Changing careers requires planning and effort
Dear J.T. & Dale: I want to switch careers, but nobody will hire me. What can I do? —Ronni
J.T.: When I hear “nobody will hire me” from clients and dig a little deeper, I usually find an attitude toward careers that amounts to “I deserve it just because I want it.”
DALE: So you’re saying such people are waiting for the new career to find them? That they aren’t starting a search, but waiting for a rescue?
J.T.: Yes. What anyone wanting to change careers needs to understand is that it requires planning and effort. Getting an employer to hire you when you don’t have the exact experience required isn’t easy. The burden is on you to show enough value in other ways that teaching you is worth it. It’s up to you to figure out what employers value most about what you offer, and then market that to them.
DALE: It makes sense that hiring managers are skeptical. After all, why does someone want to change careers? He or she is bored, tired, miserable — all variations on unhappy. Which leads us to an important principle: NO ONE HIRES UNHAPPY. So you, Ronni, need to do the work of redefining your move as a positive. You didn’t give us details on your current career, so let’s pick an example. I recently met a young man who switched from managing a health club to running a real estate office. Say that’s your goal. You’d need to author a career story that would make sense to the people you want to help you. It might go like this: “I love working with people and helping them succeed. And after years in the gym, I’m ready to get out and play a new role in helping people.” From there, you explain your interest in real estate; then, to J.T.’s point, you sell your unique value: “I have established relationships with hundreds of people in the community who know and trust me, and I have learned how to motivate people.”
If you do so, an outsider can see how the transition makes sense.
J.T.: So you have a story; however, it’s tough to tell a convincing story in an online application. When people are screening dozens or hundreds of applicants, they’re usually looking for an exact fit. That’s why the successful career changers I know have used networking. They get to know people in the industry they want to work in and have meaningful dialogues to earn their trust and respect. Only then can they ask these networking connections to make introductions, and have the chance to tell the story that makes sense of their new career.
Dear J.T. & Dale: My new boss is very authoritarian, and she changed my job responsibilities from what I was told I’d be doing. Should I quit? — Joshua
J.T.: I would never suggest that you quit a job without having a new one, as it’s much harder to get a job when you are unemployed. Even though the situation isn’t your fault, other potential hiring managers will question why you didn’t stick it out, and will wonder if you’re telling the truth. Instead of quitting, I would have an honest conversation with your boss about why the role has changed, and express your disappointment in not doing what you were hired to do. See if she’ll give you a reasonable date as to when the role will revert back. If she says she can’t, then I would start looking for a new job.
DALE: J.T. has it right: You don’t quit; you leave for a better job. And that better job might be right where you are. It’s an important career skill to learn how to read a boss and to maneuver successfully into roles that will be of most value to you. Many new bosses feel they have to exercise authority, like the teacher during the first week of class needing to prove how tough she is. So, instead of confronting the boss with your complaints, figure out her goals and priorities. You need to sell your desired role as a solution to her problems, not yours. Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a professional development specialist and the founder of the consulting firm jtodonnell. Dale Dauten resolves employment and other business disputes as a mediator with AgreementHouse.com. Please visit them at jtanddale. com, where you can send questions via email, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803. (c) 2018 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.