Career Change - Greatest Career Change Tips

From years of consulting with recruiters, successful job-getters, and career clients I have culled their suggestions to come up with the top - five ways to help you change your career and land the gig you want.

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1) Career Change - Start a Network

Most successful job seekers land their dream jobs through contacts that they've previously made and assiduously kept up. John Price, Operational Director at GEC Druck got his last several jobs through contacts and says that he doesn't understand why people don't go the extra mile to stay in touch -- particularly when they're not looking for a job.

"The main thing is not burning bridges," he says. After he has left his previous jobs he has made a point of stopping by and saying ‘Hello.' Once he heard about his current role his former contacts spoke highly of him.
 
But what if you've just learned of a great job at a company where you don't know a soul? You're just not going about it in the right way. "People who say, 'Gosh, I don't know anyone' are not thinking about the six degrees of separation."

Once you've identified a contact who knows somebody at the company, ask him what it's like to work there and for names of people in the department you're targeting. Talk to as many people as possible. The result? The more people you get buzzing about you by the time you go in for the interview, the more it will seem like destiny that you work there. 
 
Buy a three-ring binder to plan out your network strategy. Start taking notes about people you might call. Call key people who you know respect your work or friends who you know would lend advice or help out.

2) Career Change - Stay Out Of The Round Thing!

On average, people spend a total of 15 to 20 seconds on every CV and cover letter that they see. If they're staring at a stack of 300 of CVs and cover letters, it's likely to be even less. Their primary goal at that point is to eliminate as many as possible as quickly as possible.

That means you've got very, very little time in which to avoid the wastepaper bin. The best way to do it, is to have a clean, two-page, chronologically organized CV with plenty of white space and a short, to-the-point cover letter. You should include "scope data" - important quantifiable data and discrete facts that tell the person doing the recruiting how you can make his company better. But don't go on too long:

Too much clutter is exhausting for someone who's halfway through the stack. The biggest mistake job seekers make is writing a too-long cover letter. The goal of a cover letter is for potential employers to put your CV/ resume into Pile B.

3) Career Change: Respect

Sad but true fact: Many people interviewing today still don't act or look presentable. Does that mean wear a suit? It might - but the onus is on you, the job seeker, to find out the dress code at a company and to dress and act accordingly. You need to look the part. Figure out whom you're going to see, and determine the style most important to that person. 
 
That is particularly important if you're going from a dotcom to a larger company. The other day we were interviewing and the interviewee took a mobile phone call during our chat. 
 
A more dignified demeanour is back in style, and that goes for other aspects of your public face as well. Being whimsical is not going to score you points anymore - so remove that personal rendition of the "007 Theme” from your voice mail, and forget about standing outside the office wearing a sandwich board advertising yourself. In more sober times, sending balloon gifts to a prospective employer simply won't cut it. It might get you noticed, but it may not be the kind of notice you want.

4) Career Change - Be the Aspirin!

Copyright Scott AdamsIn this tight-fisted environment, any company that is willing to spend money to hire someone must need something pretty badly. The question for the job seeker: What is that itch, and how can I scratch it? If the company has a headache, you want to be the aspirin.

Look for ways to present solutions in every contact you have with the company, from the cover letter to the phone call to the interview itself. When asked how you'd handle a particular situation, ask for an opportunity to return at another time and make a presentation on your solution.

Prove that you can do the job. Do the assignment and then come back to the company. It's as if you're already working there.

5) Career Change - Keep a Blog Log!

So be prepared for interviews, keep a master blog on file, listing every worthy achievement of your entire professional career, from negotiating a deal with Microsoft to beating a sales projection by 54%. Add every achievement to the master list, so when it's time to find a new job, you can simply cut and paste the most relevant parts into a slimmed down paper resume, and can develop very specific talking points for the interview. 
 
Imagine a photographer or artist who has a portfolio. What you actually show is one thing, but keep track of all your stuff. Your master blog can have some 25 bullets for each job, and you can easily tailor a paper resume (CV) without having to finesse what you did three years ago all over again. Blog On To A Career Change!

6) Career Change - Be Prepared But Don't Overdo It!

In tough times, anyone who goes into an interview unprepared is dead in the water. Everyone knows that you have to research the company thoroughly before you land the interview and go in with guns blazing. You need to be armed with ready examples of what you learned in certain situations, how you demonstrated leadership, and the like.

In the new job market, you have to interview like an investor. If you had a few million dollars, would you back the company you're interviewing? When you are to be interviewed, you read everything that you can find on the company and speak to people who are involved with it, including investors and employees. This work pays off two-fold.

First, interviewers are impressed that you are so diligent, and second, you land the job with a company that is very well positioned."

7) Career Change Tip - Celebrate Your Blunders

It's not exactly intuitive and it won't come easily, but talking about your blunders in a positive way may get you the job you want.  People are more interested in your mistakes. They want your asset value to help avoid problems.

If you'd like to learn even more....then give me a call (or read my book)

t: 0845 2020 244 (internationally +44 (0)121 706 1623)
e: margaret@careersnet.com w: www.careersnet.com and www.careersnet.co.uk

Rowan House, 41 Richmond Road, Solihull, West Midlands UK B92 7RP

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