Making a career move is no easy task. It is even more challenging to make a career transition when you have zero experience working within a Fortune 500 company. So what can you do to make your dreams of a new career a reality? Don’t despair. I brainstormed with a few of my colleagues Dawn Bugni, Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, and Kris Plantrich who are career experts and we came up with the following actionable steps you can begin today.
Network: Develop your LinkedIn profile with your new job target title in mind. Read the following blog post for development strategy http://blog.linkedin.com/2011/06/07/7-linkedin-tips-for-career-changers/
- Review your network and if they are in a position to help you break into a Fortune 500 company, then reach out to your old colleagues and even sorority sisters/brothers. Ask them to connect you with that person they have in their network.
- Make sure your outgoing message to those that invite you to connect is professional and lets them know you are job searching. To customize your message, go to “settings” in LinkedIn, later to “email preferences” and click on “select type of messages you’re willing to receive.” Notice you can populate a pop up box with your customized message.
- Update your LinkedIn status regularly. Your network will be updated and informed about your job search status.
Join LinkedIn groups relevant to your job target: Post and answer questions, inching closer to the people that can open opportunities for your new career goal at a Fortune 500 company.
Penetrate the hidden job market: Make list of Fortune 500 companies you would like to work for and send them an unsolicited broadcast letter. A broadcast letter is a hybrid between resume and cover letter, which summarizes experience that best positions you for a role within that company. It is more detailed than a cover letter, not as extensive as a resume, and not in response to an ad.
- Search Fortune 500 companies on bizjournals.com, Hoovers.com, Glassdoor.com, ZoomInfo.com, Manta.com, Forbes.com and also look up company profiles on LinkedIn.
Rebrand Yourself:
- Start a blog where you can demonstrate industry knowledge and begin to rebrand yourself with your new career target in mind. A free blog software is blogger.com but I recommend wordpress.org.
| Blogs: | Positive | Drawback |
| Blogger.com | Free, easy set up, and a Google product. | Customizing limit, no harnessing of Search. Engine Optimization for future leverage. |
| WordPress.com | Low monthly fee, easy set up and easy to manage. | Customizing limit, no harnessing of Search. Engine Optimization for future leverage. |
| WordPress.org | Customizable, free, plugin friendly. | You need your own hosting account and domain. |
- Purchase your name as a domain. Control what others see about you online by owning your owndomain.com. Purchase through http://www.godaddy.com.
Get involved. Join an industry organization on the web and locally.
Gain experience now. Take workshops, attend conferences, and become part of committees.
Leverage social media. Sign up for Twitter and Facebook and connect with professionals in your new career.
Leave old industry jargon behind. During an interview and when creating your online profiles be sure to use that new lingo associated with your new brand.
For more on Career Transitions, read this great article: http://www.job-hunt.org/job-search-news/2011/04/18/best-career-change-advice/
As always, if any questions email writer@careersteering.com
