Changing Your
Career WITHOUT Starting at the Bottom
Changing jobs is hard. . . . . .
. . . .Changing Careers is harder. But
if doing something different is on your mind, don’t let anything stop you. Know that changing your career’s direction is
very doable providing you are realistic about what it will take to achieve your
goal.
As job markets improve,
unemployment lowers, and hiring increases, many job seekers’ thoughts turn to
moving on to a new job opportunity. For
most, this means moving onto a new but fairly similar job. However, for some, who have been dreaming of
doing something different, this can mean moving on to a new type of job type,
field, or level of responsibility.
Can you do it? Absolutely.
Making a change in your career’s direction – new field, new job type, new level – is very doable. But, remember
the three P’s: It will take Planning,
Perseverance, and Patience. It will
also take hard work. The question
is: Is it for you?
Career Change Statistics
Is a Career Direction Change for
you? Well, you know that changing jobs
is hard. But know that changing career
direction is harder. It will generally
take more time, more energy, and often more resources than a regular job
search. So before you embark on a
career –
and often life – change, be sure it’s a change you want to
make.
Is it doable? Well, today the workforce changes jobs and
career directions multiple times before they end their careers. Long gone, for the most part, are the days
when an employee hired into a company or organization and stayed for the
duration of their career as evidenced by the following statistics from the
Department of Labor, and other sources that study employment.
It will
come as no surprise that people now change jobs frequently. Employers expect, or at least accept, that
workers will be changing jobs a lot more often
– about every 3 years. So, by the age of 42, many workers will have
had about 8 - 10 jobs.
However, these sources cite a
statistic that may be something of a surprise:
The
average person will change careers 5 - 7 times during their working life
according to career change statistics.
(I have seen sources which cite this figure as high as 12.)
So,
take comfort in the fact that job and career change is no longer seen as
out-of-the-norm, thereby making it a little easier to achieve such a goal.
What is a Career Direction Change?
A
Career Direction Change (C.D.C.) is not merely changing jobs. For our purposes here, we are defining Career
Direction Change as changing an employee’s:
1. Field
of work
2. Type
of work within a field
3. Level
of work (responsibility). In each
circumstance, this type of change will require a change in duties, knowledge,
and, importantly, skills to perform the work.
Obstacles to Career Direction Change
Many,
if not most of us, have probably dreamed at some point of doing something
entirely different . . . doctors who wanted to be lawyers, engineers who wanted
to be astronauts, program managers who wanted to be antique dealers, . . . Do
they succeed in making the transition?
Some do, but the majority of job seekers I’ve worked with over the years
- probably 1000's by this point in time - don’t. Something stops them. For many, the deterrents come down to these
two obstacles:
! Fear of the unknown
! Reluctance to start at the bottom . . .
again.
However,
don’t let these obstacles stop you, particularly if after doing some homework
you find you really are serious about making a real career change.
First,
just doing some research (as described below) can help you begin to overcome fear. As your knowledge grows about the career
change you intend to make, so will your comfort level.
Second,
there’s good news! You don’t have to
start at the bottom. By skillfully
identifying your Transferable Skills,
you can move into your new profession at a level that is more comfortable and
familiar to you. Yes, it may require a
step or two down, or a lateral move, for a period of time, but this can be a
far cry from starting at the bottom.
The Secret to a Career Direction
Change: Transferrable Skills
While
I have long maintained that when it comes to job searching, there are no quick
fixes, no magic pills, no secrets to success, when it comes to changing career direction
there is “one secret-of-sorts” to
achieve a change. It is Transferable Skills.
Transferrable
skills are skills that are relevant and applicable to a wide range of different
jobs and industries. They’re usually
gained over time, and can be gained from previous positions, charity or
voluntary work, hobbies, and interactions with family, friends, and
acquaintances. These skills can be moved
from one place to another – one organization to another – one
job to another. Think of them as Portable Skills.
Through
the strategic incorporation of your Transferrable Skills into your networking
conversations, marketing materials (including Elevator Speech, resume and cover
letter), applications, and interviews, you can show that while you may not have
all the in-depth skills of a competitor, you have enough skills, ability, and
experience not to start at the bottom!
Preparing for a Career Transition
There
are good reasons and bad reasons to change your career direction. What’s driving you? Being clear about why you want to make a
Career Change is the 1st step.
Here’s how to gain clarity about what’s driving your desire for a Career
Direction Change:
1.
Assess your motivation for making a Career Direction Change.
Why
do you want to make a career change? Be
honest. Take a hard look at yourself and
your motivation. Take the time to
explore your motivation:
! Is your drive internally based, i.e., driven
by your own deep-seated goals, needs, and desires?
! Are you being enticed by unrealistic expectations
or perceptions of different career fields or career levels – the grass is
greener phenomenon? Use your research
to determine if this a dream or a pipe dream!
! Is your drive externally based, i.e.,
influenced by another person in your private or professional life?
