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Shanice Jordan

IT professional in Dallas

06/02/20 at 10:25PM UTC

Career

Turn obscure skill into a job

I have a bachelor's degree in education however, several years ago my doctor informed me due to my weakened immune system from lupus I could no longer teach children in the classroom. To be honest, I was lost for a long time. Education and teaching was and still is a chunk of my background and experience. In the last two years I have discovered I am excellent at helping people find things. For instance, people have called me about a restaurant in a city they are visiting and I do the research and recommend a restaurant based on that person, their taste and budget. I have had people ask me for book recommendations, plan a trip or if there was a website where you could make a video montage. You name it I have helped someone find it or do it. The problem is I don't know how to translate that to my resume or what type of industry I should be looking at to find a job and my lack of "professional" experience. Any thoughts?

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Lucia Siochi

06/09/20 at 11:25PM UTC

I agree it sounds like a concierge or personal assistant. You could search for virtual concierge or online concierge jobs or online researcher. Looking at what kinds of jobs are posted can help you see what you might be interested in. You'll also see what employers look for, to give you an idea of what to put on your resume or how to market yourself. Hope this helps! Good Luck!

Anonymous

06/09/20 at 9:20AM UTC

I have a friend who trained as a librarian and has worked in customer service positions, as a patient advocate, in a liason role and more. Now that many jobs are remote or headed that direction, you may be able to find something that would appeal to you without putting your health at risk. Also, if you are still interested in teaching, you may be able to do some virtual instruction for either students or teachers, depending upon what you know or could learn regarding Zoom or similar platforms. Just some ideas. Wishing you well.

Lynne Cogan

858

Career Coach for Realizing Professional Dreams

06/06/20 at 2:25AM UTC

What you're doing is researching. That is a field. However, it doesn't pay very much. You might want to check out www.onetonline.org, a Department of Labor website, where you can list your skills and receive a information about different types of positions that use that skill.

Shanice Jordan

IT professional in Dallas

06/06/20 at 7:27PM UTC

Thank you for the website. I went on there last night and it has a wealth of beneficial information.

Lynne Cogan

858

Career Coach for Realizing Professional Dreams

06/06/20 at 8:06PM UTC

I'm glad it helped. The Department of Labor has several websites. My favorite is: the Occupational Outlook Handbook (https://www.bls.gov/ooh). When it is time to learn more about different professions, this is a great place to get started.

Leader272196

06/05/20 at 3:54PM UTC

You might consider becoming a librarian in the field of special librarianship. I work in a cancer research center and I really enjoy the thrill of the hunt! Consider shadowing a librarian in non-profits, corporations, health care, etc.

Shanice Jordan

IT professional in Dallas

06/06/20 at 7:26PM UTC

Funny you should say that because I recently put an alert on Indeed for remote librarian jobs. I've already started looking into how to shadow a librarian. Thank you!

Adrienne Nelson

06/05/20 at 2:08PM UTC

Concierge work would expose her to a wide range of immune challenges.

MichelleW

180

Worked several positions in the wastewater field

06/05/20 at 3:31PM UTC

I think it could all be done via phone and email. Could do a virtual chat is needed as well

Jillian Post

1.3k

Building better communication strategies

06/05/20 at 1:42PM UTC

You’ve got yourself a concierge or professional organizer biz in the making.

Kelli

1.46k

Helps senior-level women make career changes

06/05/20 at 1:37PM UTC

Shanice - first, this is an amazing skill to have. A lot of people don't have the time or energy to do proper research. I can think of a few things you could do with this....travel agent, personal or professional assistant. You could even start your own thing if that's of interest. I'm happy to talk further about this (as helping people find and pursue their purpose is what I love doing). Just message me if you want to brainstorm some more :)

337

06/05/20 at 1:30PM UTC

I agree on the concierge. Now, were you doing this professionally? Meaning were you getting paid for it? If so, why look for a job working for someone when you already have your business going and people calling you for service.