Many people today want to change not only employers, but they also want to make a career change. In some cases, because their interests and lifestyles have shifted, many talented people are eager to change careers. Also, many ambitious individuals have found themselves in overcrowded specialty areas with diminishing opportunities.
With the pace of business accelerating ever more quickly as we enter these first years of the 21st century, many industries that might have taken decades to decline gradually in the 20th century, now experience substantial downturns in just a few years or less. Downsizings continue, meaning the loss of a significant number of middle management jobs in many industries. As a result, lots of hard-working, well-qualified people find themselves forced to find a new career direction.

There are two basic concerns. The first is that the functions that you've filled in the past may not be an exact match to the functions required in the new career. You may therefore be lacking one or more requirements for the job in terms of your experience.

The second concern is that your lack of knowledge will keep you from performing as well as someone who "knows the industry" or is "familiar with our specialized services." In many instances, this can be a difficult obstacle. You have a "credibility gap," and it is up to you to close it.

Fortunately, there are a number of ways you can get past both of these obstacles.

Mindset

With respect to the first concern, keep in mind that if the only people hired were those who already had experience in every aspect of a job, no one would ever make any advancement. Many candidates for a job will lack one or more requirements. If you have three or four out of five major requirements for the job, it's likely you'll be just as well qualified as many other candidates.

It is also probably true that you aren't totally lacking in experience related to those requirements you don't have. In fact, if your break any requirement down into its component parts, and then analyze your experience, you may well find that you have experience in three out of four of those component parts. This is a reliable indicator that you would perform well in the new assignment.

For example, assume you are seeking a general manager's job that requires previous profit and loss responsibility. You may not have had "full P&L responsibility," but at various times you may have had responsibility for production, cost cutting, sales, marketing and distribution. The fact that you did well in each of those is a good clue that you'd do well managing all of them together.

As another example, assume you're seeking a position as an Office Manager. You may not have run an entire office before, but at different times you may have had responsibility for information systems, hiring, security, personnel, training, administration and purchasing. You may or may not have substantial achievements in each of those areas, but just the fact that you have experience in each of them will reassure an employer that you're likely to do well handling all of them combined, with perhaps an added responsibility or two.

With respect to the second concern, industry experience, do not lose sight of the fact that you have proven your ability to make contributions, using ... skills in certain functions ... personal strengths that enable you to get things done effectively ... and knowledge required for the industry in which you worked. Also remember that right now, people with the same skills and functional strengths are making solid contributions in the industry you are targeting. The only component you are missing is the specialized knowledge that may be required to function most effectively in that industry or industry segment.

Also, don't forget that if you've rapidly learned anything new in the past, it's logical to assume you'll learn just as quickly whatever is required for you to function effectively in the industry you're targeting.

Last, remember enthusiasm by itself can be a major factor. Appearance, self-confidence, writing skills, knowledge, drive, ability to articulate, and attitude all play a role, and can enhance your overall impression. That classic intangible, positive personal chemistry, still accounts for a major portion of all hiring decisions.

Resume

Structure your resume so that the employer can easily see the parallels between the functions they need and the functions in which you have experience. Highlight achievements where you came into a situation and needed to learn quickly in order to reach goal.

If you were thrown into a new project, assignment or product area where you learned so quickly that you soon outperformed others who'd been in that function for a long period, make that clear.

Show achievements in as many different product lines and markets as possible. Give lots of solid evidence that you contributed in short order after you came into these areas. This will help dispel any concerns that you might not be able to contribute quickly because you lack direct industry experience.

To counter the problem of lacking experience in specific functions, in an up-front summary statement emphasize your broad-based experience, and the variety of functions in which you have experience and/or achievements. Your actions may have touched on many functional areas for which you did not have full responsibility, but that does not prevent you from accurately pointing out that your actions did indeed touch on or impact those areas.

By structuring the resume in a manner that highlights several functions as recommended above, including those which are the "component parts" of the requirements you're lacking, you will offset this concern.

You may also choose to highlight several personal traits that would be desirable for the position you are seeking. The more ways you can show that you are a close match, the better your chances.

Interviews / e-mail / Letters

In interviews you will have more latitude in tailoring the presentation of your talents to the needs of the organization, and in drawing on experience in all areas of your life, including volunteer, civic and military.

Anticipate the areas in which this company expects the most help from the person who eventually fills the position. Ask specifically if those are not some of the most important requirements. If they are, relate examples in a situation-action-result format which demonstrate how you have solved problems, made the most of opportunities, and achieved results in those precise areas.

An approach that has often been effective is to conduct research, as recommended in the "Actions" segment that follows, and write a paper that addresses major trends and issues in the industry you are targeting.

You can then attach to your e-mail or enclose with your letter the paper, pointing out in your correspondence that you think one or another trend is especially significant for the function you are targeting. This switches the focus of communication away from questioning your functional experience and industry knowledge, toward how and why your talents might apply to helping the employer in the future, specifically in light of the trends you cited.

Because hiring decisions are seldom made purely on the basis of a logical match between needs and strengths, make sure you have all the intangibles going for you. Project enthusiasm, show that you've taken the time to learn a lot about the company and the industry, and ask what personal qualities are important for the position, then relate examples of how you've used those same qualities for the benefit of a previous employer.

For example, if you can give an example of how you were thrown into a new situation, learned quickly, and soon outperformed those who had been active in similar functions for a long time, it shows that you can be expected to make significant contributions in a very short time.

At any time, in interviews and correspondence, you can repeat your basic contention that you have experience in all areas required, and that in the one area where you haven't had full responsibility, you have solid experience in its component parts, which is a good indicator of your ability to perform there.

Actions

If there is a course you can take, or information you can study that would help prepare you or make you more knowledgeable about the type of position you are targeting, get started on that as soon as possible. If you can talk with people currently active in that type of position, arrange to meet with them and get their input.

If there is a trade or professional publication geared to that function or field, subscribe to it or read back issues in the library. If there is one time when coming from another industry will be a less significant obstacle, it is when you can show you also have far better than average knowledge about the field you are targeting. This is one way to get it.

© 2010 Robert J. Gerberg    All rights reserved