Over the past few years I’ve had conversations with friends and colleagues about changing careers. Frequently, it’s with journalists seeking to take a leap into public relations and communications. Other times, its more junior team members who are evaluating career options, often in different fields. There’s no one right way to ladder from one job to another. There are, however, several options for you to consider. Here are three things to consider when planning a career change.
Volunteer
We’ve written pretty extensively about volunteering to build career success. It can be all the more important if you need to build out transferable skills, but don’t have an opportunity to do it in your current role. Volunteering in a field that’s related to your career aspirations is a great way to build out transferrable skills, maximize “planned happenstance” and develop specific experiences you can speak to in your next job interview.
In the field of communications, there are all sorts of opportunities to do this. Internally, many organizations and companies have committees or projects that have tangential communications needs. Or perhaps there’s the chance that you can find a way within your own organization to support another manager in an area of growth for you. Externally, non-profit organizations are frequently on the hunt for juniors willing to do the grunt work of developing and executing a communications strategy. If you have noted a gap in media relations in your portfolio, pitch their communications committee or manager on an opportunity to take this on. Outline your goals, strategies and a rough activity plan and then be prepared to scale it down – at least initially – as they determine how much of the “real deal” you are. Most importantly, commit to a timeframe to support the organization and deliver.
Network and probe
Getting a clear understanding of what sort of expertise you’ll need to get make a career change is only going to come from probing conversations with people in your field. Many of these folks might also serve as conduits for offers, so make sure you conduct the informational interview like a boss. These top tips Harvard Business Review’s top tips for getting the most out of your next information interview.
One of the key questions to ask folks in your network is what are the skills and educational background you’ll need to successfully take a crack at your new career path. Once you’ve gathered some good base level information consider whether you really need to get a degree or diploma to credibly enter into your next career, or can you leverage your existing transferable skills or network. Having a realistic understanding from folks who are already doing what you are doing around your suitability is crucial.
Go to school
There are some career changes that you just got to go back to school for. Usually there’s a variety of different program options from different institutions and/or platforms (ie. LinkedIn, Udemy, EdX) with a range of price-tags and approaches. There may be a part time condensed option or a more long intensive program that you are considering. You could also consider boutique learning partners like Lighthouse Labs or Brainstation. Learning doesn’t have to be a brick and mortar learning experience. Doing your own due-diligence via information interview is the first step. That’ll help you establish what courses or programs are specifically relevant to your new career and have the “best reputation” among industry. That’s crucial to know because you’re looking at sinking a lot of time and money on training yourself up. The last thing you want to do is graduate with a diploma or degree that’s not going to be immediately relevant and help you take your next step. You then need to contrast that program – the time and expense as well as anticipated results – with your own lifestyle and capacity. Can you afford it? Is the time involved realistic for where you are in your life? Conducting a realistic audit around your needs and using the employer perspective as a lens is a good first step.