Career advice: Career Change Question

Just for clarification, we'd like to define our terms here. If we think of a job as encompassing two distinct parts it might be easier to understand what needs changing. The first part, "What You Do," is usually called a job title or function and encompasses the different skills, duties and responsibilities of a particular job. The second part, "Where You Do It," is usually called a field or industry/sector, which is the term for a broad area in business. You can have a marketing job in thousands of fields (i.e. marketing in the automobile industry, in the textile industry, in the computer industry, etc.) and all these jobs would be very different, even while using similar skill sets and knowledge — what we might generally call the function of "marketing." So, it seems to us what you are really saying is that you want to change your job title (and function) to something else.

The areas of administration/hospitality/management/customer care likewise encompass a wide range of jobs and can be done in a myriad of fields. If you asked two different people to define a job in administration, chances are good they would come up with very different job descriptions and when coupled with two distinct fields — no two jobs would be the same. So, that means to start you must make two lists.

The first should define, in concrete terms, the skills, duties, responsibilities and job functions that interest you. The second should define or narrow down the fields in which you would like to use those skills, etc. You will see that the four areas you've listed as possible new career areas are very, very broad and the only way for you to make sense of them and know where to focus your energies is by narrowing the scope of your search. Once you have narrowed down both kinds of information, you'll be in a better position to know what new jobs to pursue. Only then will you be able to see where your background and skills overlap with the possibilities you've identified.

For example, you may discover that you possess (and want to use at your next job) the abilities of synthesizing information, problem solving, communicating ideas clearly, dealing with complexity and ambiguity, and have people skills that include persuasion, tact and the ability to motivate and counsel. You may further determine that your self-management skills include initiative, creativity, meticulousness and stick-to-it-iveness. Then you may find that you are drawn to the field of health care, which in and of itself is so huge that only by narrowing down your area(s) of interest can you make any meaningful attempt to find a job. You might see that instead of the broad category of health care, you have identified women's health issues or emergency preparedness or health statistics as fields to pursue.

The next step is to then figure out how your 14 years of marketing experience might serve you in any of the new job titles/fields you've identified. To do that consider studying the job descriptions of administrative/managerial/customer care/hospitality positions that interest you in the fields you've identified. (For example, administrative assistant in a women's clinic; or manager of a Red Cross Disaster Program — very different jobs!). For each function listed on these descriptions, correlate something you have done that proves you are qualified. This technique is a good one for quickly showing others what you can do (based on what you have done) in a language that is specific to them and allows you to make this kind of jump.

Don't overlook your talents in areas other than work, such as education, hobbies and other activities you participate in to prove that you have experience in solving the same kinds of problems you'd be dealing with in the desired position. For those functions in which you don't have experience, you can try to gain the skill or knowledge by some kind of specific training or a continuing education program.

Lastly, you'll have to start talking with people doing the job(s) that you've identified. Start talking to people in your chosen area of interest to find out what the job entails, how they got started, what they like and dislike, and any advice they might have for you. Attend professional networking luncheons and conferences — look for every opportunity you can find to meet other people. Then identify three potential employers who have a job that you think is a good match 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 and how that translates to this new job! Don't lock yourself into a traditional job hunt; you're a marketing person — so use a marketing approach.