On Wednesday this week I organized and ran a career transitioning workshop for individuals with an electrical background.This was in my role as Managing Director of a business called www.jobtransitionstrategy.com set up to help those looking to make a career move. The event was held in collaboration with the industry organisation MyElectricalCommunity.
The topic for this workshop was job transitioning in a changed economic environment.
The feed back from all with no exception was great with several saying to me – the key messages need to be more widely discussed and understood so the current spinning of wheels as people apply, apply and have no reply can be changed.
So here I am and I hope you find these key messages to be also useful.
I outline below first the issues in today’s tough job market and then the key learning in CAPS for your benefit:
- Cvs are commodities. 8 pieces of paper from one person look exactly the same as 8 pieces of paper from someone else especially when sitting within a pile of 500 other cvs in an email box or on a decision maker’s desk – LEARNING: DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF IN ANY WAY YOU CAN. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO, ASK SOMEONE.
- Emails are part of the clutter a decision maker faces. There are 100’s of emails received by decision makers on a daily basis. If all you do is email a cv to a job ad; don’t be surprised if you do not hear back. The email may be in the decision maker’s junk mail box, it could be directed to a lower order email the decision maker keeps to vet emails from strangers & it could be the 100th email they receive today which then means it never sees the light of day. LEARNING: IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL TO USE FACE TO FACE & PHONE COMMUNICATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH EMAILS. FACE TO FACE COMMUNICATION IS BEST DONE THROUGH NETWORKING. CONFIDENCE IN SPEAKING CAN BE ENHANCED THROUGH ACCESS TO EXPERTS WHO ARE AVAILABLE TO HELP THROUGH ROLE PLAYS AND A GUIDED COMMUNICATION PLAN.
- A permanent job now a days is no longer permanent especially with so many perm positions being made redundant, with businesses being acquired, merged, slowing down or just closing down especially in industries of the past. A contract role of 18 months is as secure as a perm role where in a perm role you could lose your job with just the typical 4 weeks’ notice – LEARNING: DON’T DISREGARD CONTRACT WORK, ESPECIALLY IF IT LEADS YOU TO AN INDUSTRY EXPERIENCING GROWTH FROM AN INDUSTRY IN DECLINE. CONTACT AN EXPERT WHO UNDERSTANDS THE INDUSTRY WELL.
- If you need to move industries or companies do not do it after you resign. Do it while you are employed – LEARNING: TRANSITION TO OTHER ROLES BEFORE TAKING THE PLUNGE. IT IS A SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER STRATEGY AS COMPARED TO RISKING ALL AND LEAVING YOUR JOB WITH THE MONTHLY OPPORTUNITY COST WHITTLING AWAY AT YOUR CONFIDENCE.
- You will always meet gatekeepers either as a PA, secretary, a voice mail each time you call, a set of secondary emails which never get responded back to, etc. – LEARNING: HAVE A STRATEGY OF HOW TO DEAL WITH ALL FORMS OF GATEKEEPERS
- Social media is now the norm, not the exception – LEARNING: GET HELP FROM THOSE IN THE KNOW WHO CAN HELP YOU WITH A JOB TRANSITION RELATED SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
- Treat your career as an investment. You spend money on reports, mentors, etc. when you purchase an asset like a house or a car – LEARNING: YOUR CAREER IS YOUR ASSET. SPEND MONEY ESPECIALLY IF IT GETS YOU TO ENHANCE YOUR CAREER PROSPECTS. TREAT IT AS AN INVESTMENT AND YOU WILL GET THE RETURNS
- Before you embark on your career journey; know yourself. Know the industry you want to be a part of, know the companies (including all the small to medium sized ones) within that industry, know the recent projects won within that industry, know the decision makers / hiring managers within those industries, establish contacts and connections, develop and build a relationship, establish your own brand, develop your pitch and practice your pitch because you never know when someone with a job in a lift, in a bus, train or at a party asks you “so what do you do”? – LEARNING: BUILD A WAR PLAN FOR YOURSELF AND USE THOSE IN THE KNOW WHO CAN HELP YOU BUILD THIS WAR PLAN.
I hope you find this useful as others have.
If you need more guidance or direct help to transition you from a job you dislike to a job you’d love please look up this web site www.JobTransitionStrategy.Com or email me on raypavri@jobtransitionstrategy.com for a free initial consultation.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/career-transitioning-changed-dynamic-ray-pavri/
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