Ultimately I hate writing about mistakes because I always feel like I am the bearer of bad news. I don't like things that insult people or that make them feel bad for doing things that they were sincere about but just went about in the wrong way.
But, the truth is...
We make some really crazy mistakes, especially when it comes to our careers, and for some reason, career changers are the worst offenders.
Maybe it is because they have that anxious, almost desperate quality about them (I can say that because I have been one!). When you make the decision to switch careers, it is a big deal.
(1) You are in a hurry to get out of your current situation. You feel frustrated or fet up or just tired of whatever it is you have been doing.
(2) You've finally figured out what's next for you in life. Maybe you chose your first career to make your parents happy or because it seemed like the most lucrative option when you were 20. And now you have outgrown it. Or maybe you've been extremely successful and are just looking for a new challenge. Either way, now that you have figured it out, you can't wait to get started!
(3) You're getting older, still have bills to pay, and a certain lifestyle to uphold, so you are just anxious to get this thing resolved.
All that excitement and nervous energy is a good thing, but if you aren't careful, it can lead to some costly mistakes. Here are some of the worst ones I have come across when working with career changers:
o Giving Up Too Early. We live in a society that simply cannot wait for anything. We've made up our mind, and it has to happen now! All job seekers want the job search process to go as quickly as possible. It is a painful process at times, and that is definitely an understandable reaction. However, when it comes to career changers, in particular, we need to learn how to wait. A job search for a career changer can take twice as long as one for someone looking in their field. But, again, we don't like to wait. And as soon as things don't seem to go our way as quickly we would like, we quit. I understand, you have mouths to feed, right? Well, that should have been taken into consideration in the first place. There is a cost to pay for going after your dreams. That doesn't mean you don't pursue them, but you must do so understanding the market you are in and the sacrifices it might require.
o Wasting Time with Recruiters. Here is a concept that seems to elude most job seekers. Recruiters are looking for the best, ideal candidate to present to their employers (because that is how the recruiter gets paid). If you are a career changer, that is NOT you. You are just getting your feet wet. You aren't going to have the years of insider experience and the top credentials.
o Submitting a Functional Resume. Without going into too much detail about the functional resume, let me just say that unless you are right out of college, the functional resume is not the tool for you. I could tear my hair out at all the bad advice out there that has many seekers stuck on using a functional resume. They seem to think they can hide things from potential employers this way. The problem, of course, is that potential employers are not stupid. And they like what they like. And they like chronological resumes! Employers want to see what you have been doing, where, in what context, and what achievements you have had. Now this doesn't mean that you can't prepare a profile section at the top of the resume that highlights some of your transferable skills, but at the end of the day, you need to line up your accomplishments with your work experience. And you know what, that's OK. Be proud of your past career and use it to show how it leads to where you are today. That is your best selling feature. Let's face it...a career change is an uphill battle, but it is better to deal with it head on than to hide from it.
By now I think we have pretty much covered the fact that a career changer's job search is likely going to be longer and slower than most candidates' searches. But it is certainly not an impossible task, and it can be extremely rewarding at the end of the day. So don't be afraid to make that change. Just make it with your eyes wide open.
So who am I anyway? Why do I think my advice is so valuable?
My name is Stephen Van Vreede. My company is called No Stone Unturned, and I have been in the career consulting business since 2002 with 8 years of hiring experience prior to that. You can check out my website at http://www.nostoneunturnedllc.com
The short story is that I have a B.S. degree in Business Administration & Finance from the University of Maryland and an MBA in Marketing from Villanova University. I am a certified professional resume writer (CPRW) and a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC). As I mentioned, I paid my dues in the corporate world eventually running a large-scale call center for a major truck rental company, and I have spent the past 6 years with No Stone Unturned, assisting job seekers in achieving their goals.
I know that my products will work for you because they are based on commonsense principles leveraged with good, solid expertise and knowledge of the job search process. After working with countless job seekers, I have become more and more convinced that most of them do not properly prepare for a job search and rely way too much on online sites and trendy articles to tell them what to do. Thus, they waste a lot of time, money, and energy.
If you still aren't sure whether our services are right for you, feel free to give me a call toll-free at 1-866-755-9800 or e-mail me at steve@nononsensejobsearch.com. Better yet, check out our Products page at http://sites.nononsensejobsearch.com/info to get started with us today!
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