TAP In with Tristan : 3 Things You Should Do If You Want to Pivot Your Career

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TRANSCRIPT

Tristan: What’s going on, Living Corporate? It’s Tristan, and I want to thank you for tapping back in with me as I provide some tips and advice for professionals. Today, let’s talk about pivoting your career. I often hear from clients that they want to make a career pivot. However, when we start to have conversations about what they’ve done to prepare for the pivot, they typically have only thought about it and landed on a position. From there, their first action is to try to get their resume tailored for the role they want so they can begin applying. While that is a step that should happen in your career pivot, it’s often not the first step you should take. First, I always suggest you start by doing quite a bit of research on the type of role you believe you want to pivot to. Gather an understanding of the skills, certifications, and educational background required of someone in that position. Once you have that understanding, you can identify the transferrable skills that can help you get the role and the skills you may need to sharpen to better your chances of landing it. Also, make sure you’re clear on what the salary range is for someone with similar experience/expertise as you. Often, I see clients interested in roles based on salaries they’ve heard from contacts or the top of the salary range listed on sites only to be disappointed when their experience or expertise doesn’t provide enough justification for that salary. Save yourself the trouble and do your research upfront. Second, looking into getting some additional training or certifications to help make you more competitive throughout your job search process. Many candidates want to rely on the skills they already have when pivoting their careers, but they often don’t measure up, or the skills must be sharpened. You want to show recruiters and hiring managers that you’re invested in your transition by investing in yourself. When we hear that, many of us jump to going back to school, which is an expensive option. But you can also find less expensive, and often more practical, training and certification programs that can provide you with the skills necessary to look good and showcase that you’re a continuous learner. Lastly, you need to expand and warm up your network. If you’re going to pivot your career, odds are you will be going up against people who have some experience in the area. You want to do everything you can to give yourself a competitive edge, including building, warming up, and leveraging your network. Connect with people who hold roles you want to hold, work at companies you want to work at, and those who may be 1 – 2 levels above where you want to go. Host informational interviews to solicit information on trends in the industry or field, any advice they may have to help you prepare, resources you may want to look into, and projects they are working on. Not only does this jump-start your relationship with them, which could lead to a referral, but it provides you with valuable information to help you tailor your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn, and interview answers. Taking this step and being strategic with it could really give you the competitive edge you’re seeking. If you are looking to pivot in your career successfully, it takes a certain level of commitment and investment throughout the process to give you the best chance of landing that ideal role. Thanks for tapping in with me today! Don’t forget; I’m now taking submissions from you all on career questions, issues, concerns, or advice you think may help others! So make sure to submit yours at bit.ly/tapintristan. This tip is brought to you by Tristan of Layfield Resume Consulting. Check us out on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @layfieldresume or connect with me, Tristan Layfield, on LinkedIn.