Changing careers is tough, and it only gets tougher the farther along you are in your career. The problem is that the more experience you gain in one profession, the less likely current and prospective employers are to believe you can work in another. Now, this is not true of every profession or every employer, but it is true in probably 8 of 10 cases.
So what’s a frustrated professional (your profession here) to do?
- Pinpoint the career you’d like to change to: Many people start out their career change quest simply trying to run away from a job they no longer like, versus trying to run to a job they might love. That’s fine, but make sure that you’ve narrowed your list before you start applying. Desperation coupled with irrelevant skills/experience is a hard sell.
- If you can’t settle on a single new profession, create a list of possibilities. Try this exercise:
- Write down the professions you might like.
- Research jobs within those professions.
- Write down jobs within those professions (Accounting: Controller, Forensic Accountant, or Auditor).
- Rank the jobs 1(love it)-3 (like it). Toss out all but the top 3 because having too many on your list will only frustrate you and thwart your quest for a new career.
- Then, write down how your skills and experience would help you be successful in your new career. This part of the exercise is about identifying “transferable” skills/experience (Transferable skills/experience means that you can use whatever you’ve learned in your current profession to be successful in your new profession, i.e. using your knowledge of employment law and your work as an employment lawyer in your new profession as Director of Human Resources).
- If you’re lucky, your dream job and your current skillset and experience are a good match. If you find that there is not a good match, it just means that you’ll have to work a bit harder building new skills and experience to move into your new career. Daunting, but do-able.
- Pick a winner!: Decide upon your dream job.
- Match-making: If you’re low on transferable skills/experience, you have to prove you are serious about the change. Take classes, get certifications, volunteer to do the job, accept an entry-level position, join professional associations and networking groups. Do whatever you have to show that there is a decent match between your skills/experience and what’s required to be successful in the jobs you apply for.
- Market your transferable skills/experience: Being fuzzy or too broad about the profession you’d like to switch to, and more specifically, the job within the profession, robs you of the opportunity to “sell” the employer on how the skills and experience you have will be useful in the job you want. Simply pleading “I can do it! I can do it!”, or pointing out that your old job was harder than your new one (and therefore you can certainly handle it) isn’t compelling.
- Don’t give up!
Resources:
What Should I Do With My Life? : The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question -Best book for career changers!!
Occupational Outlook Handbook -Guide to basic information about all types of careers. Includes working conditions, responsibilities, education/experience requirements and salary info.
Books on Changing Careers -Check out these other great books on changing careers
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