Your Job Is Not Necessarily For Life. Should You Switch Careers?
Executive search firms regularly come across people who have
decided to switch careers. There was a time where you chose your
profession and stuck with it until retirement and many people
still follow that path. An increasing number of people, however,
are deciding to give up their first choice and try something
new. For many, it is a move to a new country, or an exploration
of a new skill, but for others, it's moving the skills they
already have to a new sector.
If you're taking the plunge and switching careers, can you
convince an executive search agency that it's all for the best?
How do you demonstrate that you haven't lost any of your
abilities?
Switching careers is a brave thing to do. It can affect your
income, your working hours and even where you live. It's not a
decision that people take lightly, and it's one that's viewed
differently by everyone. If you take a career break to travel or
to study, you should be prepared to turn that experience into
positive ways you can contribute to your new company.
Executive search firms look for the right candidates for the
job. If you have switched careers or taken a break and want to
sign on with an executive search firm, then it's a good idea to
make an appointment to go and see them. This will allow you to
sit face-to-face with the consultant and explain why you took a
year out, or why you decided to change from medicine to law.
Whatever your experience, you should be able to use elements of
it to illustrate how you could be valuable to a company in a
senior position.
For example, if you spent your time volunteering for a charity
and working in Africa, you will have gained better communication
and diplomacy skills than most people. If you were involved in a
building project, you can illustrate how you managed to project,
getting people to work together as a team to achieve a common
goal. Whilst sorting out a problem business area isn't the same
as building a school, the things you learned from your project
can be applied in any situation.
It's not whether you have changed careers that interests an
executive search firm; it's why, and what you've learned that
could benefit their clients. It could be that your career switch
gives the client exactly what they're looking for. It's up to
you to turn it into the positives that could win you your next
job.