Job in unrelated field – Many people realize after a certain point in time that they are in the wrong careers. Sometimes the realization happens after few years of work. And when they realize they would like to change careers and land a job in unrelated field. But now the decision becomes tough. They do a job and they have experience. If they go for the same field, they will get multiple opportunities. But it’s completely a different field in which they have no experience.
How to land a job? How to make things tick? How to take the mental leap? We will answer these questions in this article.
Now there’s a lot of advice on the net telling you to do things. But very few have approached it from the view point of reality. Yes, dreaming is okay but only dreaming will not work if you don’t know how to land a job in completely different field.
Hang on with this article for a while and we will offer you a step by step guide to land a job quickly in a new field.
First, let’s look at why you want to make the transition
There are many reasons to change your field and try to land a job in unrelated field. But why you do that? What’s most surprising is that many people who want to change their field don’t have any solid explanation. If you ask them they would say – “Yes, I want to land a job in a different field because my field is not good enough for me.” But hey, that’s vague. If you’re not clear why you want to change your field and land a job in a new field, how would you take steps to achieve it?
Use these steps to be clear about why you want to land a new job in unrelated field:
- First step: Take some time out for yourself and sit with a pen and your journal. Don’t get distracted. If you want to stay away from home for reducing distraction, do so. This is the most important step to begin with.
- Second step: Think through. Ask yourself – “After investing so many years in this field, why I want to step aside and go to land a job in different field?” You would have many answers. Don’t reject any idea at this moment. Keep on writing all ideas that are rushing into your head. Put them down.
- Third step: Use filter. Once you’re done writing everything down (when no idea is coming along anymore), stop writing and go to each option and ask yourself – “Is this a real reason to change my field and land a job in a new field? Or this is a pseudo need?” If you go through each reason and think through, you would see that 80% of your reasons are false reasons. The actual reasons may be just 20% of the whole list. Use three factors to filter all your reasons. First is – “Can I solve it by remaining in this job (maybe by tweaking something)?” If the answer is ‘yes’ to the above question then cross it off from the list. If the answer is ‘no’, go on and ask yourself the second question – “Would a new job in unrelated field solve the issue?” If ‘no’, stop and cross it off. If ‘yes’, go ahead to use the third and last filter – “Would it be possible that even in your new job, the issue would get raised again?” If ‘yes’, cross it off. If ‘no’, go ahead and tick it as one of the possible reasons you should consider change of job in unrelated field.
- Fourth step: Using the above filter, once you have few reasons handy, do your research. You need to find out a way which will help you stand out from the crowd.
Now as you see that it’s all about understanding yourself and understanding your needs more than anything, we need a strategy to create a blueprint which will make you successfully land a job.
Let’s begin.
Guide on how to land a job in unrelated field
To land a job in unrelated field is tricky. But if you follow the below step by step guide, you would be able to increase your chances of success by at least 30-40%.
According to Career Expert, Ramit Sethi, the first step is crucial. So, don’t skip it.
Tip #1 – Pick your field:
You know that you need to land a job in not the field you’re working currently. But what field you would land a job in? How would you know? Most people get confused in this area. They’ve least ideas about how to pick a field which will help them land a job they want. This step is critical. You need to know what to do to find your field. Follow these sub steps –
- First of all, you need go through a brainstorming session to find out which field you should choose. Sit with a pad and paper and write down top 5-10 skills you have. And then also write down top 5-10 fields you can do work in. To land a job, you need to be precise what fields/skills will help you get a career.
- Once you are done writing all down, this is now time to pick the top 3 from the list. This is tricky because if you’re doing this exercise for the first time, you would get confused which one to pick and which one to let go. At this stage, think through about your interest. Out of these 5-10 fields what do you like most. Start with that. You need to research about the field to find out the potency. But for now, just choose top 3 according to your interest.
- Lastly, do your research. Start with the first one. How many people are able to land a job using the skills you have in that field? This should be the question you should ask yourself. Go to Linked-In or any career portal and search about that field.
Tip #2 – Ask questions:
Once you decide upon the top 3 fields and get to know their potency to offer you a lucrative opportunity, it’s time to ask questions, a lot of it. Career expert, Ramit Sethi says that you need to ask the following questions before taking the plunge into a new field.
