to thrive in a professional working environment.

The script by Hayward is not exactly breaking new ground (it is a remake after all) but it establishes the siblings as unique and distinctive characters, including smart and weird little bro Zack (Carter Young) and morbid gamer tween sis Melissa (Ayaamii Sledge). Their interactions are funny and natural, and their healthy skepticism of the police has real consequences and informs their questionable decision-making.

The only weak link in the family is Williams, a stand-up comedian whose small, underwritten role as mom to the Crandell kids doesn’t play to her strengths. She’s in a handful of scenes, and Tanya’s role model is filled by Nicole Richie playing her boss at Libra, Rose. Richie is so dynamic and energizing on screen you wonder why she doesn’t act more, and she has genuine chemistry with Jones.

This is the first major feature film directed by Allain-Marcus, an actor who co-starred on “Insecure,” and he does a lot to demonstrate his abilities and influences as a director here. The cinematography by Matt Clegg is crisp and saturated, utilizing a lot of complex tracking shots, and there are nods to ‘70s-style filmmaking and retro touches like the yellow title font that drops about 18 minutes into the film. Some of these flourishes are slightly inconsistent with the material, but demonstrate a new filmmaker excited to experiment with the form of the teen comedy.

“Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” is surprisingly authentic and fun for this kind of nostalgia-baiting remake material, which is naturally formulaic. It’s the focus on character and allowing the actors to shine that makes this one sing, and it should make a star out of Jones, who, like her character, manages to hold it all together.

‘Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead’

2.5 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for teen drug use, language and some sexual references)

Running time: 1:38

How to watch: In theaters Friday

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By JON GAMBRELL (Associated Press)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Commandos from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard rappelled from a helicopter onto an Israeli-affiliated container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and seized the vessel Saturday in the latest attack between the two countries.

The seizure followed a suspected Israeli strike this month on an Iranian consular building in Syria that killed 12 people, including a senior Guard general.

Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip has inflamed decades-old tensions across the region. With Iranian-backed forces like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthi rebels also involved in the fighting, any new attack in the Mideast threatens to escalate that conflict into a wider regional war.

Iran’s state-run IRNA said a special forces unit of the Guard’s navy carried out the attack on the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries, a container ship associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime.

Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group. Zodiac declined to comment and referred questions to MSC. Geneva-based MSC acknowledged the seizure and said 25 crew members were on the ship.

“We are working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure their wellbeing, and safe return of the vessel,” MSC said.

An Indian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief to journalists, said 17 of the crew were Indians.

IRNA said the Guard would take the vessel into Iranian territorial waters.

A Middle East defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, provided video of the attack to The Associated Press in which Iranian commandos are seen rappelling onto a stack of containers on the vessel’s deck.

A crew member can be heard saying: “Don’t come out.” He then tells his colleagues to go to the ship’s bridge as more commandos come down. One commando can be seen kneeling above the others to provide them potential cover fire.

The video corresponded with known details of the MSC Aries. Also, the commandos rappelled from what appeared to be a Soviet-era Mil Mi-17 helicopter, which both the Guard and the Iranian-backed Houthis of Yemen have used in the past to conduct ship raids.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations described the vessel as being “seized by regional authorities” in the Gulf of Oman off the Emirati port city of Fujairah, without elaborating.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on nations to list the Guard as a terrorist organization.

Iran “is a criminal regime that supports Hamas’ crimes and is now conducting a pirate operation in violation of international law,” Katz said.

For days, Iranian officials up to and including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have threatened to “slap” Israel for the Syria strike.

Iran since 2019 has engaged in a series of ship seizures, and attacks on vessels have been attributed to it amid ongoing tensions with the West over its rapidly advancing nuclear program.

In previous ship seizures, Iran provided initial explanations about its operations to make it seem like the attacks had nothing to do with wider geopolitical tensions — though later acknowledging as much. In Saturday’s attack, however, Iran offered no explanation other than to say the MSC Aries had links to Israel.

Iran in the past largely has avoided directly attacking Israel, despite it carrying out the targeted killing of nuclear scientists and multiple sabotage campaigns against Iran’s atomic sites. Iran has, however, targeted Israeli or Jewish-linked sites through proxy forces over the decades.

Earlier this week, Guard Gen. Ali Reza Tangsiri, who oversees Iran’s naval forces, criticized the presence of Israelis in the region and in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE reached a diplomatic recognition deal with Israel in 2020, something that has angered Tehran.

“We know that bringing Zionists in this point is not merely for economic work,” Tangsiri reportedly said. “Now, they are carrying out security and military jobs, indeed. This is a threat, and this should not happen.”

The tension also could be felt in Iran on Saturday as officials publicly denied faked text messages sent in the name of civil defense authorities. Those messages urged the public to “prepare drinking water and dry food” over the “emerging emergency situation” facing the country.

The U.S., Israel’s main backer, has stood by the country despite growing concerns over Israel’s war on Gaza killing more than 33,600 Palestinians and wounding over 76,200 more. Israel’s war began after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage.

On Friday, President Joe Biden warned Iran not to attack Israel. “We will help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed,” Biden added.

The Gulf of Oman is near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all globally traded oil passes. Fujairah, on the United Arab Emirates’ eastern coast, is a main port in the region for ships to take on new oil cargo, pick up supplies or trade out crew.

Since 2019, the waters off Fujairah have seen a series of explosions and hijackings. The U.S. Navy blamed Iran for limpet mine attacks on vessels that damaged tankers. The UAE has sought to mend ties with Iran and issued a statement condemning the suspected Israeli attack in Syria.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa Group on Saturday extended the suspension of flights between Frankfurt and Tehran through Thursday and said its planes would avoid Iranian airspace. The German carrier also said that, until at least Tuesday, flights to and from Amman will be operated as “day flights” so crews won’t spend a night in the Jordanian capital.

Dutch airline KLM said it will no longer fly over Iran or Israel, but will continue flights to and from Tel Aviv. “Safety has the highest priority,” KLM said.

___

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Krutika Pathi in New Delhi, Stephen Graham in Berlin and Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed to this report.

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