You may have had 10 or 15 years of production experience, for example, and want to get into finance. Make sure that the career you're shooting for isn't just a pipe dream. The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the street. Your first step is to understand the real requirements of the job that you're shooting for and what it would be like to have that kind of a role day after day. This step should answer the question of whether or not the new field would be right for you. It should also help you get a better understanding of the requirements of the job. Your second step is to make an in-depth analysis of what you've done-from which should come a pattern of the things that you really like to do and do most effectively. Being able to point to experience in your own field that has comparability to your desired field can be a real plus for you.
In order to make a convincing case for yourself, you must show that you have developed strong skills in your other experience that will be useful in a new career.
Many people will wonder how strong a conviction you have about the new field. A long and successful record in another field may help allay their fears. You should be aware that a search for a different career may take longer and mean a reduction in your immediate salary. Some people in the new field will discourage you because they are overly protective of their own image and they pride themselves on the difficulty of attaining the position that they're in. It may be helpful to cite people in your chosen field who have made the transition from other jobs. Finally, if you have a job now, try to make the career change in your present company, because if you've had a good record and the new job doesn't work out you may find an opportunity to move back into your old field or into a third field in the company. This may take real patience, but it may be more than made up for by knowing the company and the people involved, and having a power base in it.
A key tool in your strategy for changing careers is your resume. A typical chronological resume emphasizes experience in your own field and immediately makes you a poor candidate for a job in a new field. So develop a functional resume.
Lack of experience in your chosen field
You may find yourself in a typical situation where you are trying to land a job which has five functional requirements and you have strong experience in four of them and very little in the fifth.
For example, you may have been a chief financial officer with good overall experience but you have never had anything to do with selling your company's stock to the public for the first time. This might be a key requirement of a job you are being considered for.
First of all, to pursue the stock-selling example, you should identify the key elements needed to effectively carry out the function you lack experience in. Then from your experience in other functions, show that you have used many of the same skills in those key areas. For example, floating a stock issue requires such skills as dealing with investment bankers on the best strategy, timing and pricing, and dealing with lawyers and accountants on the technical aspects of the issue. Dealing with the investment bankers has many similarities to loans that you may have negotiated from banks and insurance companies.
Technical dealings with the lawyers and accountants are similar to a variety of activities that you have had in your job, such as making changes in the pension plan, dealing with financial regulations such as taxes, your annual audit, and so on. If you, in the past, have taken on a major role where you did not have much experience in the function and were able to overcome this experience deficiency fairly rapidly, emphasize that. Finally, you might find it necessary to improve your background in the field by hiring a consultant on a short-term basis.
A confidential campaign
You may want to look for a job while you are working and yet not burn the bridges on your present job.
It is common for someone with a good record to make a job change and find that the new job and even possibly a second job doesn't work out.
Lacking in-depth experience of your peers
You may have had a long association with one company and worked up to a major position. You may find that your experience has been obtained in a company which is behind the times and therefore your skills aren't as strong as many individuals of your age and title competing in the market. If this is the case, you may have to take a step down in terms of title and salary in your new company.
To minimize the possibility of this, your best opportunities probably are as a generalist rather than as a specialist. Your best bet is with smaller-or medium-sized companies.
