I help some of my clients consider, plan and execute career changes. This process can be exciting, challenging, daunting or energizing. "Simple" is one thing it usually is not.
After you've made the decision to change careers and decided which one you are going to break into, it's time to figure out how you can make your case to the hiring managers in the industry or job of your choice.
Most people involved in hiring want to hire round pegs to fit into their round hole job openings. They don't have the time or interest to work hard at reviewing your square peg resume, figuring out how it could fit.
If you can get introduced to a hiring manager through someone you both know, that's outstanding. Then the manager has a lot more to go on than just how you look on paper.
But say you are relying on just your resume and your superb interviewing skills to get hired. Your challenge is to make the hiring manager's job easy.
There are at least three key steps to pulling this off:
- Make a list of the skills you have (especially the ones you actually enjoy doing).
- Find out the skills that the industry or job you are targeting needs and wants.
- Describe in a compelling way on your resume and in a job interview how your skills and experience relate to the targeted job's requirements.
This article from the Ventura County Star has some great tips about how to start identifying your transferable skills.
Many of us find listing our skills to be somewhat difficult because we don't think about them very often, and when we do we tend to be very general (e.g., "I'm good with people"). Also we usually underestimate what we do and assume that other people can do what we can. As a result of this thinking, we judge the skills we have as too unimportant to mention.
Begin by just listing skills off the top of your head, no matter how small they seem. Be specific. You don't just have "good management skills". You juggle multiple priorities, you coach your team, you give constructive criticism well, you motivate your group, you create budgets, you stay on budget, you innovate new solutions to big problems, and so on.
Then find a resource online or in a book (such as Richard Bolles' What Color is Your Parachute?) that lists skills, to help you remember or identify additional skills that you forgot to write down.
When you have your big long list of skills, it's time to investigate what your dream job requires. The more actual people you can talk to in the company or industry about what they do, the better. You can find out certain pieces of information online, especially about large companies with many posted job openings and job descriptions.
After you've talked with people, go through your list of skills and mark the ones you think would be used in the job you want to have. With luck there will be many! Assuming at this point you think you could make a case for why you'd be a good choice to perform the job, it's time to look at your resume.
I've said it before, and I'll keep on saying it, when having the right resume is key, (and it is if you are changing careers!), hire a certified professional resume writer to review it and/or rewrite it. Your resume needs to tell the hiring manager what she wants to know in about 12 seconds. Professional writers are experts in marketing communication who can make you look good and get you to that next step, the interview.
To prepare for your interview, think about specific stories you can related that demonstrate how you used the skills the job requires in your past work. Point out any similarities you can, being as specific as you can.
Is there more to getting hired? Of course. There's personality and perceived "fit", timing, recommendations, and serendipity, to name a few other considerations. But the foundation to build on when you're changing careers are the transferable skills.
Heather Mundell
Dream Big Coaching Services
www.dreambigcoaching.com
heather@dreambigcoaching.com
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