Did you spend four (or more!) years learning about one topic, only to realize after graduation (or even years later), that you want to work in another industry? What do you do now?
Don't worry! All is not lost. Here are some tips for what you can do next.
Assess What's Really Going On In Your Current Career
Your career is like your marriage or long-term romantic partnership. Things can get stale after the initial glow wears off. Perhaps you just need to spice things up, or find your way back to the original excitement.
What made you decide to take the route you chose? It's great to move on to something new, but first you owe it to yourself to get clear on the reasons you selected your major and pursued the position you went after. If you're just leaping into the next phase without recognizing the roots of your struggle, you may be misdiagnosing what's going on and not solving the real problem.
When you can put the reasons for your initial decisions on the table in front of you, you can decide if they're still a strong reflection of you and your values. If they're not a current reflection of you, then definitely strategize about moving on.
One more nuance to this segment of the process: if your original decision wasn't right for you and you knew it then, take some time to heal and forgive yourself for selling out on yourself. If you're using it as an opportunity to beat up on yourself, that just digs the hole deeper, and it takes longer to break that pattern.
Send Some Probes Into Your Targeted Realm
Before you turn your barge in a new direction, make sure you know what you're getting into and spend the time to determine whether it's a good fit for you. No matter how bad your current job is, you're leaving something behind (even if it's just familiarity, which can be a powerful force), so make sure the change will be worth it.
Exploratory techniques include:
Taking a free (hello, Coursera , edX, and other great sites!) or low investment course
Attending a Meetup group or a professional organization (look these up on Weddle's)
Going to a conference or a bootcamp
Setting up coffee dates with people who are in the positions you're seeking
Researching typical work days, tools used, and required education (O*Net Online is a good starting place) as well as target companies and salary range (use Glassdoor.com, and PayScale).
If you can dip your toe into the water before diving in, that's going to give you an indication of whether you should keep going. You won't get a complete picture from these options, but you'll get a glimpse, and it's important to listen to your own resonance as you collect data from these and other sources. Do you want to keep wading in, to continue to explore, or do you want to back away?
If you're paralyzed with indecision, that's a good spot to ask for input because we all get shut down by our fears, doubts, and uncertainties. Those demons are part of the process. It doesn't necessarily mean you should kill the deal. It just means that you need more information, that you need to find the root of your hesitations, and then decide whether those roots are good enough reasons to deter you.
Create A Personal Marketing Plan
A Personal Marketing Plan comes before your resume in a job search. It's a mechanism for getting focused and for directing your activities. You know how political candidates have a campaign manager? That's the role that the Personal Marketing Plan fills for a job seeker. It orchestrates your every move, ensuring that you have a proactive process rather than a reactive one.
Your Personal Marketing Plan should include:
Desired job title, target job functions, and scope of the position you're seeking
Target companies, including generalities such as company attributes and geographic location, as well as specific company names
Daily, weekly, and monthly goals, including specifics such as how many networking conversations you intend to have, how many submissions you plan to make, how many interviews you anticipate, whether you're planning to work with recruiters or not
With this document steering your course, you'll be in your new position in the new industry that you're targeting faster than you expect.
This post was originally published at an earlier date.Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a Work It Daily-approved expert.
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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