- How do I want to do this (on the side or as a full time job)? This question will set you apart from the crowd and help you limit your expectation. Do you want to land a job just as a freelance opportunity or you want to land a job as a full time employee? The time and effort to be invested for freelancing and a full time job would be quite different.
- How do I want to do this – virtually or locally? In this age of internet and technology, this question is obvious. But most people don’t ask this. Do you want to use your expertise by working in a firm locally? Or you have plans to work from your home and reach your clients all over the world? Set your expectations and act accordingly.
- Is this lucrative enough? You need to think that if you would land a job in this new field, would it be lucrative 5 years from now. For this, do your research. Find out the past trends of this industry. Look at the attrition rate of the industry and figure out how this industry would look like in the next 5-10 years. Does it look lucrative? Does it solve the issue for which you want to land a job in this new field?
- Is this intellectually stimulating? Most people don’t ask this question. Their primary focus is always on money and growth, but if you don’t find it intellectually stimulating, soon enough you would lose interest and leave. Moreover you won’t be able to grow in any profession if they don’t meet your need to learn more and get better at your skills. Thus before you do anything ask yourself this question and save yourself years of boredom and regret.
Tip #3 – Tweak your resume:
Many people make the mistakes of sending out collection of some information. But what they forget to realize that the resume is not a place to showcase all the information; rather you need to discern the relevant information from the irrelevant information. Here are some tips to make your resume awesome –
- Make it short. Now you may ask – how short? Our answer is – As short as possible. One to two pages are enough to describe you as a professional. You need to cut the fluff and offer concrete and relevant information. Concentrate on making the resume ‘tight.’
- To start drafting your resume, first write down everything that you need to write. Everything means everything. Then start the summarization. You need to make it shorter than you think.
- Use the key information and key skills that would be relevant for the job/s you’re applying for. If you think you don’t have relevant skills, think through what you did in your previous jobs. Did you do anything at a minor level that you don’t consider as skill but task? Show it in your new resume as skill. In the meantime, get better at the task. Follow the rules given by Josh Kaufman, the author of “First 20 Hours” in which he says that you can master the basic part of a skill just in 20 hours of study and practice.
- Mention your accomplishments to make sure that you have some other kind of experience as well. You’re not only a dull professional, but you also have interest in music, sports or hobbies. That will help you stand out.
- Get rid of all the typos and grammatical errors. Write error free English so that it can help you win over in job application.
- Use simple formatting. Don’t try to use any colours. Use only black and white. Mention your contact details and email id/s at the top.
Tip #5 – Make a list of transferable skills:
To land a job in a new field, you need to concentrate on skills that you already have. Yes, you can develop other skills as you go along. But for now to land a job, you need to which of your current skills are transferable . If you’re in Human Resources now and want to go in Marketing, the transferable skills would be the matter of ‘cold calling.’ In ‘Human Resource’, as an executive or manager, you have already called people for interviews. Use this as a skill for marketing. In marketing, you need to connect with a lot of people and for that you need skills. Human Resources and Marketing are too completely different fields, but like cold calling there are few other skills like team management, interviewing people, taking care of the reports, crafting strategy to increase the revenue and reducing cost etc. Get creative. Use ingenuity. And make a list of all transferable skills.
Tip #6 – Prepare for the interview:
There are two things we need to tell you here. First, don’t let the existing job go before you land a job in the new field. Second, prepare yourself for the interview. For the first part, you know that why we’re telling you not to quit the job yet. We will explain the second part in more detail. Preparing for the interview means there are three steps you should take which will not be taken by most.
- Find out what is the number one problem the company is facing (where you’re applying).
- Then craft a one page analysis of how you would solve the problem. Use facts, figures and statistical techniques if you can.
- Along with your resume, send that analysis report as well.
If you take these three steps, this will set you apart from the crowd. Everyone sends out resume and most of them get ignored because by sending the resume no-one gets interested in the profile. Your job is to fetch attention. Once you do that, at least be sure to get an interview with the company. Then you can explain further.
The above steps are a proven method to success. To land a job in unrelated field, you don’t need to learn rocket science. All you need is common sense, a bit of strategy and an ability to present yourself well. And guess what, you would land a job in unrelated field.
Rawoof Shaik says
Very informative article!