by Martin Yate
21. July 2009 09:20
| One of my followers recently shared problems with a stalled career shift. Late thirties, and thirteen unhappy years in sales/marketing, led to career re-appraisal and a subsequent return to university to gain a Finance MBA. Job search bogged down and job interviews stalling out when faced with, "why the change from Marketing to Finance?"
This is a case where the diagnosed problem, articulated as, "no job offers because of inability to answer questions like this," is more likely to stem from a combination of factors. Here is how I answered the question and how you might approach similar challenges in your own career shift:
A common misperception is that you just haven't yet latched onto a slick way to justify your career shift. However, getting a new career direction off the blocks and heading along the right track will to take more than one snappy answer to a tough interview question. Try these six steps to overcoming obstacles to a career shift.
Step #1. Understand the target job. Your job interviews will multiply and your performance will improve with greater understanding of the function your target job is there to fulfill.
No job is added to the payroll for the love of mankind, it exists to solve problems and contribute to the bottom line. Understand the job's real-world deliverables: the problems it is there both to avoid and to solve, the small role that job plays in contributing to the bottom line and as part of a specific department, and you begin to understand what employers look for when they hire people for this job.
To achieve this understanding, you will want to complete my Critical Target Job Deconstruction exercise so that you understand how employers prioritize the needs of your target job and the words they use to express these priorities.
Step #2. Get the inside scoop on the job. Increase your grasp of the target job by talking to people who are doing this job successfully today. You want to understand the target job in terms of
- Major responsibilities and critical deliverables
- Education and desirable skill sets
- What problems is the job is there to solve?
- What problems it is there to prevent?
- Typical day-today challenges?
- Who does this job interact with?
- What are those interactions?
- The business processes of the new industry/profession & commonalities with your current professional experience
Talk with people working in your target job's department, ideally people doing this same job and whenever possible with people who have already made a similar career shift successfully.......Read More
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Martin Yate CPC
NY Times Business Bestseller
10 books in 25 languages
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