Making a career transition can be just the thing to rejuvenate you, take you on the career path that is a better fit for you, and continue your lifelong path of learning and growth.  However, making such a change can often feel like a train is always just passing you by.  

How can you increase your likelihood of success at a significant career transition?

1. Market timing – When there are fewer candidates that positions, companies more open to transitional messages
2. Educational milestone – When taking a full-time MBA it is very typical that students test new careers during their internships and make transitions. Taking advantage of this window of opportunity is often very important
3. Networking leverage – The more people who are insiders on the other side of a transition, the more likelihood your message will be well received and participants in the process will hear this advocacy as such, rather than as nepotism
4. Marketing and Sales acumen – the better you can position and place yourself and tell your story the more open others will be to hearing it.

The fourth of these success hints is likely the most important for those in career transition. Be sure to fully explore options before entering too deeply into the job market. ProValues offers a great opportunity to explore industries, companies, and roles as future opportunities and gauge potential alignment to career satisfaction based on career values. Try to get as focused as possible before you go to market. A scattered positioning with unclear story will not overcome the benefit of timing.  You can’t just sell toothpaste in the automotive aisle. You have to show that this toothpaste has been successfully cleaning headlights for years but just did so from the personal care aisle.

Now for the tactics of making your story to the employment market very clear. Your pitch, your brand, your marketing materials (resume, cover letter, interview responses) must all be on target for the role you applying for. Just saying “These are transferable skills” will never be enough.

Recommendations

1. You Attitude: Show a deep understanding for the industry and company. Explain your past roles, as the relate to roles in their industry/firm. As with a “Product Evangelist” at your firm, when I was a “Sales Engineer” I drove “client success”.  Helping present information in their frame of reference and showing how you did it will be very important. They need to tell others that story so the more tools you give them to translate your past into their world the more likely you will succeed.
2. Resume: Include a summary statement in your resume at the top. Without this, someone quickly scanning your resume will see a mismatch of roles, companies, and industries and quickly push your resume to the no pile. This is your written pitch. Highlight you while positioning to the role you are applying for.
3. LinkedIn: Just as in the resume, your summary, and your headline, as well as, the items you pick for your profile are important to your story. Review Harvard Business Review’s article How to Use Your LinkedIn Profile to Power a Career Transition.
4. Social Media: By following companies, groups, industry leaders and publishers on LinkedIn, Twitter you are positioning yourself as someone who is interested in the industry and who could indeed have the relevant knowledge and connections to the company and the role you applying for.

Positioning and placement and communication of those all help you represent your brand and place you into a better position as you transition your career.