Answer
these questions honestly. Changing
career direction is hard, more often than not requiring a lot of networking and
selling prospective employers on your ability to do the job. If your goal is not driven by internal motivation,
it ups the odds that you won’t stick with it.
2.
Understand the benefits and losses of making a Career Direction Change.
What’s In It For You WIFFM)? There are real benefits to be derived from a Career Direction Change:
! You are less likely to be bored.
! You will be exposed to a greater variety of
work experiences and Organizational Cultures (the way an organization goes
about getting work done, resolving problems, and acknowledging and rewarding
achievement).
! You will meet a lot of interesting people –
and build your network at the same time.
! You may find greater professional
satisfaction and fulfillment.
There
are losses / negatives too, such as:
! Having different career choices available
means that you might be tempted to change careers too frequently – especially
if you find you’re good at it!
! Some prospective employers may see you as a
“job hopper,” and fearing a short tenure, their perception may lessen your
chances for hiring into their firm.
! You may also miss out on the opportunity to
climb the corporate ladder due to short tenures.
3.
Expect your C.D.C. to take time.
Adjust
your expectations. While it may have
only taken you a few months to find earlier jobs, entering a new field or
trying to increase your level of responsibility takes time.
! Exhibit patience.
! Don’t rush the process.
! And, importantly, don’t give up!
Steps to Take to Change Your Career Direction
If,
having done your preparation and assessment, you find that changing your
career’s direction is still for you, take the following steps to make a
successful change.
Step 1.
Identify What You Want To Do And . . . What You’re Qualified To Do
Put
into words what you want to do in this new phase of your career; this step
moves your desire from thoughts-in-your-head toward reality. Begin to determine how qualified you are to
enter this new field, type of work, or level.
Step 2.
Identify and Evaluate Your Current Skills
Identify
the skills you have and evaluate them via a Career Analysis as shown below:
! Review your professional, technical
(technology), and social networking skills and capabilities. Evaluate them: What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
! Interpersonal
skills are key, and often the lynch pin, to making a C.D.C. Your skills, knowledge, and experience become
the selling point for why an employer should consider you or a network contact
should refer you. To do so effectively,
you must identify your interpersonal skills’ strengths and where you fall
short. Try to fill the gaps.
Creating
a matrix may help you sort out and sift through your abilities. Create a 3-column chart, labeling your
columns: Subject Matter Knowledge,
Skills, and Likes / Dislikes.
Career Analysis Chart
Subject
Matter Knowledge
|
Skills
|
Likes
/ Dislikes
|
Now
fill in your chart, analyzing what it tells you about choices that are likely
to pay off for you. For a real-life
example of a Career Direction Change, please refer to “My Story” at the
conclusion of this article.
Step 3.
Identify the types of skills needed for your new career.
Action
1: Get educated. Learn about the type of skills needed to make
your Career Direction Change.
1. Read
Job Descriptions, position advertisements, industry news, . . . to help you
identify necessary skills.
2. Network
with people in your new profession or familiar with it; ask questions about
what it will take to both enter this new area and succeed.
Then
utilize a “T” chart to compare the
requisite skills with your own to see how close you come to meeting job
requirements. Identify your Transferable
Skills. Determine which skills will help
you make this transition. Identify skill
gaps and plan to fill them.
Action
2: Review your Career
Analysis from Step 2. Ask yourself two
questions:
1. “Does
my Analysis confirm that I HAVE ENOUGH of the skills (along with knowledge and
likes) required by my prospective career to be seen as a viable candidate for a
job?”
2. “Does
my Analysis show that I lack the necessary skills to do the job?”
If
your answer to Question 1 is “Yes,” you’re off to a good start. However, even if you have the skills,
identify any small gaps in proficiency and take action to strengthen them.
If
your answer to Question 2 is Yes, get the education and training you need to at
least begin to fill the gap(s). Get
certified – Finish or begin a new degree – Take
a course. While you can NOT make up for a lack of experience with education and
training, it can provide you with an understanding and often some hands-on
practice in performing the skill(s) as well as demonstrate your seriousness to
anyone you talk with.
Step 4.
Get experience.
You
can’t invent relevant skill(s) experience if you don’t have any. However, there is a way you may be able to
gain a little hands-on experience. Volunteer. The hands-on activity of volunteering will
also give you a realistic assessment of whether you really want to pursue this
Career Direction Change.
! Finding volunteer activities available in
your prospective career is a way to gain and practice skills, as well as to
demonstrate that you have some experience in performing these skills.
! If there are no opportunities to volunteer in
your new field, job, or level type, finding volunteer activities utilizing a
skill that would be valuable in your prospective career can still help provide
you with experience in using the skill.
For example, while you may not be able to find a “Program Manager
volunteer role” in your desired profession, volunteering to manage a project
for a local charity or association will give you practice in utilizing the
skills of a program manager as you direct a project from inception to
completion.
