A 30,000-Foot View of Career Transition
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 9:00 am
Many of my clients and students have been put off by what appears to be an inordinate complexity in executing a successful career transition. I find that what makes the whole deal palatable is an overview of the key elements.
Let's break it down into seven basic parts:
1) You need to figure out what you want.
Too many people think that building a resume is the first step. It's not. How can you write ukraine phone number library a resume when you don't know what it's pointing to? A resume is a marketing document, not a record of everything you've ever done. What’s critical is figuring out two or three ideas for your next step.
I feel strongly that it's a great idea to not only have those two or three ideas, but also to find out what the upside after those jobs might be. Putting pressure on yourself about making the right decision sometimes is too limiting --and even paralyzing. Keep the options open.
2) Perform a "due diligence" on your ideas.
Research via the library, or maybe a Vault or Wetfeet guide about areas you might not be familiar with. If the targets are familiar, find out through professional relationships and reading whether your ideas are valid and/or marketable. This aspect of the process is probably the most critical; you want to make intelligent choices up front, or at least as much as you possibly can. This is the heavy lifting in a transition process. Very little immediate gratification, but imperative.
Let's break it down into seven basic parts:
1) You need to figure out what you want.
Too many people think that building a resume is the first step. It's not. How can you write ukraine phone number library a resume when you don't know what it's pointing to? A resume is a marketing document, not a record of everything you've ever done. What’s critical is figuring out two or three ideas for your next step.
I feel strongly that it's a great idea to not only have those two or three ideas, but also to find out what the upside after those jobs might be. Putting pressure on yourself about making the right decision sometimes is too limiting --and even paralyzing. Keep the options open.
2) Perform a "due diligence" on your ideas.
Research via the library, or maybe a Vault or Wetfeet guide about areas you might not be familiar with. If the targets are familiar, find out through professional relationships and reading whether your ideas are valid and/or marketable. This aspect of the process is probably the most critical; you want to make intelligent choices up front, or at least as much as you possibly can. This is the heavy lifting in a transition process. Very little immediate gratification, but imperative.