Executive Career Transitions: Get Clear, Get Real, and Get Focused
You’ve got a dream job in mind? Great! Tired of not taking the leap and you finally built enough courage to jump?
I applaud you and support you in your dream endeavors. In fact, I will toast to you tonight! But un momento porfavor!
Before you walk in to that office or into that Boardroom and drop off that letter of resignation…before you begin to mass email your resume to Google, Apple, and other cutting-edge dream employers, you need to do some serious preparation work.
[Horn tooting to follow] As a Job Search Coach and Resume Writer, my high-level, critical, and strategic recommendation (ahem) is that you C.R.F. your way into your new position and/or trade.
THE C.R.F. PATH TO YOUR NEW J.O.B.
1. GET CLEAR: Why do you want to perform this job? What value do you offer that reaches beyond fulfilling your own desires? Having passion for this new industry and role is fantastic. Yay! But it is not enough.
Employers are taking a huge risk by accepting a ‘newbie’ into the industry or company so there better be some high ROI for their high-stakes investment.
2. GET REAL: Wanting to fulfill a job, promising you will succeed, and caring about other people really isn’t enough either. You must reference hard skills, high-impact accomplishments, and transferable experience on your executive resume. These experiences must be real examples with the Who, What, Where, and How of it.
Thoroughly read the job posting you are interested in or source a generic job descriptions and align their requirements with your supporting experience, focusing on “benefit-to-company” results. Another way to look at it in order to identify ‘net’ achievements is by asking yourself: How was the department/organization/team/company performing “Before my tenure” vs. “After my tenure.”
Tough love for my clients: Here is how I keep it real with my clients and how you can get real, too –> If you are not ready now, you now know how you need to steer your career to strengthen your career transition plans. All this “Getting Clear” isn’t a waste of time.
Some cheerleading: It is not that you will never move into that new space — it is that right now you may not be able to bridge that gap enough to even take a leap. How will you know? Check each requirement; if you cannot come up with examples that are relevant, can be proven or quantified, not even close — then re-THINK your strategy and gain that experience first now that you have a clear career roadmap. Come back and jump with a parachute!
3. GET FOCUSED: Gather all your evidence, outline it, and leverage it across your communication tools: social media, executive resume, networking cards, biography cover letter and in your networking pitch. Prioritize it. Don’t just randomly list or voice this experience.
NOTE: These transferable achievements are not just resume bullets — these are ‘blocks’ building a bridge to your new career!
You were successful? Someone called you in for an interview? Fantastic! Let the interview and negotiations begin! Practice countering any push-backs; remember that career transition is about bridging that gap and your new employer will try to connect the dots, too. He/she will need you to convince them why YOU when they can hire someone else who has been in that role before, done the work before, before, before, before. You know — be ready!
I don’t know about you but if I am about to take a giant leap, I am bringing several safety nets. Just in case.
I am not alone in this opinion. Great minds think alike and below I have pasted links to other great blog posts that will help you embark on your new journey.
5 Tips on Making a Career Transition
15 Questions to Ask Before Making a Career Change
What is Career Transition
How to Make a Successful Career Change
