CHANGING JOBS BETWEEN companies in your current profession within your current industry is easier than changing careers—transitioning to a new job in a new profession and industry. Why? Because hiring decisions are largely based on credentials, not potential.
I had a coaching and resume client who had, as he diagnosed the problem, “no job offers because of my inability to answer specific questions about why the career change.” This was a valid observation but only a small part of his challenges, which were resolved by rethinking the issues and taking a different approach.
To change careers successfully, you need a profession and a target job title. Then you need the knowledge to prove that you understand the deliverables of the target job and its role within the department, plus knowledge of how the industry works and why it works this way. Then finally you must be able to explain how your prior professional experience brings a benefit to the new employer. Your success at landing job interviews and then acing them in a career-change job search will dramatically improve with greater understanding of your target job’s function and the world it inhabits.
It is best to plan career change well ahead of time and to make the shift when the economy is good and there are more job opportunities than candidates; this will lessen the competition you face. The worst time is when you have been caught by a layoff or in an economic downturn; you are short of cash and the bills are piled high.
Choosing when to change careers won’t always be within your control, and while I don’t recommend making a career change during a recession, the economy is huge and there are always jobs out there. If you are properly prepared and determined, you will succeed. Remember that 50 percent of the success of any project, including job change, is in the prep work.
The concept of core career is part of a new career management technique more suited to our times, one that simultaneously embraces the ongoing pursuit of your dreams and your entrepreneurial endeavor.
When you are considering career change, it makes sense to think with clarity. Although it’s preferable if you can make a living doing things you enjoy, career choice must be based on pragmatism because we work to make money, to have a life outside of work. Such a decision makes sense when that bread-winning job isn’t allowed to become the sum of your life, but a core career:
KNOCK ’EM DEAD TIP
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov) delivers the most reliable stats on industries, jobs, and employment matters; it should be consulted as an integral part of any career change.
While core career choice should certainly consider personal preferences, it should not be made in the belief that this career or this job will lead to lifelong security or will satisfy all your needs forever. This probably isn’t your first job change and likely won’t be your last. It’s in the cards that you’ll switch your career three or more times over the years. Life changes and you must change to survive and prosper with it.
Smart core career choice should consider preferences, skills, and aptitudes; and having come up with a short list based on these considerations, you should also consider:
• Projected health of the target job and industry sector
• Projected growth of the target job(s)
An industry sector/profession of substance and with healthy growth projections will deliver more job opportunities and better professional growth in good times and bad. A healthy projected growth rate for a job that already has millions of people holding that job title suggests greater security than a job with fewer total numbers and lower projected growth.
Your current job and your target job in the new profession have two things in common: They exist to anticipate, prevent, and solve problems within your areas of responsibility, and as a member of a department that performs a specialized function, to help the company make money. Understand how your target job in your new career does this, and you will understand the story your resume needs to tell and what employers will look for at interviews. You’ll get a picture of your new target job by executing a TJD, then by doing a GAP analysis: Highlight the skills that are transferable and the skills you need to develop to make the transition.
The time to begin a career change is when you’ve built a social network relevant to your new career. This will predominantly be people holding the job title you are targeting, and those with titles one to three levels above you. Networking makes this happen. You will most effectively build networks from membership in professional associations, among your alumni, and most importantly, on your social networking sites.
Especially with sites like LinkedIn you can join relevant groups, make connections, ask questions, and build your knowledge base. Once you know the target job’s responsibilities, you can ask a series of specific questions about each responsibility, its biggest challenges, skills required, least desirable aspects. Everyone likes to give advice and be helpful, so you can gather insight, say thank you, and reach out to add another relevant connection to your new network.
You can ask about the role the job plays in contributing to profitability, the problems it exists to prevent and solve, and its role within the department. You can ask about job priorities and how successful people organize their workday. Ask what are the important but repetitive activities that go with the territory.
If you can find people working in the target profession who have made transitions from other professions, they can answer specifically valuable questions:
• How has your prior professional background in ______________ paid off in your new profession?
• How has it helped you better understand ______________ to the benefit of the corporation?
• What special insights have you gained that make you more productive?
• Why do you think this combined background of ______________ and ______________ is helpful to an employer?
It sounds like a lot of work, but this is your life. It all boils down to this: build a network and talk to your contacts about how the target job fits into the department and contributes to the company’s bottom line. What problems and challenges does this job exist to anticipate, prevent, and solve? What technical skills are required and how is productivity measured? This gives you the outline of a professional skill development program that will ease the transition. It will also give your resume focus and prepare you to ace interviews.