St.Louis Business Journal
LEARNING TO CHANGE CAREERS OFFERS JOB SECURITY

By Anna Navarro

June 2009  

Examples in this column are fictionalized to protect privacy and told with permission.



In these tumultuous times, knowing how to change careers can be as valuable a skill as being an expert in a specific field. Who could have predicted a scant two years ago that many people as highly trained as investment bankers would be jobless today? And who can predict which sector of the economy will undergo drastic shrinkage in the future?

The steps involved in shifting careers baffle many. But learning to change careers is a skill, and you can learn it if you set your mind to it. This column outlines the basics of how to do it, with a focus on finding a job in a new field without re-education or self-employment.

Step One: Figure out what’s important to you.

Many people are tempted to skip figuring out what is important to them in work. They think, “beggars can’t be choosers” and so consider it a waste of time. But if they skip this step, they may miss important clues to succeeding. Why?

In order to be an appealing candidate, you have to package yourself to meet employers’ needs. The best way to do that is to know what kind of a position you’re looking for, so you can study what employers want and demonstrate you’ve got it. If you can’t do that, you may be beating your head against a brick wall when you job hunt. So the starting point is to figure out what kind of work you want to do.

Begin by examining your work, education, leisure and family history. Look for patterns of likes and dislikes, and clues about the path not taken.

Then analyze your skills. What do you enjoy doing and do well? Some of these skills may not have been part of your paid work in the past. Also identify the skills you don’t like using, and those you’d like to learn.

Examine the working conditions you want, your financial needs, geographic preferences, passions, your life priorities and their implications for work, any constraints you may have and any career dreams you’ve harbored

In each of these areas, describe what you’d ideally like. Don’t yield to the temptation to compromise based on what you think you can get.

When you’ve done a thorough job of this, boil it down to a short list of the 15 items that are most important to you. You won’t get it all (most people can, with hard work, get about 80%). But this template of what you want drives everything else.

Step Two: Translate what you want into a viable career goal.

Typically, this is the most challenging part of the process.

Use the items on your template as clues for brainstorming ideas about career direction. If you need help fueling your imagination, go to the onetcenter.org website, or ask a librarian for career reference resources.

Investigate those ideas that interest you by reading and talking to people in those fields. Find out how well each field matches your template, and what employers want when they hire for that type of position.

Don’t expect this to be easy. Most people explore as many as three to eight different career ideas before they can pick a new direction. Be prepared for an emotional roller coaster ride. Hang on and keep coming up with new ideas and exploring how well they match your template until you can find one that fits.

Step Three: Turning your goal into reality.

To succeed at job hunting in a different field, some aspect of your background has to be of interest to employers. But it doesn’t have to be a lot. I’ve worked with clients who have landed jobs when only 10% of their past experience was relevant.

The trick is to carefully package the relevant aspects of your background for maximum impact. Start by articulating what typical employers in the field are likely to want, based on your research. Then identify the aspects of your background they’re likely to find appealing, and highlight those strengths in all your communications with employers -- resume, cover letters, interviews, etc.

The process I’ve just described is very challenging, but I’ve worked with hundreds of people who have done it successfully. Fear, self-doubt, frustration, anger and a host of other negative emotions are par for this difficult course. But if you succeed at it, you will not only have found a new job -- you will have learned a great deal about how to change careers. In these tumultuous times, that may be your greatest source of security.

Anna Navarro is the founder of Work Transitions, a nationwide career consulting firm that works with clients on an individual basis to help them find more satisfaction and fulfillment in their work-lives. She can be reached by phone at (314) 367-0008 and her e-mail address is email@worktransitions.com. For more information visit the worktransitions.com website.

This column was originally published by the St. Louis Business Journal. The actual title of the column and date in which it appeared in the Business Journal may be slightly different from what appears on WorkTransitions.com.