Switching careers – steps to achieving your goal.

Last week I chatted with a security officer while waiting for a meeting to begin. She was happy to tell me how she’d worked for the organization for seven years, but was now ready to switch careers and work for a different company. “I just want a change,” she explained.

As a career counselor, I couldn’t resist asking which field she was targeting next. “Something in healthcare, maybe as an intake specialist,” she told me. “But I really don’t have background doing that. I just need someone to give me a chance to show them what I could do.”

I’ve heard the, “If only someone would only give me a chance,” hope many times before. The expectation is that somehow, someone will see enough potential in an individual to say, “It looks like a leap of faith, but let’s go for it.” This does happen sometimes, but for the most part, it would be like hoping a knight in shining armor will arrive; get ready for a long wait, and he may never show up at all.

It is possible, however, to increase the likelihood of a decision maker taking a chance on you, with a few smart steps:

• Study job ads for the new role you’re targeting. Indeed.com is a good resource for a range of postings. Review the requirements and create a punch list of experience you’ll need to obtain. In the security officer’s case, it would benefit her to get training in medical and insurance billing. Taking these classes will also allow her to rub elbows with others in the field.
• Join and participate in relevant groups. In addition to traditional professional associations, someone looking to advance their career can find, and in many cases join, related groups on LinkedIn. Considering the security officer’s goals, Hospital Support Services and Patient Services Management groups would be good to investigate, allowing her to exchange information with specialists in her target field while gaining valuable contacts.

Knights in shining armor do exist, and putting yourself on paths where they’re likely to be riding can increase the probability of finding one who will, in fact, give you a chance.