Use your contacts to get into your next career

ShiftDoctor answer

By Sonia Lakshman on 10 October 2007 at 22:20

Yes, it can be difficult and frustrating when you feel you are being pigeon holed. However, your solution may lie in the very first paragraph of your summation - Personal Recommendation. That's what worked for you before, with spectacular result, cutting through layers of hierarchy to get in straight at the top. How can you now use that experience and insight to help you scale your current hurdle?

Turn the tables for a moment - if you were a recruiting employer sifting through a large stack of CVs would you go for a good candidate with the right experience vs a good candidate without? It does not always belie a lack of imagination or failure on the part of the recruiter to see your potential, more that there's a job to be done, and someone who fits in AND can hit the ground running is the more practical and attractive option. It's the path of least resistance.

So you need to find a way to hot foot it past the other CVs and get your foot in the door first with a chance to personally demonstrate just how brilliant you are. By first that can mean before they even know they've got a vacancy themselves! Many companies are so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the work they have to do, they don't have time to get around to recruiting. They are often as delighted as the candidate who approaches them with a speculative proposal that is a perfect mutual match. It may surprise you to know that up to 70% of jobs are never advertised - a statistic mostly accounted for by the good old-fashioned grapevine. In the case of a career change this point cannot be overemphasised.

It brings us back to personal recommendation - getting your network to work for you. To be recommended effectively, however, you need to know what or who you want to be recommended to. You know that you want to use your research and writing abilities likely within journalism or business analysis - and that's great. The question is where exactly? Both are in themselves broad fields. The more you can focus your target (while at the same time remaining open to opportunity) the easier it is to hone in and really get somewhere with it. It will also make you sound more informed, able to articulate more effectively the relevant skills and flair you bring. This includes your degree and how you can make what you have learnt strongly relevant to a prospective employer.

Defining the target means both defining (or at least refining) the role you're going for AND the organisations you'd like to work within. You can then use a two-pronged approach both by using your network (and industry networking) and directly approaching companies with creativity and focus.

Re: CV - It sounds like you are already highlighting/re-positioning yourself with the things that a top level PA is equipped with that will be useful in the roles you are looking for, which is good. Your broad target careers could probably do with plenty of those skills - multi-tasking, distilling information, prioritising, communication pitched at MD level etc. Experiment with a skills based CV (leading with skills and following with a brief summary of job roles) and a stand out cover letter to get past any immediate preconceptions.

The other possibility to facilitate a shift is to keep one thing constant. You may have tried this already but once you've clearly identified the industry you want to be in, you could consider going in as a senior PA and then working across from within. Again it's about building personal relationships and contacts. If you have a clear goal in mind and are willing to be patient, a purposeful sideways move can be immensely fruitful long term.

Remember the job market is essentially self-serving i.e both party has needs which each is seeking to fulfil. It's when what you want and can offer is what the other party needs, that it all meshes together. Thinking of it from the hiring point of view will lift your perspective and help you target your efforts more effectively.

Lastly train your brain. Starting now, think of yourself not as a PA but as if you are already in the role you want to be in. This will transform the way you communicate, you will exude confidence and can-do, and who knows you may be the first person people think of when that peachy job appears on the horizon.

© Sonia Lakshman 8 October 2007

Sonia Lakshman is a career transition coach, who helps people discover the work they truly enjoy. Her career coaching consultancy, One Smart Step, has great success with helping people navigate their way to fulfilment.

You can email Sonia at sonia@onesmartstep.co.uk or visit www.onesmartstep.co.uk for help and inspiration.