No MATTER WHAT your reasons,

making a career switch can be tricky, especially if you’ve already branded yourself as an expert and professional in an entirely different field. The process isn’t impossible, but there are a variety of ways you can rebrand yourself to impress employers in a new industry.

You don’t need to hear that building and maintaining your brand online is the cornerstone to making things happen in your career. A personal website, social media, industry associations — these are all tucked in your tool belt for communicating to employers and clients about your brand. Especially if you’re going through a career change, it’s important to give your brand a makeover. Sure, you have transferrable skills, but you need to communicate why they are relevant to a new industry.

What do you hope for people to associate with you when they think of your name? Is there

a certain subject matter in which you want to be perceived as an expert, or are there general qualities you want to be linked to your personal brand?

These are the kinds of things you should be considering when thinking about your personal brand. Once you understand the dynamics around how you’d like your brand to be perceived, you

can begin thinking strategically in terms of its creation.

It’s critical to note that you should be completely authentic in your rebranding. If you create an image of yourself that’s not truthful, then you’ll have a hard time living up to it.

Plus, most people instinctively know when someone isn’t being completely honest. Resist the temptation to embellish the truth and instead, be confident in who you are.

Think about how you’ve changed. You’re just changing your job title, not your entire identity. Even if your interests have evolved since you began your career, you probably have the same core values and beliefs that defined your personal brand – so, those same qualities should stay in your brand. However, something’s changed. You’re switching industries because something about your current job just doesn’t jive with your personality anymore. To explain why you’re changing industries, you’ll need to tap into that “why”.

To gain more insight into what it takes to make a career shift, we asked career coach Fred Bakker some of our most pressing questions.

GQ: How should you go about defining your career objectives to achieve the best results? Fred Bakker:

Always start with a realistic personal or professional “stocktake”.

What resources do you have? Include talents, skills, expertise, qualifications, financial position, level of support from your family and others, etc. Try to identify what you can offer to others. What relative strengths or competitive advantages do you have if you compare yourself with others? Get clarity on your personality type, core values and interests. What we do ideally needs to be aligned with our values. Also, be very realistic about what skills you don’t have, what you can’t do or have difficulty doing.

The next phase would be identifying your goals. That usually overlaps with the first stocktake phase. When we don’t have our agenda in life, and our careers – others will take over and make you part of their agenda. Once you have clarity on goals (where I want to go) and resources (what I’ve got to help me get there) it usually becomes clear what gaps need to be closed between where you are now in your life journey and where you’d like to be in future. These gaps are the ones you need to use to define your career objectives.

GQ: What’s the best way to do a career pivot? FB:

Due to the usually significant costs in time, energy and money involved in making a significant, or complete career change, I would recommend the following:

• Establish with 100%

certainty that you actually need or want to make a change. Is it due to something about yourself; others at the organisation; the specific organisation; or the broader industry or field in which you work? For the first three, you can often improve circumstances with relatively minor changes. These three options would usually be the least disruptive/costly.

• if you come to the

conclusion that you’re in the wrong industry/field – preparing for a drastic change might be necessary. No one should stay in a career if it starts becoming soul-destroying. I generally recommend having a change plan before actually doing anything that might negatively affect your present career, key relationships and income flow. Ensure you have access to sufficient funds to cover the costs of further studies, a couple of months without income, etc – whatever’s required before you’re able to earn an income again.

• Ensure you are clear

what it is you actually want to do before leaving. I often find that people just want to get away from something that isn’t working for them.

A more positive driver of change is being motivated to reach for something better. Most importantly, don’t rush the process. Gather all your data before doing anything.

Big life decisions are best made after careful consideration of all the facts – in addition to how you feel.

GQ: How can you better manage the career that you currently have if you’re unhappy? FB:

I’d usually say we need to reframe or shift how we view what we do – which can be a low-cost constructive way to make a change. Start by listing all the positives of the position. It could include receiving an income when others around us are struggling, people we like working with, a convenient location, good fringe benefits, etc. In most cases, struggle and unhappiness may be a necessary sacrifice required to achieve something worthwhile in life. Revisit your career goals to remind yourself that your current efforts or struggles are serving a purpose.

GQ: What’s your advice on how to manage the recruitment or interview process now in our new normal? FB:

Applying for a job is always stressful – although a bit less so if you have scarce skills that are in demand. Despite the changing world of work the recruitment and interview process generally still requires effective communication and interaction with key decision-makers. The following points may be of value:

• be clear about the benefits you have to offer to the organisation.

• be clear about what you want and expect from the organisation and what the organisation actually needs.

• Ensure your cv and other documents are up to date, 100% correct, and that they clearly communicate to the use or reader. Have them professionally proofread, if necessary.

• reach out to your existing personal and professional network to find potential career opportunities. That person may not be able to offer you a job – but they may know someone who can.

• for online interviews, ensure that you are well prepared, with a good internet connection and that your appearance is appropriate for the role you’re interested in.

Remember that while you can control all the above inputs made from your side, you have no control over the outcome of the interview. This awareness helps us prepare properly – and then recover and move on to the next opportunity out there.

“No one should stay in a career if it starts becoming soul-destroying”