Amy Lindgren

Second Sunday Series – Editor’s Note: This is the tenth 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 networking, while the months before focused on getting experience in your new career; LinkedIn for career-changers; résumé 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. 

While career-change job search is similar to any other job search, there are at least two important differences. One is internal, in that career-changers often perceive themselves to be lacking in some way, such as contacts in the field, related experience, or possibly credentials.

As a short-cut, here’s a good piece of advice: If you’ve checked the boxes, then you’re ready. That is, if you’ve done even minimal networking in your new field, identified transferrable skills, and confirmed you have at least the baseline credentials, you are market-ready.

But will the market see you as ready?

This brings up the other difference in career-change job search, which relates to process. With fewer directly related job experiences, career-changers can be overlooked by online application systems. That means your process must rely on direct contact with likely employers, rather than response to ads where you’ll compete with others already working in the field.

Want to see how that would look? Follow these five steps and you’ll soon be cashing paychecks in your new career.

1. Confirm your job target: Imagine you want to change from teaching to writing for a living. Is writing your job target? Not yet — if you plug “writer” into a job board, you’ll see the problem. A huge variety of non-relevant options will pop up, which is essentially the issue you’ll encounter when trying to network into a job. You need to be more specific.

For this example, we’ll use “nonprofit communications” as the job target. To be the most useful, job targets include a type of work and also a type of organization. If your target isn’t specific, now is the time to nail that down.

2. Identify places to work: Which nonprofits appeal to you? Your criteria is personal, but your list could be based on size, location, mission, or their reputation as an employer. This takes research, so plan some time to access directories, networking contacts or online resources to build your list of 25-50 places.

3. Send letters of introduction: If you thought the next step was to answer online ads, you’re partly right but mostly not. For the reasons already noted, your career-change job search strategy is to contact potential employers outside of the posting process. And, based on the truth that every job turns over eventually, and that job openings are frequently filled without being posted, that could be almost anyone.

The letter itself can be quite simple. For example, “Dear ___, I’m writing to introduce myself and to inquire about your need for a skilled communicator on your team. I’m experienced in creating newsletters, web content, event flyers and other materials important to nonprofits such as _____. Even if you’re not currently planning to hire a communications professional, I would appreciate the opportunity to talk briefly and hear your advice as I move forward in my job search. My résumé is attached here; I look forward to connecting soon.”

Of course, the letter would be stronger if you can describe previous interactions with this nonprofit, or something about your goals for working there. But even a short note makes an impact if it lands at the right time. This would go to the director or to a department head, depending on the organization’s size.

4. Set a pace, including follow-up: If you’re in a hurry, send 10-15 letters a week; otherwise, 3-5 will be fine. Since you’ll be following up in a week or two, you don’t want to “out-run your headlights” as they say. The follow-up, by the way, can be as simple as “Hello again _____, just refreshing this email in case you’d have time to talk about potential communications positions at ____. Thanks so much…”

5. Troubleshoot: After contacting 25-50 organizations you should receive at least a handful of responses. If that’s not happening, stop to troubleshoot. This is mostly a numbers game, but only if you’re on the right track to begin with.

Plan for success. Of course you’ll be getting interviews soon — come back for the next Second Sunday column for tips on career-changer interview strategies.

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Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com.

Up ahead, I saw a St. Paul police vehicle pull into an overlook on Mississippi River Boulevard. I did what I always do when I see the law. I slowed down. I wasn’t exceeding any limits. As I drew closer, I saw the officer get out of his squad and begin to walk to the edge of the wide and ancient ravine, 10,000 years old that cut, if not older.

For all I know, the guy might have lost a pair of sunglasses. I almost stopped, just for the hell of it, but I didn’t, on the off chance the officer might have wanted some solace. Good day for it. The wind was howling and all that roiling and fast-running water can put a fellow’s mind at ease, if only for a moment or two.

Soon enough, he had to get back behind the wheel and deal with life, or death, the reality of what has become of us. On May 30, a Minneapolis officer, Jamal Mitchell, was murdered by a career criminal, identified by authorities as Mustafa Mohamed, 35. Mitchell was responding to shots fired and an active shooter at an apartment complex on Blaisdell Avenue South. Mitchell saw Mohamed and believed him to need assistance, which he tried to offer.

Mohamed had two active warrants for his arrest at the time of his death; he was shot by other arriving officers. Mohamed was a convicted felon. He wasn’t supposed to have a gun. His criminal record goes back to when he was 17 and convicted of auto theft, according to news accounts.

“All I can tell you is that Officer Mitchell was attempting to assist the individual who shot him,” said Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans, “and that it happened very fast and that he ambushed him.”

Did he have a last moment of solace? Probably not. He was too busy working a mandatory overtime shift. He was working alone. Minneapolis is down a couple of hundred officers from a full roster, for a variety of reasons, including a not very thinly disguised disdain for law enforcement expressed in the last four years by too many political opportunists riding the hurricane of the George Floyd weekend.

