When you’re thinking about a career transition, it can be overwhelming to consider the cost of educating yourself in a new field, whether that’s a few community college classes to get you up to speed or a graduate degree. These may be important stepping stones for some career paths, but if you’re just starting to consider your options–start free! I won’t forget the advice of my own mother (who has two master’s degrees) when I was considering starting an expensive graduate school career: “You know, you can learn a lot just by reading books from the library.”
And it turns out, you can do a whole lot more than just read books at the library. Here’s a few of my recent finds for career changers at the Seattle Public Library:
The library has come up with this cool online tool called Your Next Skill. It’s kind of like Alexa, but instead of inputting a question and getting an answer, you get to tell these librarians what skill you want to acquire, and they come back to you with the tools to learn to become an expert! You can type in any skill, and they’ll get back to you with whatever they came up with. Almost as good as getting a computer chip implanted in your brain! http://yournextskill.spl.org/
Is part of your new interest to write? The library has classes. More than your run-of-the-mill intro classes, they offer a variety of in-depth creative writing workshops and writing circles facilitated by Hugo House at various library branches. Free! http://www.spl.org/audiences/adults/seattle-writes
There might be computer programs you’ve been meaning to brush up on or learn from square one. The library offers in-person basic computer, software, and web classes, like learning to market your business on Etsy or WordPress. And for more advanced folks, they offer free use of Lynda.com’s 1,600 classes on their in-library computers, so you can learn to code, edit video, or learn to use pretty much any program out there. http://www.spl.org/audiences/adults/classes-and-learning-for-adults https://www.spl.org/about-the-library/library-news-releases/lyndacom-319
If you’re interested in becoming an entrepreneur, the library can help you start your business or start by considering your options. Their business page offers tools for making a business plan, marketing your business, and more. http://www.spl.org/library-collection/articles-and-research/business
Alysa Haas provides career coaching services to career changers. To learn more, go to www.alysadhaas.com.
Alysa D. Haas, LMHCA 