A guest blog post by David Luke
Thinking of Changing Professions Mid-Career?
As a resident of New Jersey, I have the chance to read the Bergen Record on a regular basis. On Sundays, they run a section on Jobs, which includes both specific and general career advice.
In this week’s section, John Challenger took a question from a job-seeker who wanted to change career fields. She described herself as middle aged, with an M.S. in Education, but she didn’t want to be a teacher any more.
The advice from John was indeed sobering.
Consider Before you leap – Jumping to an unrelated field could lengthen your job campaign, and disappoint you quite a bit. And you may find that your old network is not as effective in the new job field.
Experience Counts Most - You may get killed by the competition. The job seeker is also competing against others who may already have experience. Our only real currency is in our skill set and our experience, so we may get outspent by those who have already done what we want to do.
The Salary challenge - it can take years to get back to where you were in your previous field. Can you afford to wait years?
So, that’s the bad news. But here’s the game plan to overcome it.
Transferable job skills – many of your skills are indeed transferable. In the new resume, the skill set key words that identify what you can do are evaluated by almost every hiring company or recruiter. If you can sell printing, you can sell other things. If you can teach English, you can teach other things. Memorize your skill sets and be prepared to recite them – they may be key items in a job interview.
Experience – Focus on your accomplishments, and how those accomplishments can be transferred to another industry. For example, did you reach a cost savings or revenue goal? That matters to many hiring companies. Make a list of what you did in your job. You may like what you discover about yourself.
Follow career experts – Find the expert whose advice resonates the most with you. There are many out there who can and will help you. I’m a big fan of Phil Rosenberg at Recareered.com, but a Google search will show you dozens more. In some cases, they charge a nominal amount, but it is money well spent.
Become an expert yourself – OK, this is not an easy task. But it’s doable. Talk to people. Hire a career coach. Take classes. Go back to school. Write blogs. Read blogs. Do your research.
Focus – It’s really hard to focus on this kind of goal. There will be many distractions. I actually have the word FOCUS on my computer monitor to remind me of my goals. No wrong answer here – just do anything that helps you to remind yourself of your new goals.
Put in the time – this is going to be a stones buster. It will take time, effort, and maybe a little money here and there. But if you can be patient, and continue to believe in yourself, you can indeed get there. And the journey will be that much more worthwhile.
References:
About John Challenger
John Challenger is the CEO of Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, Inc. In 2003, John Challenger gave testimony in 2003 before the U.S. House Committee on Small Business on the issue of permanent job loss in a global economy. Since then, Challenger is often quoted in the media regarding employment and hiring issues. Learn more about John Challenger here.
About David Luke:
David Luke is a 20-year publishing veteran who is currently consulting in the world of print and outdoor media. He is completing his M.A. in Counseling, and has recently started an intense study on Mobile Marketing. A trained public speaker, David is coordinating the P3 Career Advancement Division to help further develop the careers of those in the graphic communications industries. You may reach David here.
Photo credit:
The Stream, Ellenville, NY by deepshot/arjay on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deep_shot/1546842127/