Concurrently, and in great measure because of Mitchell’s murder, the case against State Trooper Ryan Londregan was dropped by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. Londregan shot Ricky Cobb II on July 31, 2023, during a traffic stop on Interstate 94 in Minneapolis. It’s not really a traffic “stop” when the motorist drives away with Londregan’s partner clinging to the open driver’s side and Cobb quite possibly trying to reach for a gun.

Moriarty desperately wanted to prosecute Londregan. Expert witnesses told Moriarty that Londregan acted as he must. She turned away from her office and offered $1 million to a group of presumably more aristocratic lawyers with a Washington, D.C., address, but even they told her she couldn’t prove that Londregan murdered Cobb. The governor, who reads tea leaves, said he was prepared to take away her case.

And then Mitchell got murdered, finally putting an anti-law enforcement agenda on ice, however temporarily.

That agenda is not gone, not with the people we’ve managed to elect.

I hope that copper in St. Paul found a moment of peace. And I hope all the cops in Minneapolis can find their own moment to gaze at the old river. What they do is not easy.

It’s tough to work your job when too many members of the political class think you’re not necessary.

Joe Soucheray can be reached at jsoucheray@pioneerpress.com. Soucheray’s “Garage Logic” podcast can be heard at garagelogic.com.

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By Sam Kemmis | NerdWallet

For some, “digital nomad” evokes the image of a young, unencumbered tech worker sending emails from the beach. Indeed, three-quarters of digital nomads are under age 40, according to a 2023 survey of over 1,200 digital nomads by Flatio, an online accommodation platform.

Yet some families have joined the digital nomad lifestyle, leaving their belongings — and the idea of a “home” — behind as they travel the globe. The lifestyle may not afford families the same hammock-swinging freedom that digital nomads without children enjoy, but these adventurous parents say the trade-offs are worth it.

“We really like the whole adventure,” says Chris Oberman, founder of Moving Jack, a blog about his family’s trips around the world. “Normal things like going to the supermarket become really special because it’s a new experience.”

Originally from the Netherlands, Oberman, his partner, their 6-month-old baby and their two cats are currently in Iraq. They plan to move to South Korea this summer.

“Logistically, it requires a lot of planning,” Oberman says. “Before we move abroad, we return to our home country to arrange all necessary documents. Since we don’t own a house, we either stay with family or rent a place. When we depart for our new destination, we stay in a temporary place such as a serviced apartment or hotel that allows cats (which isn’t easy to find).”

In the midst of this explanation, the power went out.

“The power goes out five times a day,” Oberman says with a laugh, highlighting some of the unexpected challenges of living abroad with a family.

Schools and social circles

Schooling poses one of the biggest challenges to families living on the road. Oberman’s infant is too young for school, so that’s not an issue, but other digital nomad families must get creative when it comes to education.

“Our decision on where to go is influenced by factors such as having internet access to educational opportunities for our kids, safety and cost of living,” Vasilii Kiselev said in an email. Kiselev is from Florida, and his family of four is currently nomading in Portugal. “[We] incorporate local culture and history into their learning experience.”

This approach reflects an educational movement called “world schooling,” an unofficial term that describes an educational approach centered around cultural immersion. Some, like Kiselev, still seek formal education while traveling, while others combine nomadism with homeschooling. The Facebook group “Worldschoolers” has over 67,000 members.

And while it might sound challenging for children to get uprooted regularly, Kiselev, whose children are ages 8 and 12, suggests that adjusting to nomadism is a matter of practice.

“They have adapted well to the lifestyle,” Kiselev said.

Changing friend groups and even languages from one month to the next can be a challenge for anyone, never mind a child. Oberman says he’s aware of the social difficulties that lie ahead for his son.

“As he makes friends, it could be tough for him.”

Budgets and trade-offs

Raising kids is expensive whether at home, abroad or on Mars.

It’s easy to be daunted by the cost of traveling full time with a family, especially given how expensive a few weeks’ vacation can be. Yet many nomadic families are able to maintain a budget when living full time on the road.

Kiselev’s family budgets about 1,500 to 2,500 euros ($1,629 to $2,715) per month for housing.

“It’s pricey but necessary for a comfortable living space.”

Another cost is private school, which costs Kiselev about 500 to 1,000 euros ($543 to $1,086) per month, or $6,516 to $13,032 per year — an attractive price for many U.S.-based parents in high cost-of-living areas.

For comparison, according to a study last updated in October 2023 by the Education Data Initiative, a research group focused on the U.S. education system, the average annual private school tuition across grade levels K-12 in Massachusetts is $25,061, and California’s average is $16,637.

Of course, that doesn’t include last-minute hotels, airfare, travel insurance and all the other expenses accrued from shuttling a family around the globe. Oberman’s family found themselves flying back and forth from Iraq to the Netherlands and Dubai during the pregnancy because of concerns about the quality of health care in Iraq. Those expenses can add up in a hurry and swamp any savings from lower overall costs of living.

Yet many families find the financial trade-offs worth it in terms of the experiences they and their families are able to accrue.

“Showing our child so much of the world is very rewarding and helps him grow with a global perspective,” says Oberman.

Sam Kemmis writes for NerdWallet. Email: skemmis@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @samsambutdif.

The article There Are New Digital Nomads on the Block: Families originally appeared on NerdWallet.