Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from the most recent session with Kim Batson, The CIO’s Coach, and Deb Dib, head of Executive Power Brand.
Career transition was the main theme of this week’s call. One caller said she had exhausted her opportunities for advancement in her current role. The company she worked for was small, serving a niche market, so it was time to seek greener pastures. However, she had worked for almost two decades for the same company. Would her long tenure with the same company be seen as a limitation?
Kim and Deb said, no, loyalty is an asset that is hard to find these days and something that you can leverage, especially in a career transition. Too many companies tend to lose institutional memory due to staff turnover. Training new employees and managers is expensive. It’s always better to find a way to retain employees to keep those institutional processes and protocols intact and keep the operation running smoothly. That’s why longevity in a job is looked on favorably, especially if you can show a progression of responsibility over the years. That same loyalty and the ability to grow with the job and take on new responsibility are transferrable assets, no matter what industry you are targeting. Make the most of that loyalty, and highlight your relevant career strengths.
Kim and Deb had other tips for those in career transition:
- Try to change either your job function or your industry, but don’t try to change both at the same time.
- Build success stories where the value is not limited to a specific industry.
- Make sure that your overriding value is clearly presented in your resume, executive bio, cover letters, and other materials.
- When targeting a new industry, do a gap analysis. Study ads in the industry you are targeting and look for key points that both match your skills and that are missing. Then you can determine how to fill in the blanks.