Step 5.
Attend and Network, Network, Network!
Because
your competition for jobs will come from job seekers who actually have real
hands-on experience, non-traditional
ways of finding jobs rises in importance.
And, networking, with a revised
Elevator Speech in hand, focused on the type of job, field, and level you
want in your next position, becomes paramount to making a successful
change.
Let’s
face it: Your resume or job application
when breaking into a new line or level of work CAN NOT be as strong as a resume
from an experienced worker. So, utilize
opportunities to show and tell others about your desire to make a C.D.C. and
your qualifications for doing so::
! Network professionally and informally. Attend everything you’re invited to, business
cards in hand and tell your story.
! Target and contact companies and
organizations that might hire you and try to arrange appointments to talk with
them. Arrange “informational interviews”
if you can. Even a short phone call can
add to you knowledge.
! Identify a professional association that
focuses on the field and level of job
you are interested in. Attend,
participate, and volunteer for tasks.
! Attend relevant conferences.
! Show up a lot!
Step 6.
Spruce up your resume, LinkedIn profile, and cover letters.
Experience
is not the only thing prospective employers are looking for. Finding the right “fit” is important to
most organizations, meaning this new employee might actually stay a while and
contribute. Address your strengths,
skills, and relevant experience in all of your job search communications. BUT
remember to address “fit” too, showing that you understand the qualities
that are sought by the hiring firm and that you possess them.
Step 7.
Search for your new position.
Enjoy
your search for your new Career Direction!
Go for it!
Are
you up for the challenge of making a Career Direction Change? Being forewarned about, prepared for, and
educated about your desired change is half the battle. Employ the three P’s: Planning, Perseverance, and Patience and . .
. Go for it!
In the end, it’s your job, your career, and
your life. How do you want to spend it?
Best
of luck,
Nancy
Bonus: An example of a Career Direction Change: “My Story”
Is a Career Direction Change doable? Yes. I
did it and here’s how.
Several years ago, I was working in my 3rd
defense engineering firm, and although I was still quite happy and successful
in performing my various roles, I started to feel a teensy bit antsy as the
major project I had hired on to do was implemented; although it still required
continued development and maintenance, in fact, the challenge was gone . . .
done. And, I started to find myself
wondering what else I could do and how I could use my background to do it!
As I wondered about what I could do that
might be new or a little different, I found myself running through a list of
Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) I figured I possessed and skills I had. I thought: If I combined my subject matter
knowledge with my skills, what fields could they open up for me? Then, I started to question when I was
happiest in a job? And when, instead,
did I find myself taking long lunches? I
decided to put this information down on paper and came up with a chart: My Career Analysis Chart.
As I filled in my Chart, I identified 8
areas in which I possessed Subject Matter Knowledge, and 8 areas of skill. As I studied my chart, it occurred to me that
my Top 3 strongest areas of SMK occurred in:
1. Construction (where I had spent an earlier portion of my
career)
2. Education
and Training / Human Resources (doing
a lot of workshops, seminars, and manager and employee coaching
3. Sales
and Marketing (of Construction,
Retail, Training Services)
Looking at a list of skills areas told me
that training, public speaking, fixing problems, and managing/implementing
projects topped my list.
Then, I looked at what made me happy in a
job - a key, I figured, to staying in a job a while. For me, topping my list were autonomy,
interacting with people at all levels, and strategizing / starting /
implementing / and then handing off projects or programs. A micro-managed situation was not for me.
I took this new-found way of looking at my
background and asked myself: How could I
put it to use in a new way? I initially
reasoned that certainly construction offered avenues, as well as Human
Resources, as follows:
! Construction – offered education and
training opportunities, and to a lesser extent HR and sales and marketing
positions in construction companies.
! Education and Training - offered
opportunities in education and training firms, or sales and marketing of
education / training services to, construction companies; I also looked into HR
positions, particularly those with a training component.
! Sales and Marketing - To a lesser degree, I looked into positions
in sales and marketing that came across my desk when I discovered them in
industries I was familiar with: Retail,
Defense, Engineering, and Publishing.
I networked like crazy, one person referring
me to another and to another. Through
this networking activity, as well as “library” research, I discovered two new avenues to employment.
4. Construction Training Companies
5. Construction Trade Associations
I explored them all. To make this long story a little shorter, I
won’t go into more detail other than to say I worked really hard. It took me at least 3/4 of a year. At the end of that time, I found myself being
hired into my new job, utilizing my knowledge and skills, but in an entirely
new and previously unthought of field: I
was hired as the Education Director for
a Construction Trade Association. This position was a great fit; I had a great
challenge, worked with tremendous freedom, interacted with members from all
over the country - and world - and traveled a lot.
So, when it comes to Career Direction
Change, is it doable? Absolutely. Is it hard work? Indeed it is.
But with the application of the
three P’s – Planning, Perseverance, and
Patience – you can make a desire to
change your career direction a reality!
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