3 Tips for Making a Successful Career Transition

Thanks to the economic situation of the past few years, more and more people are being forced to rethink their career destiny and get creative.   Lately I’ve been approached by professionals who are looking to transition into a new career.   They often have the skills, knowledge and experience to make such a transition but don’t know where to start.   If this is you, then you’re not alone. Here are a few helpful tips to get you started.

Tip #1 – Make sure your resume reflects your skills, knowledge and experience related to your new career path.

One of my good friends is an engineer with a large firm.   While he enjoys the engineering work, he would like to find a position focused more on business development work.   When you open his resume, it reads like an engineer and not someone responsible for developing new business opportunities.

The easiest way to change this is to start your resume with a section called something like “Summary of Qualifications.” With simple bullets, highlight your specific skills and experience related to your new potential career. In my friend’s case, he could highlight his sales-related experience such as:

• Researched potential engineering projects around the world including the Middle East, Canada and the United States.
• Conducted extensive needs analysis with key prospects to understand their specific requirements before presenting a solution
• Coordinated the preparation of key project proposals

Also, when you summarize your work experience, ask yourself, “What experience, skills or knowledge should I highlight from each of these positions which relate directly to my new career direction?”

Tip #2 – Create a company / hiring manager target list.

What would be your ideal position?   What companies would you like to work for or with?   Brainstorm and make a list.   Ask your colleagues for suggestions and research the internet, blogs and social media sites such as LinkedIn.   Trade organizations can also be a great source.   In the case of my friend, he is building a list of potential engineering-related companies to target for his new business development career. This makes perfect sense to me since, as an engineer, he has a lot of experience in this area which would help him sell engineering solutions to clients.

Once you’ve created the list, then research specific hiring managers, department heads and executives which oversee the area you would like to work in.   In most cases you can get these names by networking online, Google or by simply calling the company.

Tip # 3 – Skip the online job application and contact your targets directly.

You have unique experience to present.   If you depend only on your resume going through an online application system, job board or HR department, you’ll rarely reach the person who can appreciate your unique talents.   How do you do this?

As scary as it sounds, pick up the phone and call every person on your target list directly.   There are many ways to approach this conversation (too many to cover in this article) but my favorite is what I call the “Pick your Brain Call.”   The purpose of this call is to briefly introduce yourself and politely ask them for some time where you can “pick their brain” about a position with their company, industry, etc.   A face-to-face meeting would be ideal but scheduling time to speak with them on the phone is possible. It might go something like this:

“I have extensive experience in providing engineering solutions for clients all over the world.    While I love solving engineering challenges, my favorite part of the process is seeking engineering opportunities and working directly with prospects and clients.   I know you’re very busy and you weren’t expecting my call but I was hoping that I could schedule a few minutes of your time to “pick your brain” about business development opportunities in your company to see if I might be a good fit for your team/company?”

If you’ve attempted to reach the person a few times without success, you could try leaving this information in a voicemail and following up with an email.   In most cases, but not all, the person you are calling will be helpful and speak with you. While you may think lots of people make these types of calls, very few do. Making this personal connection to your target list will significantly increase your odds of success in your career transition.