Earlier when you had a job, you would stick to it for years. Once you have found a career path or job you’ve always dreamt of, you’re determined to keep it for a longer period of time or superannuate from there. However times have changed now with professionals always looking for new avenues to grow & prosper.
Here is Raphel’s story:
Raphel was working in a government owned oil & gas company & thought this would be his finishing job. But, God had some other plans for his. The oil & gas company was privatised & within no time, he was unemployed. He tried to get into some other utilities company but was not successful. He had no option but to change Industry. Guess what he did? He moved to operation consulting firm, thanks to his transferable skills in oil & gas operations.
Career change can happen either out of your passion to work for a particular sector /role or due to situations beyond your control. The reasons can be plenty however the following considerations are important to note while looking for a career change:
- Are my skills & expertise transferrable?
- How do I convince my prospective manager that I am apt for the role you are applying, in spite of the fact that I have never worked in a particular sector/role?
- Will I get the salary I am worth in a totally unrelated career path?
Career change is challenging for a lot of reasons, since it’s complicated to determine:
- Which career path to take up?
- How to brand/re-brand ourselves for a totally unrelated?
- How to apply for jobs when our expertise is in a totally unrelated field?
If you want to be successful in your aspiration to change your industry/sector/role, you have to think out-of- the-box. Change your job search strategy. You cannot expect to land up with an interview by filling the online application form & including all experience of altogether different sector/industry. Application tracking system or keyword software will not help you to proceed further. Do not waste your time & energy on doing the same thing over & over again.
So how you should go about it?
- First things first! Take some time to reflect on your career path so far. You have a lot of wisdom & learning in your professional background till now. However its time to evaluate & recognise a perceived value before anyone else will.
- Revisit your talents, skill sets, expertise & experience & map it against sectors where there is talent need
- You need to brand/re-brand yourself for the job you want. This is the most important aspect which many job seekers miss out. You have to articulate why you are required. A correct branding will help you get noticed, network with relevant folks & hiring managers & portray yourself as a professional who can bring much needed solution to the business problem/pain point. So your branding has to clearly spell out how the decision to take you on board will help your prospective manager bring measurable benefits/solve the business problem. Your branding should not have generalised statements such as “ I have a proven track record to increasing market share”
- You need to map the value you will create for the new career path chosen against skills & expertise you carry.
- Based on your choice of geography, sector & role your aspire to be in, prepare a list of target employers & start reaching out to hiring managers to start conversations about their problem set & your track record of bringing solutions to similar problems
- Build robust network & showcase your skill set knowledge base through active participation & publishing blogs on various social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Medium, Buzz Feed etc..
Career change is not a short term solution & you require time, patience, perseverance & energy to reach your career change goal. During the entire process, you will augment your learning about yourself, your strengths, market dynamics of other sectors/industries & even network with professionals. The entire career change process will give you a lot of power to revisit your professional life & the way forward.
