A number of NETSHARE members ask me about the “next steps” in their careers, and recently we have seen an influx of new members from financial services. Most of these professionals don’t see much future in investment banking at the moment, so where do they turn? Where are they to start looking for new career opportunities? How do they re-invent themselves in order to change industries?
I posed this question on LinkedIn and received some interesting responses. Of course, the responses were colored by the respondents’ areas of expertise, but some of their insights were valuable:
This from one respondent: Financial services professionals clearly have transferrable skills. They need to tease out what those skills are and determine how to properly package them. Try self examination using proven self-assessment tools that will open you up to new ideas about where you might best apply your talents. You might also consider engaging a professional resume writer to help you repackage those skills. Once you have a better handle on what might be a good fit for you, work your network; your professional contacts have a reach beyond financial services.
Another respondent suggests that many financial professionals have successfully landed in technology. This individual said his career path took him from financial services to become a business analyst and then a project manager for a financial software company. Technology is still one of the growth areas for jobs. Government work is another possibility.
Still another respondent agrees that identifying your transferrable skills is important, but the concept is outdated and overly simplistic. Yes, you should identify your skills, experience, interested, and motivations, and then identify positions and industries that will fulfill your career objectives. Sectors such as health care and medicine, energy, and government offer growth potential, while tourism, automotive, retail, and other industries are spiraling downward.
Another suggestion was to avoid Internet-driven application systems. We have blogged before about how broken these systems are, and if you are looking for a career change, then you will almost certainly be filtered out but the career-bots. Instead, apply a high-touch/low-tech system that gets you a warm introduction to a hiring manager.
Clearly, there is no magic bullet for career change, but what we are hearing from the experts seems to be consistent:
- Inventory your talents and transferrable strengths and package them.
- Indentify growth opportunities or new jobs and companies that will offer career satisfaction.
- Network into those industries to identify new opportunities. Don’t rely on job-bots and conventional job application processes; rather seek out an introduction to a hiring authority who will recognize the skills you bring to the position.
If anyone has any other ideas, please feel free to share them as comments or e-mail me at ksimmons@netshare.com.
