Topics: Career change · All topics
VickyAthens, Greece

I've studied international and European relations, and I started my career in the information-technology (IT) sector as a marketing assistant and implementation consultant/project manager. Although I have produced many qualitative results, I feel that my career is developing too slowly. I'm currently an assistant in a quality-standards department. I'm concerned about my firm's stability and I'm also considering changing careers. I have a strong interest in both marketing and public relations, fields that are more closely related to the subjects I've studied. How can I make the switch to a new career?

Frances's advice

First, determine whether you like working in the IT sector. If you do, then you can continue to look there for your next job or find ways to enrich your current job by using the skills you like best. If you aren't particularly thrilled with IT, you'll need to take time for some serious reflection and research to determine what sector does excite you. Marketing- and public-relations skills are needed in almost every market sector, so you're lucky. You can offer your skills to a host of companies.

Next, write down the results you've achieved from your marketing efforts at your current job. Place a monetary value on them and see if these amounts represent at least three times your salary. Assess each item on your list in terms of an increase in gains, a decrease in costs or an avoidance of errors. These three major categories can be used to concretely show how you've contributed to your company.

You also must start talking to people in your chosen area of interest. Attend professional networking luncheons and conferences — look for every opportunity you can find to meet other people. Then identify three potential employers and seek out their line managers. Call them up — don't send a resume or curriculum vitae or apply for a position through any standard method. After you've developed some type of rapport with them, ask to meet with them in person. Once there, offer your skills, either as a free-lancer or as an employee, and tell them what you've done at your current company (using the information you have put together on the value of your contributions). Don't lock yourself into a traditional job hunt; you're a marketing person — so use a marketing approach.