I’m back to share part 2 of my tips for a successful career transition! Once you feel clear about your transferrable skills and confident about articulating your story (discussed in Part 1), consider my next two tips:
1) Update your personal branding materials
The term ‘personal branding materials’ can sound intimidating at first. What this is referring to, are the documents that represent you to potential employers. They showcase your experience (work, volunteer, education, etc.) and skills. Most commonly, they include your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile. Depending on the field you’re in, they may also include a CV, portfolio, website, or other work samples.
When you’re making a career transition, you’ll need to update these documents to demonstrate to employers how your previous experience has equipped you with the transferrable skills required for this career.
A common mistake I see in resumes is including all of your past experience, responsibilities, and achievements. While keeping a document like this for yourself is a great idea, when you’re applying for a new role, consider omitting information that isn’t relevant to the new role or wouldn’t add value from the employer’s point of view. Usually, job postings will list this information.These are the things you should highlight and focus on.
2) Leverage your network
Once your personal branding materials have been updated, it’s time to get out there and connect with your network! ‘Network’ is another word that tends to intimidate people. Your network is simply the people that you know, have met, or come into contact with throughout your life. You’ll know some of your networks well (friends, family, and coworkers) and others not so well (people you’ve met through the course of your work and some of your LinkedIn contacts).
At Canada Career Counselling, we see the majority of our clients land new roles with the support of their network, or their network’s network. Applying for roles you see posted online is one approach to job search. Use this approach, but leverage your network too!
Make sure to let people know about the role you’re looking for, whether that’s a call, a personalized email, or a post on LinkedIn. Can they make an introduction for you? Could they share information about their experience? Do they have recommendations for you? The more people know about what you’re looking for, the more they can help.
If you’d like further information about any of these tips or feel you need support with your career transition, reach out to our team at Canada Career Counselling.
